I am convinced the most dangerous area of my coast is the Eastern side of Swans Island. I don't say that lightly; the last time I caught a pot warp, was about 10 years ago - within a mile of this spot! Plus, in that previous event, we caught it under sail(very, very rare). I remember it well, because our brave-then 14 year old son, dove below and simply pulled it off the blade.

This past season, while sailing from Frenchboro by Swans, I made the mistake of turning on the engine when winds got light(I really should have sailed, winds picked up soon after). With our bronze centerboard down 8', while sailing, I'd watched several toggles do their rapid submersion along our hull when we crossed a toggle. That tells you the current is running hard-warp between buoy and toggles is taut-buoys are submered! NOT a good place to spin a prop.

Minutes after starting the engine, I heard the clunk, looked back and saw buoys racing after me! Oh no!!! Neutral--kill engine. Now what,....

We could see them below and along the waterline(how many were there?!). We've learned not to panic during the drama that inevitably takes place out on the water. Drifting at about a knot and a half along Swans Island through a maze of lobster gear(and dragging several traps I suspect). We have no plan, so here I recollect the Young family reaction:

#1 Let out some slack on the painter and into the dinghy I go, with the boat hook. The dinghy is always behind us and ready to go to work, the boat hook on the cabin top - thick hardwood and bronze end-well fastened.

#2 Boat hook-ing exercise. Lot's of warp that I can see and feel. I can count 2 main buoys and 2 toggle buoys. A lobster boat comes within a 1/4 mile and checks out all the commotion. He gives a distant squint and heads off(not his gear or problem I surmise). I fail to get any movement or slack with the boat hook. I can only pull two warps within a foot of the surface with all my strength(don't try that with one of those Billy-Bob aluminum extender boat hooks).

#3 We need a real knife. The 'sailors knife' at the companionway is kinda dinky and dull(those things are really for show,...) "How about something in the galley?" I ask. Then Mary Ann says, "Hey, what about that folding bread knife Stephen(BIL, non sailor) gave us?" ,... "Yeah, get that thing!" Then MA got in the dinghy with me. We both pulled and levered the warp up toward the surface. Uncle Stephens folding bread knife was like a hot knife in butter through several pieces of tight warp(underwater to boot)! We were free of the gear below and began to pick up speed in our drift.

But the buoys and all the warp were still tight on the shaft/blade....

#4 (we've done this before). I left MA in the dinghy holding the 4 buoys. I lifted the manhole cover in the cockpit and stepped onto the shaft coupling(bigger than a bagel). I tried spinning in one direction-no go-tight as a drum. I turned around in the manhole, and and started to roll it the other way with my feet(think MJ's moondance). It was tight, but then it moved a little! I dug into it with my soles --- it moved a revolution, then I got a few more with even less resistance.

"Hey Tom, they're loose(buoys), I've got them all!" MA said from the dinghy. Sure enough, she had them gathered in the dinghy. We were free, but she felt resistance from the nest of warp and buoys. So I said, "throw them overboard", thinking something must still be attached(as it turned out, they weren't).

We were on our way. Looking at gear(carefully now) on the way out, I could see it was so thick, the current so strong, that much of the gear was tangled between adjacent buoys. This isn't working,...too much gear can't be working all that well for the lobstermen--'come on guys!?'. They probably lose quite a bit in areas like that, inevitable.

So with so few wrap ups with the type of boat I sail, I feel extra sorry for people that have stickier boats right now. It's a nasty business!

We gave Uncle Stephens folding bread knife(made in China I noticed), a good fresh water rinse. I even put a little 3in1 oil on it. Back in the galley drawer it goes. Ready for a baguette, uncork a bottle of wine,... or pot warp.