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.

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

Cap'n Ric wrote:
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've heard people complain about pots in the Chesapeake, but I never
saw anything remotely close to what you'll see in Maine. Casco Bay
and the Midcoast are bad, but at least they don't have the toggles.
For those who have never seen them, toggles are a second float on a
line 12-20 feet long attached to the pot. Since the pots are often
12-20 feet apart, you can encounter areas that are effectively
unpassible, especially if you are going across the current. Since the
toggles usually line up with the current, this becomes a factor.

You should assume that you'll snag one at some point, so make sure you
have appropriate instruments of destruction, such as a strong boat
hook that you can tape a knife to, etc. Before I head there again I'm
getting one of these:
http://www.captnhooksolutions.com/index.html

I haven't been to Pennobscot bay in a few years, but there were a few
areas that were extremely crowded with pots. Tenant's Harbor, Muscle
Ridge, the East Bay, parts of Merchant's Row come to mind. I remember
leaving McGlathery's Island in foul weather and snagging one in the
East Bay. We limped back to the cove where a friend managed to tease
the line off. Later we got an email that someone a week later did the
same thing, but managed to break the coupling on the shaft, ruining
the whole day (and most of the week).

That said, we have a catamaran, which doubles the problem, though
sometimes we power on just one engine. We haven't hesitated to to go
anywhere, and haven't had a serious problem. With experience, a good
lookout and hand on the shifter, you can reduce the odds of a disaster.



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.

We do little night sailing, but if you won't sail in fog, you'll have
a bit of trouble getting around.

BTW, if you love hanging out in amongst scenic islands, check out
Merchant's Row.

Some good advice in the other posts.

There have been some incidents of boat sustaining significant damage
in the Casco Bay area due to railroad spikes being tied into the gear.
The lobstermen would say they are weights to keep the rope between the
buoy and toggle down below the surface. The fact that they also can
batter a hole in the bottom of a boat and therefore make boaters more
careful about running over lobster gear is a side benefit.

I have a boat prone to fouling pot warp and only picked up one last
year. The lobsterman was using plastic jugs instead of proper buoys.
One got a hole in it and became waterlogged so the current dragged it
under where it couldn't be seen. It took a good hour and a lot of
hard work to get free.

--

Roger Long

On Sun, 21 May 2006 23:52:26 GMT, "Cap'n Ric"
wrote:

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.

In my experience sailing is not as big an issue as motoring,
especially if you have a folding prop, although you can also catch the
lines on your rudder post. The lobster pots are everywhere, almost
impossible to avoid them all, and sooner or later you will snag one
regardless of precautions. Carry a diver's mask, snorkel, fins and
several sharp knives with lanyards.

Fog is as inevitable as the lobster pots. You will either need to
become comfortable operating in it, or spend a lot more time in port
than you would like. It also comes and goes so total avoidance is
imposssible. That said, sailing in and around Maine's mist enshrouded
small islands is absolutely part of the charm and will become one of
your best memories.

It's been said that you can cross some Maine harbors by jumping from
buoy to buoy. But in my last four trips to Maine I've only snagged
three pots. Two came off in less than five minutes with a boat hook.
One had to be cut but I was able to retie it to the buoy.

Ansley's advice is excellent. The simplest thing is to pass close to
the down wind/current side - the same side the buoy stick is pointing.
That will keep you away from the line and the toggle. On this side you
can safely pass a buoy very close - even touch the hull.

While under sail, most pots will slip off, a wrap around your prop is a
whole different problem. If you are motoring among pots, be ready to
slip into neutral and give the stern a kick away. Watch for the buoy to
pop up astern before going back into gear.

While you should be able to avoid night sailing, you aren't likely to
avoid the fog. It's a fact of life. Remember that fog scales up
downwind of an island or peninsula but really piles up on the windward
side. Plan your arrivals accordingly.

Carl

Sometime the fishermen are using toggle between two buoy. That toggle may
have lead in the center to give it some weight for sinking? I do not take
any chances I do not sail in between the two buoys. At time it is hard to
figure out the distance of the toggle. I have contacted fishermen on the
VHF and ask them about the length of the toggles in the area I was in.
Lobster pot floats, toggles and fog are no fun. Most fishermen have their
lobster pots programmed on their GPS and pick up their cages while on
autopilot.
They are used to be alone in their allocated area and when the summer comes
they do not always look on the radar while hosting their lobster cages. So
I leave my radar on watch guard and the VHF on scanning. An hacksaw with a
bi-metal blade and a quality serrated knife are handy to have.
"Carl" wrote in message
ps.com...

It's been said that you can cross some Maine harbors by jumping from
buoy to buoy. But in my last four trips to Maine I've only snagged
three pots. Two came off in less than five minutes with a boat hook.
One had to be cut but I was able to retie it to the buoy.

Ansley's advice is excellent. The simplest thing is to pass close to
the down wind/current side - the same side the buoy stick is pointing.
That will keep you away from the line and the toggle. On this side you
can safely pass a buoy very close - even touch the hull.

While under sail, most pots will slip off, a wrap around your prop is a
whole different problem. If you are motoring among pots, be ready to
slip into neutral and give the stern a kick away. Watch for the buoy to
pop up astern before going back into gear.

While you should be able to avoid night sailing, you aren't likely to
avoid the fog. It's a fact of life. Remember that fog scales up
downwind of an island or peninsula but really piles up on the windward
side. Plan your arrivals accordingly.

Carl

I have a Beneteau 461 and have sailed from Alaska down to Mexico. I
mention this only because the trip requires you to travel through crab
pots, commercial salmon nets, fog, and tuna lines in Mexico.

My experience was that no matter how hard you looked, you were going to
"find" a float that you could not see. As a result you needed to
assume you would get caught and have a plan. Most of the time you
could put the engine in reverse and free your self. In mexico I got a
nylon tuna line wrapped around the prop. With mask, fins and a knife I
tried for 30 minutes to dive under the boat and cut the line, which had
literaly melted on the shaft. With a one knot current, there was no
way you could swim to the prop, make any kind of cut and then get back
for air. Based on this I believe for both coastal and open water
sailing I need a "small" scuba air tank so that I can get down, fix the
problem, and get back out. The "spare air" tanks cost less than $150.
Money well spent. In Maine your going to need at least a 5 mill wet
suit to get in the water to untanggle your prop

Some other options that you might consider are a prop cutter or a hook
knife.

http://www.quickutter.com/

http://www.captnhooksolutions.com/index.html

Regarding the fog, several of the new VHF radio's come with a "hailer"
/ fog horn option. I found mine to be extremely helpful. If you don't
have this then you will be using a "bell" every 60 seconds, even when
on the hook. No one is going to hear your bell over their engine.

-Mark
www.goreads.com

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

====

Charles T. Low
www.boatdocking.com

====

"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.

what about a line cutter??