Talked to a retired operator at the diner in Port Townsend and he said something about old dredge cables that stuck with me.

3 comments

3 Comments

Old dredge cables though? Sounds like a wild story but probably not a big deal. Just some retired guy spinning yarns over coffee.

christopher95212d ago

Oh come on now, don't sell the old guy short! Those dredge cables can be surprisingly dangerous, actually. I remember reading about a commercial fisherman down in Florida who got his ankle caught in one and it pulled him overboard before anyone could react. The cables themselves aren't just old rope either, they're often steel wire wrapped in layers of rust and barnacles that can cut through gloves like butter. And if a cable snaps under tension (which happens more than you'd think), it whips around with enough force to break bones. So yeah, maybe the story is embellished a little, but dismissing it as a "yarn" feels a bit unfair to the guy who probably has a few scars to back it up.

joel_brown192mo ago

My uncle swears he pulled up a whole ship's wheel with his fishing line once!