Crab Pots
30 October 2009 | Maryland
John
#$%@!^&*$# Crab Traps
A note about the rivers. Crabbing is not just a business on the Chesapeake, but seems to be a local pastime as well. Maryland DEP has declared a number of the rivers as "crab sanctuaries". The State puts buoys across the mouth of the rivers to show areas beyond which crabbing is not allowed. Soooo, the crabbers put so many traps across the river mouth on the permitted side that a crab cannot enter the river without climbing over, on or besides a crab trap. The crabs go from deep water to the rivers in spring and make the return journey in the fall.
Getting into Rhode River was representative of getting into most Maryland rivers. Jerie is on the bow, binoculars in hand, pointing out the traps. I am at the helm trying to keep Peking from getting tied up in the trap anchor lines. "Over on the left", "dead ahead", "look out to the right", "damn that one was painted the same color as the water" and so it goes. I can imagine a ship trying to get through a mine field in WW II.
We put "Spurs" on the prop shaft when we returned to Georgetown. Spurs are a cutting devise and will sever the trap line before getting tangled in the prop. Until we got the spurs on the boat, treading the trap fields was a stressful and challenging task. Lobster traps are similar threats. Since we got the Spurs it is still stressful since some of these crabbers use wire leads from the buoy to the anchor line (probably just to make the mine field passage a little more exciting)