On Mon, 22 May 2006 08:14:15 -0400, "Charles T. Low"
[withoutUN] wrote:

I've always wondered how the lobster or crab fishermen manage their own
boats in and amongst the pots. Anyone?

The lobster boats that I've seen out of the water have what looks like
a protective cage around the prop and rudder.

A good quality line cutter is long, heavy and bulky. I have one on my
sailboat. When working in the water at the rudder/propeller shaft or close
to it I like to hold on with one hand and use the cutting tool with my other
hand.
The worst thing to get tangle up with is loose floating fishing nets that
have been abandoned are free floating.
BTW A line cutter can only cut so much with ease, try cutting a 1/4 SS cable
with them when under water.

"just me" wrote in message
...
what about a line cutter??

Charles T. Low wrote:
I've always wondered how the lobster or crab fishermen manage their own
boats in and amongst the pots. Anyone?

As mentioned, most of them have a cage around the prop.

Following the Lobsta Pot incident I mentioned before, we went into
Tenants' Harbor, through one of the densest pot fields I've seen.
While hanging around the commercial yard there I saw a lobster boat
have the shaft pulled for repairs. The owner was wondering how a line
could have been sucked through the cage. Though I normally wouldn't
wish another boater harm, I could resist a feeling of poetic justice
at that.

My suggestion for night sailing is to draw your route as far away from the
coast as you can.
I do not recommend night sailing close to the coast. In June the lobster
pots are located closer to the coast line.

The following site is very good and gives the in and out of sailing the
coast of Maine and coping with the lobster buoys.
http://www.coastguides.com/sidebars/buoys.html



"Cap'n Ric" wrote in message
news:_27cg.4804$Ar6.486@trnddc02...
I'm leaving for a six week trip to Maine from Baltimore, MD on June 24th.
I'll primarily be in and around Penobscot Bay for the majority of the trip
going nonstop from the Cape Cod Canal to Tenants Harbor, ME. My question
is: Just how bad are the lobster floats / toggles in Maine? Here in the
Chesapeake Bay we have a lot of crab pots sometimes to the point of where
you have to avoid an area because the pots are so thick.

I'm a licensed captain with 45 years of sailing experience and thousands
of hours offshore and coastal sailing. I've got a 2003 Beneteau 473 with
virtually every known piece of navigation and communications gear. Even
so, I'm planning to do no sailing at night or in the fog while within any
bays or near coastal waters of Maine. Any personal experiences will be
greatly appreciated.

And we recreational boaters don't do that because ...

... it's not our normal cruising grounds, and they add drag ... ???

====

Charles T. Low
www.boatdocking.com

====

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
The lobster boats that I've seen out of the water have what looks like
a protective cage around the prop and rudder.