Coiled and Stored

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Coiled and StoredLine, lobster pot warp, coiled and stored in the Port of Galilee, Narragansett, Rhode Island

Slightly Blue Line

Slightly Blue LineLine, lobster pot warp, coiled and stored in the Port of Galilee, Narragansett, Rhode Island

Randomly Not So Random Coiling

Randomly Not So Random CoilingLine, lobster pot warp, coiled and stored in the Port of Galilee, Narragansett, Rhode Island

On the waterfront there is always seeming randomness. That is a fallacy. Everything has an order. Everything on the waterfront has a nomenclature. And there is reason behind the way things appear at the docks.

Take rope for example. Rope is not rope; it is line. In some cases, it is warp. In the cases shown, it is pot warp (used for lobster traps).

Warp, when speaking of 'rope' on the water is something attached to a fixed point on one end. In the case of a lobster trap (or lobster pot), one fixed end is on the trap and the other on a surface marker buoy.

The usage of the line also dictates the materials used. Pot warp is no exception. In the case photographed, is a high strength monofilament polypropylene blend. This has a much tighter twist that regular polypropylene ropes. This structure makes the line ideal for fishing and lobstering.

The construction of the line also dictates (to a certain extent) how the line coils down. There is a natural coil that will follow the plait of the line. Because the line has been in the water, there is a certain degree of marine growth that stiffens the line. Ultraviolet light also splinters the surface of the line to a degree. As the line follows its coiling, stiffness causes aberrations in the finish of the coil down. This gives the abstracted view of the line that seems like disorder. But we know that order is as it should be.

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