PSA: Watch out for old logging cables in shallow water

We were working a small river cleanup job near the old mill in Augusta, Maine, when the cutter head just stopped dead. The whole rig shuddered. I shut it down and we pulled up the ladder. Wrapped around the head was about 30 feet of rusted steel cable, probably left from a log drive decades ago. It took me and my deckhand three hours with bolt cutters and a torch to clear it all out. Anyone else run into this kind of hidden junk in supposed 'clear' channels?

3 comments

3 Comments

williams.kim3mo ago

Seriously, that sounds like a pretty normal day on the water to me.

irismartinez3mo ago

My last trip out I spent three hours just trying to untangle a fishing line. So yeah, my normal is basically a comedy of errors.

lopez.simon2mo ago

So what's the worst tangle you've ever had to deal with... like a full on bird's nest in the reel, or just a few bad knots? Some days it feels like the line has a mind of its own.