Why Dodge Pots? Author: Lawmakers discuss the idea of lobster and crab fisheries with fewer vertical lines For Kim Sawicki, the issue of props being fouled in crab and lobster pot lines has been personal for years. She grew up sailing in Connecticut, where her job was to spend endless hours sitting on the bow as the lookout. And, about 20 years ago, friends of hers aboard a 47-foot Pacemaker could’ve been killed after entangled lobster-pot lines pulled the boat’s props together. “The lines basically split the boat in half and it sank, right in Long Island Sound, off of Stonington, Connecticut,” Sawicki says, adding that her friends did make it to safety. “It took five minutes. People don’t realize it can happen that fast.”