Posts from — March 2009

In 2002, the Coast Guard reported 124 collisions with submerged objects, causing 27 injuries and four deaths and an estimated $954,582 in property damage.

Furthermore, the Coast Guard statistics showed that 58% of those collisions occurred in boats between 16 feet and 26 feet in length.

Sixty-one percent (61%) of all boats in these types of collisions were deemed “open boats”. An “open boat” is defined as a “ Craft of open construction specifically built for operating with a motor, including boats canopied or fitted with temporary partial shelters.”

To clarify, let us look at the other major participant in collisions with submerged objects, garnering the dubious score of 23% of all collisions. These boats were classified as “cabin motorboats”. Cabin motorboats are “Motorboats with a cabin, which can be completely closed by means of doors or hatches. Large motorboats with cabins, even though referred to as yachts, are considered to be cabin motorboats.”

Open water doesn’t mean unobstructed water

There is a falsity in our collective understanding of what open water is, and is not.

Open water or blue water, is not readily defined in the major boating texts (Dutton, Chapman’s). However, the collective broad understanding of these terms mean that when one is in open or blue water they are “off-shore” and in deep-water.

Coastal waters are near-shore and considered to have shallows and as such are to be obstructed. In many coastal waters, draft is a major concern, and thus boaters pay just little more consideration to where they are operating, hopefully.

But are open waters really open? The answer is clear. NO! Blue water is cluttered. It has a wide array of debris floating both on the surface, as well as partially or fully submerged. Logs, lumber, plastics, and containers (from 10 feet long to over 40 feet in length) are just some of the items floating about on the great blue ocean. By the way logs, lumber, and plastics also float about in coastal waters as well!

If this is the case, then it behooves all boaters to be extremely wary of our waters. Traveling at high speed and connecting with a submerged object is akin to riding your bicycle and hitting a rock. The bicycle bounces, and more times than not, you end up fall off. When your boat hits an object, depending on its mass, your boat can react in one of several ways.

Newton’ First Law of Motion: An object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion at a constant velocity unless acted upon by another force.

First and foremost the boat will decelerate quickly. This will cause all passengers and object that are not tied down to continue in the direction they were traveling, at the same velocity. These people and objects will then either make brute force contact with parts of the boat, the other objects or sail right over the boat, ending up in the water.

Secondly, the boat may itself become airborne. There is no way to predict how your boat may react to being airborne, but it’s quite possible that it could invert; landing upside down and automatically capsizes.

Thirdly, and needless to say, not the last possibility is that the boat will just sink, quite possible as fast as the Titanic.

The Coast Guard advises the boating public that your safest and best source for calling for help is your marine VHF radio. The reasons are many, but high up on the list is the possibility of other boaters hearing your distress call and responding and/or assisting in getting help. No one, with the exception of the party you called can hear a cell phone conversation!

Ever watch a new boater approach a dock and try to throw a line to someone on land. Usually they bunch up the line and try throwing it. And usually it is a disaster. Funny, but line is hard to push.

So, you need to know how to coil line properly.

Laid Line

This type of line has a natural twist built into it. Consequently, you should always coil this line clockwise, the way it was laid. Otherwise it will kink, buckle and tangle. Always start with the secured end and work toward the free end of the line. This will ascertain that any twists will go out the end.

Start by holding the line in your left hand and with an even sweep with your right hand feed the line to your left and hold the coil with your left. If you use an even sweep of the same length the coil will be nice and even.

Braided Line

Unlike Laid Line there is no built in twist, so you must add a twist when you do your sweep. With your fingers you simply add a clockwise twist to the braided line. Do not let the coil start to develop a figure 8.

Don’t try to wind up the line over your elbow.., unless you are rolling up a clothesline.

For both types of line get in the habit of coiling clockwise, no matter what type of line you are using.

Stowing Lines that are Coiled

The most universal way to stow a coiled line is to take an arm’s length of the end and wrap it around the coil with four or five wraps. Using the rest of the free end of the line, make a loop, pass it through the entire length of the coil, and then take the loop up and over the entire end of the coil. This will lock the coil tightly. Now it can be hung up and allowed to dry.

Found a great article on the eHow site that  describes the process to obtain a NJ Fishing License in easy to read step-by-step fashion.

Here’s the article, enjoy!

http://www.ehow.com/how_5108883_nj-fishing-license.html

Introduction

This simplified guide is intended to teach the fundamentals of the proper aeration techniques in keeping live bait, and “catch & release” fish, alive and healthy in live wells.

The advantages as well as disadvantages of many types of aeration will be discussed.

Understanding the Concept of Aeration

There are many misconceived ideas about aeration.

Two common fallacies are:

• Large live wells are required to sustain a large quantity of fish.
• Large live well pumps are needed to move large quantities of water through the live well to keep live bait and fish alive.

To understand what is really needed in proper aeration, it is best to take a look at ourselves.

FACTS:

If we were enclosed in a large airtight room we would be able to breathe for many hours before we would consume all the oxygen.

If we were in an airtight closet, the oxygen would be consumed a lot quicker.

If we were swimming underwater without a snorkel, the oxygen in our lungs would be gone very quickly.

In all cases, without additional oxygen we would expire!

However, we could stay alive indefinitely, if we could use a breathing tube or snorkel that was in contact with outside fresh air or oxygen. It would not matter about the size of the container that enclosed us.

An aerator is to a fish, what a snorkel is to us!

Size of Aerators and Snorkels

FACTS:

It is more difficult to breathe through a straw than through a large snorkel.

A small or ineffective aerator cannot provide as much oxygen in the water as a larger or more effective one.

If an aerator can provide enough oxygen in the water for the fish to breathe, it doesn’t matter how much water surrounds the fish! The only reason that water must be changed occasionally in live wells is to remove ammonia caused by fish poop!

Basic Requirements of Aeration

There are three major considerations in aeration:

• The gentleness and direction of water flow
• The size and amount of the air bubbles
• Gentleness and direction of Water Flow

Delicate bait such as shad, greenbacks, and white bait will not survive a day of fishing unless the water flow in the livewell is soft and gentle. Turbulent water will damage the bait and force them to work against the current.

Ideal water flow within a live well should be approximately 1 to 2 MPH. And in a circular motion. This will allow fish to school and provide a smooth flow of water over and through their gills. If the water flow is excessive, bait will tire quickly and will not be lively.

Size and Amount of Air Bubbles

Take a look at the air bubbles produced by an aquarium aerator. Watch how quickly the bubbles rise to the surface. They provide little aeration, but are aesthetically pleasing to watch. Bubbles must remain contacting the water, if they are to do the job properly. A good rule of thumb is: The smaller the bubble, the longer it will remain suspended in water to dissolve.

A Lesson in Air Bubbles

The smaller the air bubble, the more slowly it will rise, giving it more time to dissolve in the water.

Due to the higher density of salt water, air bubbles are usually smaller in salt water than in fresh water.

A large 20mm bubble has a volume of 4.19 cm3, and a surface area of 12.6 cm2.

You could make 260 small 3mm bubbles from the large bubble. They would have a total surface area of 83.6 cm2. This is 6.6 times the surface of the 20mm bubble.

The small bubbles, can theoretically aerate 6.6 times as much water with the same amount of air.

Knowing the importance of air bubble size, the effectiveness of different aerator systems becomes readily apparent!

Livewells

Livewells come in many shapes and sizes. Oval or round tanks provide the best circulation. However, rectangular or square wells are satisfactory if there is a directional discharge into the well. The directional discharge will induce the more desirable circular motion.

Spray Bar Aerators

Spray bar aerators add oxygen to the water by jetting small streams of water into the surface. Some air is absorbed into the spray as it passes from the spray bar to the water surface, and when the spray strikes the water surface, air bubbles are injected into the water. For the most part, these bubbles are rather large.

Jets of water from spray bars are generally harsh to delicate bait. Their protective coating and scales are easily removed, and their survival is drastically reduced.

Spray bars are an inefficient aeration system, and should be used only on the hardiest bait.

Air Stone Aerators

Air stone aerators are an inexpensive way to keep bait alive in small containers. They are quiet and gentle, but because their bubbles are typically larger, they need a greater amount of bubbles for a large amount of bait.

Air stone aerators do provide gentle aeration, but they sustain less bait per unit of air than aerators that produce smaller bubbles.

Venturi Aerators

This is the much copied, old aeration technology. They can be purchased as a floating aerator or a bottom aerator with suction cups.

The fast-moving water at the output of the pump creates a vacuum, which suck air into the pump output. This system typically provides larger amounts of smaller air bubbles than previously discussed aerators.

Some models damage bait due to the high speed of water from the pump output.

Thru-Hull Pumps

Thru-hull pumps provide a constant flow of new water into the livewell and eliminate the problems of heat and ammonia build-up. As long as clean water is available, more bait can be placed in a given amount of water than with any of the previously discussed systems. However, when entering water that is less than ideal for delicate bait, care must be taken to secure the intake water. By utilizing a combination of the thru-hull pump with other aeration methods, bait can remain healthy and lively for longer periods of time.