Dear Martin,

I was in Vilamoura last week and was sorry to have missed you. I continued on toward Tavira and when close hauled in about 25 knots of apparent wind the boat stopped dead in the water and swung stern to. Water started to come into the cockpit over the transom, next action? Actually it was Simon in the water with large parts of my body getting covered in antifouling as I tried to stay under the hull to cut the rope off the prop with my knife.

What would the expert do? Have some concern if it happened in very strong winds or at night.

Regards, Simon Ward.

Hello Simon,

Thanks for your email, I am sorry that I missed you when you were in Vilamoura last week. Yes, bad luck getting a lobster pot line round the prop. I have always dreaded that happening to me on my own, going down under the hull in 25 knots of wind can't have been funny. My normal procedure in weather that is not calm is to drop a line with a weight attached down alongside the tight line that is holding the boat, then hook it with the boat hook from the other side of the line, then with both ends of my rope now on board I lift the offending line at the least to the surface using a winch and fair-lead if necessary. Then cut the offending line with a sharp knife. This frees me to sail the boat into a harbour somewhere where I would anchor in a sheltered place under sail and then dive under the boat to get any of the rope that remains off the propeller.

Whilst I think you showed great courage diving under the boat in those conditions, you would not have been the first person to have been knocked unconscious by the violent movement of the stern of the boat in waves that must have been almost a meter in height. Being on your own, with no one to at the least to hold your unconscious body out of the water until you regained consciousness, you would have certainly drowned. Do please call me next time you are coming to Vilamoura so that we can celebrate your having survived this dangerous situation.

If you are going to do a lot of single handed sailing I recommend that you fit a rope cutter as shown in the photograph to the left.

All the best, Martin.