Private Aids to Navigation

Hey guys and gals just trying to figure out some rules for sailboat racing buoys/markers. Is it considered a private aid to navigation or what would it be classified under? The reason Im asking is that the racing comity decides every year to put their turning point buoy 200 feet outside the entrance to the harbor. It is there day and night regardless of whether they are racing or not, until the end of the race week. I drive ferrys out of the harbor its in front of and it isn’t to difficult to get around it. It does however add another level of complexity to an already clustered entrance. The biggest problem is at night making sure I dont run it over as it has zero reflecting properties and no lights and other vessels that dont transit the harbor 20 times a day not knowing it even exists. I’m not trying to have them stop the racing, just seeing if this is regulated at all before I go to them. This is on Lake Superior. I have CFR 46 1-500/END but I believe this is under CFR 33 and dont have those books yet so its making it harder to find what I’m looking for.
Thanks in advance.

I have a similar issue with crab pot floats in the middle of entrance channels and mooring fields. They are small, half submerged and hard to spot in anything over 1 or 2 foot seas. I don’t begrudge crabbers making a living but do they absolutely have to put them where they are bound to get snagged in a prop and cause damage. I’ve had cutters installed on shafts when I ran private yachts and was constantly in and out of small harbors, often at night when the floats are impossible to avoid. I’ve had crabbers go ballistic and threaten mayhem when their lines get cut. I’ve had sports fishermen sitting in a small skiff on the edge of a channel with their lines stretched completely across the channel wave me away rather than reel in their lines. Maine is the worse place for this. Seems to me this would be a case of impeding navigation and should not be allowed.

The race committee presumably submitted an application to the local CG office for permission for the event, and the buoys. You could talk with the CG office before next years event and request they require reflectors on some or all the buoys. All the details should have been in the local notice to mariners, so everyone is aware of the temporary hazards.

As for the crab pots, when running a ferry, I had 1 guy come up and say he was going to set his pots the next day and asked we not run over them. I replied, don’t put them in our channel, and we won’t. He looked at me like I was talking gibberish. They were, however, carefully placed just outside of our channel, and we didn’t touch any of them all season.

[QUOTE=Lee Shore;186934]I have a similar issue with crab pot floats in the middle of entrance channels and mooring fields. They are small, half submerged and hard to spot in anything over 1 or 2 foot seas. I don’t begrudge crabbers making a living but do they absolutely have to put them where they are bound to get snagged in a prop and cause damage. I’ve had cutters installed on shafts when I ran private yachts and was constantly in and out of small harbors, often at night when the floats are impossible to avoid. I’ve had crabbers go ballistic and threaten mayhem when their lines get cut. I’ve had sports fishermen sitting in a small skiff on the edge of a channel with their lines stretched completely across the channel wave me away rather than reel in their lines. Maine is the worse place for this. Seems to me this would be a case of impeding navigation and should not be allowed.[/QUOTE]

York lobstermen blame surprise arrival of federal research ship for loss of thousands of dollars of trapshttp://bangordailynews.com/2014/06/10/business/york-lobstermen-blame-surprise-arrival-of-federal-research-ship-for-loss-of-thousands-of-dollars-of-traps/

Wasn’t lobstah a poor man’s dinner at one time?

[QUOTE=catherder;186961]York lobstermen blame surprise arrival of federal research ship for loss of thousands of dollars of trapshttp://bangordailynews.com/2014/06/10/business/york-lobstermen-blame-surprise-arrival-of-federal-research-ship-for-loss-of-thousands-of-dollars-of-traps/

Wasn’t lobstah a poor man’s dinner at one time?[/QUOTE]

When I was up there, they were pushing so they could set 1200 traps per permit instead of 800 and make the situation even more ridiculous. And this dipshit wants to be paid for his lost traps. Too fucking bad, asshole. Don’t set them in the middle of a channel 10 feet apart and bitch when somebody snags one.

And yes, I’ve heard that poor folk got so sick of eating lobster every night that they bitched. Same thing happens on a salmon fishing boat in Alasky so that you’ll be happy to pay 15 bucks for a moldy hamburger on a stale bun.

You call the guy who lost his gear an asshole, but apparently you did not read the article, fucking jackass.
The guy wasn’t fishing in a channel with traps set 10’ apart. The NOAA people knew that if given notice that the fishermen would not set their gear where the survey would be happening. The notice was never sent out and the article states this.
So on behalf of all hard working Maine lobster men and women, “Fuck you chummy”

here is the statement I referred to:

Rear Adm. Gerd Glang issued this statement on Wednesday:

“The NOAA Ship Ferdinand R. Hassler is conducting hydrographic surveys in the Northeast this year, to update nautical charts, under the management of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey. The Hassler had to undergo repairs this spring, which caused us to change the timing of some of our projects. We failed to notify the Maine lobstermen of the schedule change, and I sincerely apologize to them.

.

[QUOTE=Flyer69;186983]You call the guy who lost his gear an asshole, but apparently you did not read the article, fucking jackass.
The guy wasn’t fishing in a channel with traps set 10’ apart. The NOAA people knew that if given notice that the fishermen would not set their gear where the survey would be happening. The notice was never sent out and the article states this.
So on behalf of all hard working Maine lobster men and women, “Fuck you chummy”[/QUOTE]

I did not read the article because the link went to a video with text grayed out and I didn’t jump through the hoops to bring it to light. My bad. It looks like this guy does have a legitimate claim against NOAA.
As I’ve said, I don’t begrudge anyone making a living from fishing. My problem is with those who make it impossible to navigate in a channel or mooring field without snagging their gear. It’s not limited to Maine, but I’ve seen more of it there than anywhere else.

That’s funny, I had no problem reading the article. And I know personally a lot of lobster fishermen in Maine who work together with commercial shipping, pilots, and others to come to an understanding.

[QUOTE=Flyer69;186983]You call the guy who lost his gear an asshole, but apparently you did not read the article, fucking jackass.
The guy wasn’t fishing in a channel with traps set 10’ apart. The NOAA people knew that if given notice that the fishermen would not set their gear where the survey would be happening. The notice was never sent out and the article states this.
So on behalf of all hard working Maine lobster men and women, “Fuck you chummy”[/QUOTE]

This is correct. The fishermen were not notified. The ball was dropped.

The situation sucks for both groups, but the way I see it is that NOAA isn’t compelled to have to notify them and it’s public waters. They should try to notify, and they’re certainly being good neighbors for trying to and for reimbursing for lost traps. Yea it’s not in a channel, but it’s still public waters that are being obstructed, and any time you leave anything unattended in public you are knowingly taking a risk.