This ended up putting us side-to the current with our beloved cable tending transversely under the keel. Minding her cable, the 49 crawled ahead and we weighed anchor. Several harmless kinks and an old splice passed by before a huge snag brought us to an abrupt halt. A jumbled mess of rope, chain, fishing tackle, dead fish, and small anchors was at the forward snatch block, and extended out of sight into the murky, coffee-colored water. Once again, Whitbeck held the boat in place, while several people hung over the side phlegmatically dissembling the foul wad, and bringing it aboard piece by piece.
Big fishhooks hiding in the tangle are singularly dangerous.
This usually puts a person out of commission for a few minutes. Now in the shadow of Elbow Light, amidst the cluster of little boats, we found the cable separated at another old splice under the obstruction. It was probably no-where near us since our end maneuvered independently with the 49. We marked our termination with fenders labeled USCG do not disturb , released it with plenty of line, and planned to return as soon as possible with 400 feet of new cable to splice in and run the remaining distance to the power source at Elbow. The marker was gone several days later upon our return, and two day s worth of dragging, with two boats, failed to yield the correct segment.