I heard about 30 Fathom Doormats while on Grand Manan a couple months ago and paid a visit Claus Wolter, the man behind the company.
Wolter, an accomplished rowing coach both in the US and Canada lives on the island and became interested in making a product from used lobster trap rope.
He explained to me outside his workshop near Grand Harbour that lobster fisherman routinely invest around $100 per trap and if there is any problem even slight with the rope they'll choose to discard it rather than risking losing the trap. This practice creates a problem - tons and tons of discarded lobster trap rope.
The rope used in lobster fishing is high quality and durable so Wolter started thinking of things to do with it. Inspired by creations he'd seen elsewhere he started experimenting with weaving doormats. After much work he developed a method he was happy with and began producing colorful doormats from reclaimed rope.
Each doormat uses between 150 and 180 feet of used rope which is approximately 30 fathoms. Wolter told me that after being profiled in the Chronicle Herald out of Halifax, Nova Scotia he began receiving calls from fisherman offering to donate their used rope rather than discard it.
Wolter sells his doormats at a number of stores in Canada and he can be found every Saturday during the summer at the Grand Manan Farmers Market. He is able to ship his creations to customers in the US so check out his website and help keep discarded rope from being land filled or incinerated.
Subscribe by email
