geem
Well-known member
Sailing South from Antigua for the 42nm trip to Guadeloupe we ran over a fishing pot line. We were sailing in 2.2m, 7s interval seas and 25kts of breeze. White horses everywhere and no chance of spotting the 3 tiny white markers on the line 10nm offshore!
We had deployed our Duogen (towed generator) so that caught the line. We had two reefs in the main, mizzen and blade jib doing about 8kts when we hit it the rope. I was down below when the Mrs shouted. I ran up on deck and we dropped all sail. We were caught by the Duogen, putting tremendous pressure on it.
I managed to get the line off the Duogen but the yoke that holds the prop is badly bent. The problem was the line went around the prop in the process of unwrapping the Duogen. I had to go over the side with a serrated knife to clear the prop. That was an experience in the bumpy seas. With a rope around my waist, fins and mask on. It was quite a job to clear the prop. Took about 6 goes diving down to clear enough rope to run the engine. Its a tricky thing to do. You run the risk of tangling in the rope around the prop and in your own safety line. A got hooked up a couple of times. The boat was moving at about 1kt so we must have been dragging the fishing gear with us. Trying to hold on to the boarding ladder even in 1kt is quite hard. I then had to swim hard to grap the rudder then the skeg, then the prop. Once holding on to the prop with one hand, i could cut away the line. There is still a bit of rope around the shaft between the prop and cutlass bearing that I couldn't shift. A job for today.
The serrated knife was super effective. Its not your normal bread knife. A retired diver we met gave them away as gifts to everybody he met. It's a Victronox kitchen knife that is incredibly sharp. They used them as safety knifes as proffessional divers as they are so effective at cutting rope. I now fully appreciate why
We had deployed our Duogen (towed generator) so that caught the line. We had two reefs in the main, mizzen and blade jib doing about 8kts when we hit it the rope. I was down below when the Mrs shouted. I ran up on deck and we dropped all sail. We were caught by the Duogen, putting tremendous pressure on it.
I managed to get the line off the Duogen but the yoke that holds the prop is badly bent. The problem was the line went around the prop in the process of unwrapping the Duogen. I had to go over the side with a serrated knife to clear the prop. That was an experience in the bumpy seas. With a rope around my waist, fins and mask on. It was quite a job to clear the prop. Took about 6 goes diving down to clear enough rope to run the engine. Its a tricky thing to do. You run the risk of tangling in the rope around the prop and in your own safety line. A got hooked up a couple of times. The boat was moving at about 1kt so we must have been dragging the fishing gear with us. Trying to hold on to the boarding ladder even in 1kt is quite hard. I then had to swim hard to grap the rudder then the skeg, then the prop. Once holding on to the prop with one hand, i could cut away the line. There is still a bit of rope around the shaft between the prop and cutlass bearing that I couldn't shift. A job for today.
The serrated knife was super effective. Its not your normal bread knife. A retired diver we met gave them away as gifts to everybody he met. It's a Victronox kitchen knife that is incredibly sharp. They used them as safety knifes as proffessional divers as they are so effective at cutting rope. I now fully appreciate why