Although the Solent is wide at the western entrance, the main channel, through which the majority of ships and yachts pass, is narrow. Not a piece of water fraught with too many difficulties in benign weather, but strong wind over tide conditions have been known to overcome vessels up to 100'. The perils are there to be read, consult the tidal streams and the charts, sometimes ' here be dragons'. Nevertheless, fishermen find it proper to further hazard shipping by the seemingly indiscriminate distribution in this main channel of pot markers which become buried in the ebb and flood 4 knot tides. This is a selfish act that should result in heavy fines. If my vessel, as a result of being fouled by an unmarked buried pot-marker and its piece of rope, should be damaged, have its rudder torn off, its bracket twisted, its prop shaft drawn, or be sunk by any such deliberately positioned obstuction, who should I turn to for retribution?
Incidently, when we dived on the wrecks at the Needles a few years ago and chained marker buoys to the more prominent lumps, it was the fishermen who bolt-croppered them loose. Why?
There can be no excuse for littering charted shipping channels with unmarked hazards. I wouldn't do it, you wouldn't do it. Why should fishermen be able to?