Motoring / Sailing at night in Maine (on coast not off)

[Joe CD MS 300]

I'm being specific to Maine because of the navigation of lobster pot issue up there.

Having chartered sailboats for 20+ years before buying Quest the contracts always prohibited the operation of the boats between sunset and sunrise so I have no experience at night motoring or sailing save for re-anchoring once. I'd like to at least give motoring at night a shot this season and was thinking I'd try and pick a calm full moon night to head from Linekin Bay around Spruce Point up into Boothbay Harbor and back. How hard do any of you Mainers think it is so see the pots at night. With a full moon I'm thinking it might be easier than when you are heading into a setting sun. If/when you do it do you normally keep a lookout at the bow? I have one of those dimmable red sensibulb fixtures in the pilothouse and a 3 gazillion spotlight if needed. Anything else needed?

Thanks

Joe

[BillyO]

Funny that you mention Booth Bay. I got hung up on a lobster trap line there about ten years ago -- in broad daylight.
Then again, I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Enjoy the daylight. There are some strong currents flowing around the waters of the small islands just South of BBH.
The inside pass over to Barters Island is one area I remember.
Motor up to Wiscasset and have a good meal .. about 8 0r 9 miles.

[Evergreen]

We had to do it several times last season and found it to be a rather difficult and uncomfortable situation. Also consider the difficulty involved in dealing with the situation in the dark if the worst happens.

[Joe CD MS 300]

Philip & Sharon,

I wanted tp try it in my home waters under good conditions just so I would know what to expect if I found myself in a situation where I had to do it.

Was it hard to see the pots? What were conditions like when you had to do it?

Joe

[Evergreen]

Joe:

We were in the area around Mt. Desert in Maine and also on the Chesapeake. Most of the time the moon was fairly full and the winds very light with calm water. We found the pots very hard to see!!

How we dealt with it: We proceeded very slowly and hoped that the slow speed would allow time for the boat to push the buoy out of the way and the attached line to sink slightly before they got back as far as the prop. It seemed to work as we had no bad luck. But as stated before it was not a relaxing or pleasant experience --- especially for me since I was going to be the one that had to dive under the boat in the dark if we snagged one.

[seajunkie]

I was doing a delivery under power between Block Island and Green Port Long Island at night. As soon as we came upon a field of lobster pots someone would stand up on the bow and keep an eye out for them. They are hard to see. If I remember correctly they were usually placed in a line and we could change course to help move out of the way, but then we would run into another line of them.

The most frightening experience for me was when the fog rolled in and we heard the horn of a tug boat. We had a sense of where the tug was, but didn't know its heading and even worse we didn't know where the barge he was pulling was located. The idea of getting caught on the scope of the line between tug and barge, was much more frightening then the idea of hitting a pot.

Good times:)

[Tod Mills]

leaving Rockland and sailing all night out into the Gulf of Maine, past Matinicus Rock. I don't recall seeing ANY lobster pots on the way out. I did see them the next morning on the way back in, though!

What do you mean, they don't take them in at night?

[Evergreen]

Now that you mention it, we have always found the waters well off shore to be clear of pots.

[Joe Montana]

Joe, I'm far from an expert but... I was on one night passage in Maine -- from Robinhood Marine down the Sheepscot River past Seguin Island into the Gulf of Maine. The night was dark and very misty, so we were barely able to see buoys, let alone lobster pots. I have often wondered: Were we just very lucky not to have gotten hung up on a pot (the area is full of them) -- or was all the daylight pot-dodging we did the previous days less critical than we thought? Perhaps a little of both? I was hoping an expert would weigh in on this interesting question.

[Matt Cawthorne]

On my last trip to Maine we ended up motoring the last 5 or 8 miles to Tennents harbor in windy/stormy conditions so that we could get some sleep. Despite our efforts, we could only see the pots in our sidelights at the very last minute. There would be a panic to turn the boat each time. We did not wrap any around the prop. I did notice many, many colored streaks on the hull the next day! I might not worry about sailing in the area of the buoys, but next time I will heave to and wait for daylight if there is any chance that there will be a need to motor.

Matt

[Evergreen]

If you snag a pot while sailing - try unlocking your prop to facilitate its release. That has worked for us.

If that does not work then be ready to drop your anchor since it will be very difficult to turn up into the wind.

[Joe CD MS 300]

I think that Cape Dory's full keels and protected location of the props make it far less likely to snag pots than boats with fin keels and exposed props. In spite if that I'm pretty cautious about avoiding them. I have yet to sang one on Quest (knock on wood) but had three experiences on charter boats. The method os removal in each of the three situations was different.

The first time the prop was still able to turn so I was able to get to an area to anchor. I was able get the line off by putting the engine into reverse for an instant.

The second was snagged while at anchor after swinging over a pot and starting the engine and was locked solid. I this case I hade to dive on the prop (sans wet suit). I think I was on the verge of hypothermia when finished.

The third my son snagged while we were sailing off of Mt Desert outside of the Western Way. Tried to get it off from the dinghy with a boat hook but no luck as it we were bouncing around too much. Probably not a good idea to get knocked unconsious under the boat. In this case we sailed toward Southwest Harbor. Before getting into the harbor among all those expensive Hinckleys and unable to manuver well I tied the dinghy (a RIB) along side the hull fore, aft and middle like a tug might do. We me in the dinghy, my wife at the helm and one of the kids at the bow we were able to maneuver the boat to one of Hinckley's moorings. This time it was relatively easy to get the line of after one or two dives. I now carry a wetsuit aboard.

[Steve Laume]

Sailing would seem to be much safer than motoring in our boats.

Knock on wood, I have not wrapped a pot line yet. I have sailed over a number of then with no ill effect other than waking me up a bit.

I have wrapped my prop in the dinghy painter. This was with two crew aboard while anchoring. One was instructed to man the helm and the other was distinctly told to manage the dinghy painter so it would not get sucked into the prop. It was a floating line too. I was on the bow lowering the anchor. It was very hard for me to believe that I was going to have to dive to free our own line when the engine stalled.

I have also wrapped the prop in kelp. This was enough to stall the engine. Restarting and reverse was enough to free it.

If motoring at night you might consider, not only a wet suit, but a mask, snorkel, fins, light weight belt, (it is really hard to work when you keep floating to the surface), an underwater light and a good knife. I might be forgetting a good boarding ladder and a tether line of some sort depending on where you are. Being comfortable with this equipment in the daylight would be a must. Things get a bit spooky for me in the water at night.

Hope for the best, be prepared for the worst.

Night sailing is magical, Steve.

[Vern Campbell]

I have owned my CD25 for 12 years, and sail out of Flanders Bay, Maine, into Frenchman Bay and the Mount Desert Island area. I frequently sail home at night, and in the summertime you can almost walk across the bay on lobster buoys. The lobsters move in during the summer, which is why that is where you find the buoys, rather than offshore which is fished harder in the non-recreational boating seasons.

As far as visibility of buoys at night goes, even with a spotlight they are difficult to see until you are right on top of them. That being said, I have only been hung up twice with the CD25; both times sailing, and both during the day. The first time was in Jericho Bay--my brother in law was at the tiller, and asked if avoiding the buoys was important. I had just got done extolling the virtues of a keel sailboat in a field of lobster buoys when we got hung up. Luckily we were easily freed using the gaff. The second time I was not so lucky. I ended up pulling the outboard up in the well to release the line; not an easy task.

Many of my fin keel boat owning friends seem to have a much more difficult time with the buoys. I guess my advice is to go for the night trips, avoid those buoys you can, and be glad you have a Cape Dory (just don't jinx yourself by talking about it).

[mahalocd36]

Has anyone tried anything similar to this?

http://www.ahoycaptain.com/shop/hookknife.html

We bought something similar and have it aboard - knock wood haven't had to use it yet.

Also, we have a line cutter on our prop installed by the PO. As far as we know that hasn't been used either. Again, Knocking wood. We are pretty careful but there are times you just have to plow through them....
Christmas Cove anyone?

Melissa