Slithering Slipknots

My new favorite task on the boat is working with rope. This winter rope-handling often felt burdensome because there was so much rope (one warp could be as long as 80 fathom or 480 ft). It was heavy to handle especially when wet. However, now that shoaler fishing days have arrived, rope is fun to work with. Little 8 fathom warps are light to coil and many of them will fit in a bundle without it getting too heavy to heave around.

I enjoy making neat, symmetrical coils out of it. I have worked up to the speed of the hauler, which makes things much easier. This winter, an unmanagable tangle would fall beneath Cap's feet as the rope fell on the deck faster than I could coil it. Cap would then step on it as he pulled the trap over the rail, which really stressed me out since it kept me from continuing. But now I have coiling down to a "T." I can now coil a nice tidy warp and then tie it off with ease. It has taken a lot of practice for me to get this skill down.

I also greatly enjoy untying a warp and dropping it to the deck to make a satisfying little thud. Our trap-setting routine is punctuated by such thuds, setting the rhythm of the day. But my favorite part of rope is watching it uncoil after Cap pushes the trap over the rail and the line whizzes off the boat behind it. Sometimes I watch it as I stuff bait bags, just to see what the line does. That perfect little coil becomes alive. It has a life of its own; the movement of that nylon is completely unpredictable. Like a serpent swimming freely, twisting, rolling, stretching, then straightening out. Like a snake awakening from napping in a tight coil, slithering away from its resting spot, then spotting prey. . . stalking. . . and *pop* the line jumps over the rail once the buoy is thrown.

However, the lines aren't always agreeable. In fact they can cause great consternation in a matter of seconds. All it takes is a loop of rope emerging from the bottom and protruding up through the top of the coil on deck. As the line runs overboard feeding off of the top of the coil, it can catch that little loop and pull the whole mess overboard in one swoop, creating a horrible tangle. This is why it's important to drop the coil neatly and examine it for possible mishaps before setting the trap. A little loop can cause a whole lot of trouble.

Rope has a life of its own, but as I become more familiar and experienced in handling it, I am learning to guide it and make the process of setting traps much smoother. This isn't to say that we don't still have tangles once in a while. They are just becoming less frequent and more manageable.