Ric,

Welcome to Maine. We have lots of lobster traps along our coast and the
proper way to deal with them is to determine two things about them every
time you go out sailing. First, determine whether the lobster guys in your
area use toggles or not. The toggle is a small donut shape float that holds
the line off the bottom so that it does not get tangled. The line goes from
the trap to the toggle vertically and then to the main buoy horizontally
along the surface. The line that is used does not float so depending on the
wind and current there may be a bit of a sagging of the line between the
toggle and the main buoy.

The second thing that you need to determine is the set of the current and
the wind on the buoys. Once you have determined these two things you will
know how to handle all of the buoys you encounter. You must pass close to
leeward or downcurrent of a buoy or toggle or well to windward or upcurrent
of the same. It is not a good idea to pass between the toggle and its main
buoy because you may catch the horizontal part of the line. Although there
are times when the wind and current are not too strong that you see that the
horizontal line between the toggle and the main buoy sag enough that you can
make it over if you go halfway between.

Any way you do it, sailing in Maine is an activity to which one must pay
attention.

Cheers

Ansley Sawyer
SV Pacem
out of Rockland, ME