Acquired a crab pot today!

[AlaskaProf]

Departing Roche Harbor, idling at 4 knots, about 400 yards along Pearl Island. Giving wide berth to the numerous crab pots. Just in front of the boat, I spy a near invisible loop of blue and white floating line. (Really. Sample attached) I shifted to neutral, but no luck we drifted across it and noticed a float about 10 yards to starboard was following us. We hauled the pot up and cut it loose. Now with cool reflection, I realize I have created a zombie crab killer, but cool reflection was not available in the moment.


Pretty clear that the port running gear was going to be the issue, so we single-limped back into the slip we had departed just 15 minutes before, no mean feat in itself.



Now, once in a while evil luck and good fortune occur in such proximity that you don't know whether to scream or to celebrate, and this is such a story, because we had just spent two nights docked beside an utterly charming three-generation party of six. "Dad", the middle gen guy had spent an hour or so yesterday spearfishing nearby! Ten minutes to don his wetsuit and grab a knife another five to clear the prop and we were on the way again.


Cost: One bottle of champagne.
New friends: Priceless!


p.s. If you are reading this, a**h**e, I'd be happy to show you exactly where your pot is.

 

[AlaskaProf]

second try on pic:no luck, weak phone data anchored out at Coupeville.

 

[HopCar]

Thinking about line cutters for your prop shafts?
Spurs worked well for me.
At least you got a good story out of the adventure.

 

[markpierce]

Think minesweepers.

(Seeadler: at my suggestion, my father named his 29-foot sailboat that back in 1963 I had recently completed a model of the WWI German square-rigged raider.)

https://www.overtdefense.com/2018/05/16/minesweeper-sale-one-careful-owner/

 

[AlaskaProf]

Think minesweepers.

https://www.overtdefense.com/2018/05/16/minesweeper-sale-one-careful-owner/

Yes. 30mm gun about right, but I have to find the guy first.

Actually, minesweepers run in the family. My Dad was Chief of the fire control gang on the USS Doyle, DMS34, aka USS Caine.

 

[AlaskaProf]

[STRIKE][/STRIKE]
At least you got a good story out of the adventure.

True. That's what I do

 

[AlaskaProf]

Think minesweepers.

(Seeadler: at my suggestion, my father named his 29-foot sailboat that back in 1963 I had recently completed a model of the WWI German square-rigged raider.)

Yes. We've had this conversation before. There is a picture of the vessel and one of the Graf von Luckner in my main cabin.

 

[markpierce]

Yes. 30mm gun about right, but I have to find the guy first.

If you had a keel-protected rudder and single propeller, would the problem been avoided?

 

[AlaskaProf]

If you had a keel-protected rudder and single propeller, would the problem been avoided?

That is the great unanswerable conundrum. Note that I was able to return to the dock because only 50% of my power was compromised. ?Quien sabe?

 

[rslifkin]

If you had a keel-protected rudder and single propeller, would the problem been avoided?

Maybe, maybe not. Line getting pulled in and caught like that is hit or miss regardless of what's in front of the prop.

 

[AlaskaProf]

The same irresolvible question goes on endlessly in aviation. Which is safer, one engine or two?

 

[AlaskaProf]

Third try to illustrate the invisible floating poly crab pot line. Home Depot's Very Best:

 

[AlaskaProf]

Yes. We've had this conversation before. There is a picture of the vessel and one of the Graf von Luckner in my main cabin.

So:

 

[Peter B]

That is the great unanswerable conundrum. Note that I was able to return to the dock because only 50% of my power was compromised. ?Quien sabe?

I had that happen once with my single 'protected' rudder and prop, (take note Mark), however, managed to get rid of the line without a dive, by gently engaging reverse for a few revs, after lifting and cutting the line of course - the line floated free. Did you try that Alaskaprof..? If you cut power immediately you anticipated the issue, which it sounds like you did, probably not many wraps had occurred..?

 

[AlaskaProf]

If you cut power immediately you anticipated the issue, which it sounds like you did, probably not many wraps had occurred..?

Can only speculate, but both engines were in neutral as momentum carried us over the line. As the diver was able to unwrap it fairly quickly, I suspect that as we powered in on the starboard engine, the port prop may have "free wheeled" a few turns before seizing against the restraint of the line, as we had both ends secured after cutting the pot free.

 

[Skip Sunnell]

Departing Roche Harbor, idling at 4 knots, about 400 yards along Pearl Island. Giving wide berth to the numerous crab pots. Just in front of the boat, I spy a near invisible loop of blue and white floating line. (Really. Sample attached) I shifted to neutral, but no luck we drifted across it and noticed a float about 10 yards to starboard was following us. We hauled the pot up and cut it loose. Now with cool reflection, I realize I have created a zombie crab killer, but cool reflection was not available in the moment.


Pretty clear that the port running gear was going to be the issue, so we single-limped back into the slip we had departed just 15 minutes before, no mean feat in itself.



Now, once in a while evil luck and good fortune occur in such proximity that you don't know whether to scream or to celebrate, and this is such a story, because we had just spent two nights docked beside an utterly charming three-generation party of six. "Dad", the middle gen guy had spent an hour or so yesterday spearfishing nearby! Ten minutes to don his wetsuit and grab a knife another five to clear the prop and we were on the way again.


Cost: One bottle of champagne.
New friends: Priceless!


p.s. If you are reading this, a**h**e, I'd be happy to show you exactly where your pot is.

Got a chuckle out of your message. Goes to show you, crab pot buoys are not always what they seem. I've wondered many a time when having to cross through low floating debris, what the underwater potential was for what you describe. The approach channel to the AYC docks in Anacortes also can in like manner, keep divers busy.

 

[Captankirk]

had a plastic bag foul my gear once. Got lucky and hard reverse extricated the bag (which I saw float out the starboard side as we were in reverse). never saw it before it happened.

just goes to show you no matter how careful or vigilante you are, **** happens.

 

[psneeld]

Not sure about all pot lines...but the typical poly line east coat crabbers use from NJ to FL aren't even noticeable when you cut one off after running over it in my experience.


I bet I have cut dozens and dozens off at the end of the season with no damage or even noticeable performance issues.


Pick up the wire cage and it's a different story.



Docklines are another story.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Not sure about all pot lines...but the typical poly line east coat crabbers use from NJ to FL aren't even noticeable when you cut one off after running over it in my experience.
.

Not sure what the practice is where you live, but the State of Washington requires the use of "leaded line" which falls straight to the bottom from the float. Hence my fury at the several yards of cheap crap floating well away from the shabby non-reg Tide jug. (see #12 above)

 

[Fletcher500]

Our crab pots are for lobsters. And, they don't even have claws unlike their superior cousins on the east coast. They come out in force in a few months and that includes inside the marked channels on occasion, including the commercial guys. My favorites are at night when recreational boaters drop them in and put a 5 in. glow stick on the float end to mark it.

Two pot stories:

My dock neighbor wheeled one all the way up, into his prop.

When I was in high school, one of my classmates snagged his surfboard leash on a detached pot in the surf zone and drowned.

I give these things a wide berth, but as we know, it happens.

 

[AlaskaProf]

When I was in high school, one of my classmates snagged his surfboard leash on a detached pot in the surf zone and drowned.

I give these things a wide berth, but as we know, it happens.

AAAAGGGHHH!! What a horrifying way to go.

 

[psneeld]

Unfortunately my rather large cruising area is strewn with pots, but fortunately, the pot lines are wimpy enough not to be much of a threat...they can be, but in my experience....rarely.

 

[Easternshore]

Departing Roche Harbor, idling at 4 knots, about 400 yards along Pearl Island. Giving wide berth to the numerous crab pots. Just in front of the boat, I spy a near invisible loop of blue and white floating line. (Really. Sample attached) I shifted to neutral, but no luck we drifted across it and noticed a float about 10 yards to starboard was following us. We hauled the pot up and cut it loose. Now with cool reflection, I realize I have created a zombie crab killer, but cool reflection was not available in the moment.


Pretty clear that the port running gear was going to be the issue, so we single-limped back into the slip we had departed just 15 minutes before, no mean feat in itself.



Now, once in a while evil luck and good fortune occur in such proximity that you don't know whether to scream or to celebrate, and this is such a story, because we had just spent two nights docked beside an utterly charming three-generation party of six. "Dad", the middle gen guy had spent an hour or so yesterday spearfishing nearby! Ten minutes to don his wetsuit and grab a knife another five to clear the prop and we were on the way again.


Cost: One bottle of champagne.
New friends: Priceless!


p.s. If you are reading this, a**h**e, I'd be happy to show you exactly where your pot is.

Don’t you just love the “watermen” who string their pots mid channel. There are places on the Indian River Lagoon that require a lookout as some pots are hiding under their algae covering making them easy to miss.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

A little off thread.

Alaska Troopers gave out a lot of tickets and fines this summer to Washington boaters as they were using Washington pots. Alaska regs are different like the escape rings are bigger in Alaska.

I warned all WA boaters I came in contact with.

 

[Fletcher500]

AAAAGGGHHH!! What a horrifying way to go.

Agree. Surfboard leashes came out with a rip cord that would release the ankle leash around the 80’s. A small loop could be pulled in an emergency, releasing a pin that would cut one free from entanglements.

 

[rgano]

Yes. 30mm gun about right, but I have to find the guy first.

Actually, minesweepers run in the family. My Dad was Chief of the fire control gang on the USS Doyle, DMS34, aka USS Caine.

Actually Wouk said the weird captain inspiring the Caine Mutiny was on his first DMS, USS Zane. He was about to get command of his second ship (he was XO there, Doyle?) when it got damaged in an accident and the war ended. I just read his memoirs.

 

[AlaskaProf]

IMDB credits the USS Thompson, but other sources credit both ships. My favorite source is the Doyle "old shipmates" website which seems quite clear about it.

In the context of my Dad, it's tangential anyway, as he left the Doyle before the filming in 1953. He was assigned to the Dixie a destroyer tender in San Diego on June 25, 1950 when the war started. He was told to go home, pack his bag and report to the Doyle which was nested alongside. They were underway on the 27th.

I have very clear memories of him and Mom scrambling to get him packed.

Pop said the Doyle was a lousy destroyer and a dangerous mine sweeper.

It was one of the Gleaves prewar class with only four guns, one of which had been removed to make room for the sweep gear. Steel hull and poor maneuverability were poor attributes for a mine sweeper.

Pop was at Wonsan in the main battery director watching when the Pirate and the Pledge were simultaneously and spectacularly mined.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Interesting sidebar: both the Thompson and the Doyle were at Normandy, providing inshore fire support for the invasion. Both were half a world away during "Halsey's typhoon", dramatized in the movie.

My Dad was at Treasure Island, teaching analog computing, missed the whole war.

 

[AlaskaProf]

//read Wouk's memoirs\\

I think I'd like that. Title?

 

[AlaskaProf]

//read Wouk's memoirs\\

I think I'd like that. Title?

Sailor and Fiddler

I just downloaded the audio book from my l public library. Good for the long drive home on Wednesday.