Declaration of War

[aod]

That's it. I have had enough!!!!!

I am sick to the back teeth of these bloody 5 to 25 gallon blue unlit plastic containers often bridled to each other going to a central line with a poxy lobster pot and blooming great anchor attached.

I have been caught three times all together twice at night and once during a bumpy day. It's cost me a ripped off rudder in the Needles Channel on a spring ebbing tide in a SW F6 when I got carried across the Shingles and nearly lost the boat having hit a blue 50 gallon drum laying to tide under the surface.

Another wrap in the Round the Island race when the bugger had about 100 metres of rope ina huge bight just waiting to get me or someone else and thirdly two unlit 5 gallon drums in a bridle outside Deauville which wrapped neatly around the rudder at 2am subsequently necessitiating a lift and rudder inspection and I've now had enough.

Unlit indistinctive lobster pots are now fair game.

This is war!

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[Ohdrat]

Just so long as it doesn't interfere with the supply of Lobsters for me...

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[Mike2822425]

See my "Friggin in the Riggin" it seems to be we may be on the same wavelength!!!

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[Ohdrat]

Re: is this the makings of a fleet? nm

.

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[aod]

Re: is this the makings of a fleet? nm

Yep! We could have a pot Armada, scissors at the ready!

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[townquay]

Brave man ! I wouldn't fancy using the Needles Channel in a spring ebb in a F6! (i.e. wind over tide) I'm a bit of a coward & would have scuttled to the north channel and got stuck on the myriad of pots there.

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[tony_brighton]

Have you reported to the CG or MAIB?

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[steve_cronin]

When these effin stoopid fisherfolk.....

... get the message that their dangerous exploits result in the loss of their beloved/vital tools of the trade m'dear expensive lobster pots (plus the caught contents) maybe they'll stop talking about "bloody yotties cutting off our livelyhood just for their pleasure" on Ch6 and get the message that if you act the way they do IT WILL ALWAYS result in the loss of their gear.

We aren't tourists we're legitimate users of the sea and we don't need dangers like unmarked or submerged pot markers. There should be a standard un iversal marking system. Then it would be reasonable to expect non-fishing seafarers to keep clear and maybe even impose some sort of penalty for damaging a properly laid fishing facility.

If I park my car around a blind bend, in the middle of a well used road and leave it there in all weather conditions, should I be surprised that someone runs into it?

Steve Cronin

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[oldgit]

So your part time hobby takes precedence over someone earning a living./forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

<hr width=100% size=1>My little Princess/forums/images/icons/laugh.gifthe 33 of course.Shame its not just a bit bigger.

 

[Robin]

The prats laying black plastic can markers are not professionals earning a living, more likely ignorant amateurs or black economy fishermen supplementing social security money. These are unmarked, no name or number id. Going from Lymington to Poole last Sunday we saw a number of these between Lymington and Hurst, more in the North Channel and again over Christchurch ledge. There were also properly marked ones with fluorescent pink buoys and or flag markers, the latter were mostly home made at low cost other than time. I love lobsters and have a lot of respect for genuine fishermen and the job they do, I have nothing but contempt though for idiots that make no attempt to avoid risk to others.



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[steve_cronin]

Even if they are \"earning a living\"....

They have no right to endanger navigation.

If "oldgit" is suggesting that they have some sort of "hard working artisan" precedence he is WRONG.

You might just as well suggest that road transport operators be given precedence on the roads and that say "Give Way" signs don't apply to them.

Professional or not, putting unmarked dangers in the way of navigation is reckless and could be proved negligent in the case of an insurance claim.

As I said in another posting, if there were some sort of internationally recognised put marker with a standard method of tether then I would be all for it. Generally french pots are marked with long black poles with black triangular flags atop. Black is recognisable against a disturbed sea and the height of these makes them visible from quite a distance but sadly, even these are getting rarer in french waters now.

Steve Cronin

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[Metabarca]

Re: Even if they are \"earning a living\"....

Up (down?) here in the Adriatic, pots are marked with high poles decorated with tatters of plastic and some of that orange webbing used as fencing on building sites (and probably originating from same). Extensive mussel beds are marked with large alternating black and orange drums and a flashing orange light at the corners. No problem, but then we don't get the seas you have there.

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[Shanty]

How about ......

Fitting yachtie sized version of the paravanes that used to be used by minesweepers. For aod they could be fitted with cutters. For oldgit they could be designed to push the pot markers aside. Wouldn't deal with great swathes of floating line, but might shift some of the offending markers.

Alternatively, how about an air rifle and some target practice?


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