Another Advantage for Trawlers in BC

I don't know how it is in other parts of the world but I had a great demonstration of why I like travelling at trawler speeds this weekend.

Went to a get together over the long weekend here in BC and out of about 38 boats, 4 had prop and hull damage from hitting logs in the water. All of the damaged boats were travelling a lot faster then I was. In fact one went by at probably twice my speed not long before hitting a log he could not see.

So better fuel economy and less risk from deadheads, works for me.

Reinforces my mantra of slow is the way to go.

Well, for another perspective, all the people we know who have collided with debris in the water with resulting damage, some of it extreme, have been cruising at 8 knots or less in power and sailboats. I only know one person who hit something going relatively fast and that was a co-worker who hit a log in his Tollycraft 26.

In the PNW we have an 8-knot cruiser and a 30-knot fishing boat. We've not hit anything in either one in 17 years with the cruiser and 28 years with the fishing boat. We've avoided a ton of stuff in that time so far--- there's certainly plenty of it up here.. But in my opinion, it's all about vigilance and common sense, not speed.

I hate going slow particularly crossing dead-boring bodies of water like Georgia Strait (on a calm day). We have no choice in the PNW cruiser but going fast, at least between the interesting bits, is the only way to fly in our book.

Different strokes for......

The coast of BC & US PNW certainly does have a lot of deadheads floating about. Flying into Vancouver, you can see the water littered with logs. You guys certainly can't relax much while cruising.

Luckily there isn't much floating in the water in southern Australia. Once offshore in the open water there is the odd sea container, although I've never seen one.

The largest thing I have ever come across floating in the water over here was very strange. I was attracted to gulls swarming at something in the distance. I cruised over to have a look and found an extremely large (perhaps 4-500 pound) tongue. That was very weird. No other body parts nearby.

From a whale, one presumes. I mean Aussies are great talkers and all, but a tongue of 400lb…don't think so..?

It was about 1 meter x 1.5 meters and 50cm thick. (3ftx5ftx 18in) but the weight is a guess.

LowNSlow77 said:

I don't know how it is in other parts of the world but I had a great demonstration of why I like travelling at trawler speeds this weekend.

Went to a get together over the long weekend here in BC and out of about 38 boats, 4 had prop and hull damage from hitting logs in the water. All of the damaged boats were travelling a lot faster then I was. In fact one went by at probably twice my speed not long before hitting a log he could not see.

So better fuel economy and less risk from deadheads, works for me.

Reinforces my mantra of slow is the way to go.

Click to expand...

I agree with you.

A big boat going fast is just not as manuverable as a smaller boat.

That and there are few suprises at 9 knots.

We can rev up the diesel and cruise at 18 knots, which we did much of the time until about 2003. Had our share of prop dings in BC too.

Since then we do 6-7, 95 percent of the time. No need to fix our stares on the water ahead to avoid wood, much quieter and more peaceful, more opportunity for gawking, less wear and tear on the engine and drive, and 3X the fuel economy and range.

I have not been boating for very long here in BC, but there were more logs in the water then I have ever seen. The deadhead standing on end was a scary one to come across and really hard to see. I like fast but for now I am content at 7 knots.

You guys on the west coast have it good. Here in Maine we have to contend with lobster gear. There are places where you have to run over it. A lobster float may not seem as intimidating as a log, but snagging a line on a prop can ruin your day. What are called toggles are particularly daunting. A toggle is a small float that supports the line. The main float is attached to the line 4-6 feet below the toggle float and may be on a line 10 to 30 feet long. At high tide or at times of heavy current the toggle float is often just submerged and essentially invisible. You have to make sure you know where the main float is relative to the toggle float to avoid running over the line connecting the two. They are particularly troublesome when the line between the two floats is perpendicular to your course. To make things more fun, there are ZERO restrictions on where lobster gear can be set.

While not as intimating or problematical as lobster floats we do have pot floats to contend with here. In our case they are attached to crab pots. There are several seasons, one or two for recreational crabbing and several for commercial and tribal crabbing.

The most difficult aspect in our experience is the variety of floats. Recreational floats are supposed to be red and white but the commercial floats, particularly the tribal floats, can be pretty much anything the fisherman wants. Some of them are actually black or dark colors which can be very difficult to see.

If the water is smooth the commercial pots generally show up on radar but if the water is choppy all you can do is be vigilant at the helm.

We had an 'otherworldly' deadhead experience last time out on our boat.

We were about 7 miles south of Kitimat, which is at the head of Douglas Channel, about 60 miles from Hecate Straight through a complex series of channels and islands. We saw a deadhead in calm water roughly 1/4 mile ahead of us...it was the kind which stands vertically in the water column. It looked to be a really old one, because the end sticking out of the water was well rounded by bashing around on rocks, and appeared to be about 1.5 to 2 feet in diameter.

Something seemed weird about it, so I gave it a good long look with the binoculars but couldn't see much detail as it was back lit. I changed course a bit to avoid it, but disregarded it as anything interesting other than something to keep tabs on until we had passed it.

When we were a couple hundred feet from it, it rose straight out of the water about 2 more feet, then sank straight down and disappeared! As it sank, it rotated slightly and I could see a prominent 'bump-bump' on its profile.

What the...!!!

All my instincts said Elephant Seal, but this is a long way from their usual habitat, and nobody I know around here has ever seen one this far from open water. Enter our friend google. There has been a sailboat doing transects of Hecate Straight and north coast BC waters for years doing observational studies of marine mammals, and Elephant Seals are one species they have been keeping numbers on. They have seen one at Kitsaway Anchorage, which is pretty close to Jesse Falls where we had our encounter.

So, next time you see a deadhead standing vertically in the water, take a closer look!

http://raincoast.org/files/WAS_report/marine_mammals/Signtings_maps_WAS_ES.png

Marin said:

While not as intimating or problematical as lobster floats we do have pot floats to contend with here. In our case they are attached to crab pots. There are several seasons, one or two for recreational crabbing and several for commercial and tribal crabbing.

The most difficult aspect in our experience is the variety of floats. Recreational floats are supposed to be red and white but the commercial floats, particularly the tribal floats, can be pretty much anything the fisherman wants. Some of them are actually black or dark colors which can be very difficult to see.

If the water is smooth the commercial pots generally show up on radar but if the water is choppy all you can do is be vigilant at the helm.

Click to expand...

I am familiar with the crab pots in Washington. The difference between crab pots and lobster pots is the density. In July, August and September you are never more than 100 feet from a lobster pot float here in Maine. You can usually see hundreds to thousands of them from your bridge deck. The season is all year too.

I hit them all the time. They are especially difficult to see when it is rough and foggy.

Lobster Pot prop snags be gone: Look what a retired Maine lawyer can achieve!

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s6/propeller-cage-10335.html

Propeller Cage

In the PNW over the last 18 years I have noted the density of logs and debris varies very much with the tide cycles. After big Spring tides be especially aware of what's in the water. Also at the beginning of the boating season there seems to be more nasty logs which probably get collected as the season progresses.

Awhile back I posted some shots that I took of the Fraser River in spring flood last year. The big rivers like the Fraser, Skeena, and Stikine and the smaller ones like the Nooksack, Skagit, Stillaguamish, and many others is where most of the stumps, logs, big branches, even entire trees, come from.

The debris coming down those rivers, all of which have no dams on them, is amazing to see. I don't remember where that post is but the shots get the point across.

While some mill logs still move in rafts more and more move by barge and "escapees" are not as prevelant as they were when I moved to the area in 1979. The closure of a lot of the shoreside mills has greatly reduced the the number of logs in the water.

These days it's the rivers that are the worst offenders, and the debris they bring down can hang about for years being pushed around by the currents, parked on the beaches for awhile and then floated off again.