Avoiding & Sailing W/Lobster Pots & Lobstermen

[Maine Sail]

This topic came up on another forum so I thought I'd share it with you guys too. Here are a few tips on how to deal with lobster pots.

#1 ALWAYS try to pass to the down current, down wind or down tide side of the pot. Never intentionally pass above a lobster pot unless you absolutly know you have the room to do so! They have an uncanny way of letting you know which way is up current, wind or tide and which way is down. Follow the stick or the wake!

This one is pointing or angled towards "down tide" so you'll pass to where the stick leans or points. This is about a 1.5 knot current at the mouth of Penobscot Bay and well off Vinalhaven and Northhaven Islands. We were miles from the nearest land yet Pen Bay has HUGE amounts of water to spill and the currents can run miles out to sea.. NEVER EVER intentionally pass a pot like this to the up tide or up current side!!!

#2 Wear polarized sunglasses!!! My daughter had grabbed my Maui Jim's and got "snack goo" all over them. Rather than clean them I stupidly grabbed my "guest" pair of sunglasses, a non-polarized pair of Ray Ban's.

As you can see we almost hit this pot that was pulled under by the tidal current! My maneuver was late because I never saw it until the absolute last second. At that point I had no choice but to turn hard stbd and pass to the up-current side which as you can see could have been very dangerous. Again, WEAR POLARIZED SUNGLASSES! You will see these submerged pots well before you will with non-polarized glasses. My camera had a polarizing filter so I snapped that as we passed.

#3 just because it's calm does not mean the pots are not still trying to tell you something. Current & tide still exists even in flat glass conditions. Note the direction of the "sticks"...

#4 It may be calm but this pot has a decent current flowing by it. Just look at the "wake" made by the buoy..

I passed too close to a lobster guy and he was swearing at me and really pissed how do I avoid pissing these guys off?

Look for his or her "colors" then spot his/her pots on the water and as a courtesy, and for your own safety, these guys are cowboys, get away from them as the boat is likely moving to the next pot that matches the displayed colors!

Lobstermen are required to display their "colors" or one of their own pot buoys mounted up high on the boat so it can be seen.
Note the pot buoy above the radome:

Note the "colors" on the port side wheel house roof:

Note the "colors" laying on the wheel house roof behind the spot light & hanging dead center also look on the water and you'll see two more of his/her pots.. stay away from them:

Pot buoy/colors located on stern end port side of wheel house roof:

[nk235]

Halekai36,

Nice Post. I never knew thats how you could tell who pots were who's based off the colors displayed on the boats.

I understand everyone has to make a living and I sure don't complain about lobster pots when enjoying a nice fresh lobster while out to dinner, but man when I am sailing I HATE those things!

I hear it used to be much worse in Long Island Sound before the die off but even now it seems you can't run down below to change a song on the ipod without worrying about running over one of these things. So far I have been lucky and not hit any but def. had some close calls.

The big bright colored ones are bad enough but forget about the little dark ones that sit a foot below the water....thats just pure luck not hitting them.

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by otaga05

Haleki36 wrote:

"At that point I had no choice but to turn hard stbd and pass to the up-current side which as you can see could have been very dangerous."

Depending on the configuration of your keel and rudder that could be exactly the wrong thing to do.

My rudder is skeg mounted and when I turn the wheel it opens up a slot that will catch the pot warp. When I find myself about to go over a pot warp I simply straighten up the wheel and the warp passes harmlessly underneath. It helps to have your prop in an aperture too. Since I figured this out last season the only pot I caught while sailing was picked up in the middle of tacking with the rudder over to turn.

Hal, Good post. Nice photos. Some of those lobster boats look like the Duffy one of my brothers has on order.

Otaga,

That's pretty well the same with us. We have lots of pot floats here on the Chesapeake, and while we do not deliberately try to run them over, we do not initiate abrupt maneuvers if there's one in our path immediately ahead. We can pretty well pass over them with impunity (skeg hung rudder, prop in aperture). I confess to a skipped heartbeat or two while we wait for them to resurface, but so far in all these years they've never failed to re-appear. Touch wood.

[jimmalkin]

watch out JRP - the line can get caught between the top of your skeg hung rudder and the hull if you run over the line with your rudder not directly in line with the skeg...(you know how I know...)

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by jimmalkin

watch out JRP - the line can get caught between the top of your skeg hung rudder and the hull if you run over the line with your rudder not directly in line with the skeg...(you know how I know...)

True enough, Jim, and I appreciate the reminder. That's why we try not to maneuver if it appears inevitable that we'll hit one. I'm sure our luck will run out eventually, though. I will be sure to get a hood for my wetsuit (per Halekai) if I ever sail the waters of Maine.

We may have a somewhat different skeg arrangement also. What does yours look like?

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by otaga05

Haleki36 wrote:

"At that point I had no choice but to turn hard stbd and pass to the up-current side which as you can see could have been very dangerous."

Depending on the configuration of your keel and rudder that could be exactly the wrong thing to do.

My rudder is skeg mounted and when I turn the wheel it opens up a slot that will catch the pot warp. When I find myself about to go over a pot warp I simply straighten up the wheel and the warp passes harmlessly underneath. It helps to have your prop in an aperture too. Since I figured this out last season the only pot I caught while sailing was picked up in the middle of tacking with the rudder over to turn.

Otaga,

Under sail you'll be fairly safe using that practice but if you're motor sailing don't count on it. I owned a Cape Dory with a very protected aperture and it still could catch a toggle even with the rudder straight.

I dove two seasons ago on an older couples Cape Dory who were under sail, on AP and the free wheeling prop still, even while sailing straight, caught the line. I cut the line free and then oriented the prop vertically in the aperture. I then marked their prop shaft with a marker so they could lock it vertical if they wanted. They now, I'm sure, sail with the prop locked..

Just cause your prop is in an aperture does not make you 100% immune I've discovered this on Downeast lobster boat hulls too...

So lock your prop too and that will also help minimize picking up a pot..

P.S. Have not caught a pot with my fin keelers since 2005 (about 2500 NM) but have picked up that damn floating poly line!!

[JohnRPollard]

Halekai,

Have you observed any advantage with feathering props, vis-a-vis snagging floats/warps? I assume folding props have a significant advantage, but we can't put one of those in our aperture. In both cases, I'm referring to boats that are not under power.

P.S. We always lock our shaft (in reverse) for exactly that reason. I then hang the key on the transmission lever so I don't forget to go to neutral before starting the engine -- from a "live and learn" experience.