Lobster Pots !!

[Budgieboy]

Dont you just hate them , if thats what they are !!!

Had a run down from Brighton in strong conditions with driving rain heading for the Solent , dodging them all day long , then look over the top too see one without a flag just disappearing under the bow !! boat speed goes from 7kts to 6 to 5 to 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 !! bit buggered and single handed with a Bav 38 2 miles off the coast and 3 mile west of Shoreham , cant see it but it has got me , turn the boat South and out it pops whats left of it , then the wind blows me onto it again !! flip the rudder and get away from it !! now dont want to go too far from home so decide to head into Littlehampton , prop sounds fine and think it got around the keel , get moored up and have a look at the keel bolts all look fine but then get holed up in Littlehampton with the weather !!! ........... why do we do it ? ...............

 

[Seven Spades]

Interesting idea, shooting the entrance of Littlehampton with a possible engine problem. You must have been pretty sure it was all OK then.

 

[Seajet]

I have long said that laying nearly invisible lobster pots - especially in busy channels - is pretty much akin to manslaughter.

I have never seen any on the British south coast with a danbuoy, and the French use blag flags which isn't an awful lot of use at night !

I'm not keen on even more legislation but this is a subject where if people won't behave responsibly to others they will have to be legally forced; ' professional seamen " my transom !

 

[Budgieboy]

No was not sure till I got the engine going and drive from it , let the prop spin about 1/2 a mile off and all sounded fine , so had searoom to get back out , then got a bit of drive off the engine and dropped sail all looked and sounded fine so headed in and still here !! ...........

 

[rotrax]

I have long said that laying nearly invisible lobster pots - especially in busy channels - is pretty much akin to manslaughter.

I have never seen any on the British south coast with a danbuoy, and the French use blag flags which isn't an awful lot of use at night !

I'm not keen on even more legislation but this is a subject where if people won't behave responsibly to others they will have to be legally forced; ' professional seamen " my transom !

It seems a bit odd, but when night fishing for tench with a float it was always better to use one with a big black tip. It showed up much better than any other colour-even so called luminous ones.

 

[webcraft]

I have long said that laying nearly invisible lobster pots - especially in busy channels - is pretty much akin to manslaughter.

erm . . . manslaughter only happens when you kill someone. How long a list can you provide of people who have died because of a rope round the prop?

Let's have a bit of perspective on this.

- W

 

[Seajet]

Webcraft,

well there are quite a few, ( I know that's not an accurate figure, look it up as I can't be arsed and pot lines are a bloody obvious hazard ).

 

[cryan]

The man is trying to make a living. If you keep a good watch you should be able to avoid his gear.

 

[dylanwinter]

The man is trying to make a living. If you keep a good watch you should be able to avoid his gear.

they got me twice

one of the reasons for going to an outboard

I feel much safer

don't even eat crabs or lobsters

D

 

[Fascadale]

Here we go again

There have been one or two great threads about this over the past few years.

This was a good one nn(11 pages)

I particularly like the comment in post 97, page10 where the poster states ""Through this discussion, and after thoughtful analysis we realized that fishermen are a category who only take from a system without returning any value back to the system they extract resources from, and therefore on a biological basis they can be classified as parasites."

I enjoyed this thread nn(7 pages)with the dastardly suggestion that some fisherman put razorblades in their buoyropes.

 

[Tranona]

Webcraft,

well there are quite a few, ( I know that's not an accurate figure, look it up as I can't be arsed and pot lines are a bloody obvious hazard ).

For once you are ALMOST right. There have been deaths (or at least one) as a consequence of a yacht catching a lobster pot.

HOWEVER, the real cause was the stupidity of the person in going over the side to try and free it rather than waiting out the tide and calling for assistance. No excuse as he was in almost hailing distance of land, and the lifeboat station. Instead his wife had to call the coastguard to pick his body out of the sea after the boat smashed his head in.

Listened to it all on the VHF and saw the helicopter deliver the body to Poole hospital.

So, look forward to you getting off your A*** and justifying your "quite a few".

 

[Uricanejack]

Don't have to deal with lobster pots.
Crab pots just as bad. Been stuck on one with a 2kn current it was a !@#$% to get clear of.
not round the prop but between keel and rudder.
I just completed a trip up the west coast against F5 F6 at times and every time I came inside the 20 fathom line the sea was full of pots.
I found it quite a worry. esspecialy at night. went well off but still came to close for comfort to a few.
can't say I've heard of any death's.

 

[Contest1]

Just cut one away that caught round my rudder last time out. Was sailing beween the Skerries islands but luckily at the top of the tide with light winds so no big deal.
While I was cursing the pot I remembered the two Skerries pot men that were lost season before last, thier bodies were not found for a week or so. Just said a prayer for them and sailed on.

 

[macd]

We wholly endorse Budgieboy's comments.

Mac
Chairman, Lobster Liberation Army.

P.S. However, our fraternal comrades in the Cuttlefish Workers' Front are entirely opposed to budgies.

 

[tokoloshe]

erm . . . manslaughter only happens when you kill someone. How long a list can you provide of people who have died because of a rope round the prop?

Let's have a bit of perspective on this.

- W

+1

Parasites or part of a sustainable food chain? Fishermen are no more parasites
than oil and other companies who extract diminishing resources on our behalf.

Parasites? The "professionals" who spoil fishing villages such as Beadnell in
Northumberland, who live on holiday housing estates, bring their groceries from city
supermarkets and then dictate village development to the fishing families who have
lived there for generations.

 

[Talbot]

..............I'm not keen on even more legislation but this is a subject where if people won't behave responsibly to others they will have to be legally forced; ' professional seamen " my transom !

There is already appropriate legislation in place in the solent. This does not stop he most irresponsible of these potters. If the legislation is to be enforced, we as skippers need to report the offence, and the authorities need to enforce it. However, unless you catch the potters red handed, how do you prove that they are responsible.

I blame the GPS for this problem. Today's potters set in the coordinates of their pots and go directly to it. Thus the pot buoy becomes very small and almost hidden. In the old days, the Decca got them to within visual range (sometimes) and decent flags were needed to locate the buoy.

 

[prr]

Dont you just hate them , if thats what they are !!!

Had a run down from Brighton in strong conditions with driving rain heading for the Solent , dodging them all day long , then look over the top too see one without a flag just disappearing under the bow !! boat speed goes from 7kts to 6 to 5 to 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 !! bit buggered and single handed with a Bav 38 2 miles off the coast and 3 mile west of Shoreham , cant see it but it has got me , turn the boat South and out it pops whats left of it , then the wind blows me onto it again !! flip the rudder and get away from it !! now dont want to go too far from home so decide to head into Littlehampton , prop sounds fine and think it got around the keel , get moored up and have a look at the keel bolts all look fine but then get holed up in Littlehampton with the weather !!! ........... why do we do it ? ...............

If you cant keep a proper lookout day or night you shouldn't be at sea. End of story.......

 

[Neeves]

The one thing I do not understand

If a fisherman loses his pot (and catch because someone drives over the float, gets caught and the cuts it free) is there not a lesson to be learnt that a better marked pot might be a better investment?

Either fishermen are rich, pot markers are actually not a hazard (and losses overstated), pots and markers cheap or???

Jonathan

 

[macd]

If you cant keep a proper lookout day or night you shouldn't be at sea. End of story.......

You must be joking. Spot pot markers (even if present) at night? Often impossible.
(That's said, my practice is usually to sail far enough offshore on dark nights for the likelihood of pots to me slight-to-none, but that's not much of an option if making landfall.)

 

[Angele]

If you cant keep a proper lookout day or night you shouldn't be at sea. End of story.......

Bit harsh.

No, on second thoughts, very harsh.

OP says driving rain. No flag. (Doesn't say if it was night or day, nor whether the pot marker was clearly visible). There but for the grace of God ...