Boating Tip: Keep ropes away from props

For some, this has been a holiday to forget. Worse, tragedy has befallen our fellow boaters. The East Coast Low took the life of sailor Mal Lennon from the vessel Amante, who was returning from the Pittwater to Coffs yacht race.

During the search for the sailor, the yacht M3 Mulberry Racing was disabled after a rope fouled its propeller. The TP52 race yacht subsequently washed up on the beach near Seal Rocks after drifting for 15nm. All crew were safe and the yacht has since been salvaged. But as the Sydney-Hobart records show, disabled engines from ropes are a danger in yacht racing.

A few days later, the Sydney Water Police were attempting to recover a body from a car that drove off Queenscliff near Manly. The Steber police vessel was washed into the rocks where it was pounded for several days to a point that looked well beyond repair. The cause of the disabling was reportedly another rope around the prop.

Over the years, we have heard of many rope around the propeller incidents in boating. Game fishers backing up on hot running fish have suffered the fate after a rope has washed through the scuppers and around the prop. Beware of leaders that do the same thing but have hooks attached that suddenly fly across the deck.

Like all boaters and sailors, our thoughts are very much with the victims of boating accidents. There but for the grace of God go us. But if we can take home one little reminder from these disabled vessels it is this — beware of the rope around your prop.

What's the best advice about rope entanglement? Avoid it all all costs. Always carry dive gear and a knife aboard, but don't go overboard in rough seas either. That is a recipe for disaster, especially with a knife.

It might be a fish trap, a crab pot, a painter on the tender or a line out the back. Stay vigilant and do your best to keep those ropes contained and away from the props, especially in rough seas where green water can wash across the decks and so easily send your ropes astern. Put the tails of your ropes in tailing bins and keep the decks tidy.

Many serious cruising boats in the Northern Hemisphere fit rope-cutters to their props due to the plethora of fish traps in their waters. Locally, there have been increasing calls from cruising sailors for fish traps to be better marked offshore.

A small-boat sinking near Sydney’s Heads in the lead-up to Christmas brought home another reminder about the perils of pulling your anchor rope from a stern cleat. This can drag your transom underway and in seconds the boat can fill and roll. You can also easily foul the propeller and disable your vessel when pulling your anchor rope from astern.

Meantime our thoughts are with the families of those who lost lives and had misfortune befell them during these otherwise glorious boating holidays.