Are Spurs worth it?

[sailingmonika]

We are buying a 50 ft sailboat in St Petersburg FL that we will be keeping in a charter fleet. During the survey and oil tests they found water in the sail drive so the boat is being pulled to have the O-rings replaced. Our broker suggested that we have Spurs installed. We sailed for many years in New England and never had an issue with fishing line which the broker said can cut the o-rings. I was wondering if the shallow nature of the west coast is a factor in why fishing line could be such a problem. Also am wondering on the approximate cost of having it installed. thanks

[jamhass]

Spurs made our life much easier several times in Maine and in the Sea of Cortez. Don't forget to buy a couple of spare zincs. Folks at the company are very easy to work with, and they can tell you which unit fits your application best and how much.

[moctrams]

Any boater that installs spurs is a total jerk When you cut a crap pot line, the pot sinks to the bottom and the crabs die.

[Happydrv]

Originally Posted by moctrams

Any boater that installs spurs is a total jerk When you cut a crap pot line, the pot sinks to the bottom and the crabs die.

Oh boo hoo….
Better to have it wrap around your shaft and break something a LOT more expensive than a couple crabs....

[donradcliffe]

There are a lot of crab pots on the west coast of Florida. The spurs would probably more than pay for themselves on a bareboat charterboat.

[Dooglas]

Originally Posted by moctrams

Any boater that installs spurs is a total jerk When you cut a crap pot line, the pot sinks to the bottom and the crabs die.

Well, let's review. Crab pots are already on the bottom when they are fishing, they do not sink if they lose their float. All crab pots are required by law to have a "break out panel" which will fail and allow crabs to escape if the pot is lost. And what is your plan to remove 40 or 50 feet of polypropylene line from your shaft and prop several miles off the West Coast of the US in bad weather (the primary crab season here is in the winter)? That could well be a life or death situation.

[michaelratinter]

Crab pots sit on the bottom. Cutting the line prevents the crabber from retrieving the pot. I think one large crab will survive in the pot until it dies of old age.

I don't have spurs or line cutters. I picked up a crap pot last december heading north at night from Santa Cruz, CA to Bodega Bay, CA. It ruined my day but not my boat. I thought about the poor crabs as we cut the pot away.

[billknny]

Originally Posted by moctrams

Any boater that installs spurs is a total jerk When you cut a crap pot line, the pot sinks to the bottom and the crabs die.

A "jerk" would be somebody who deliberately ignored a crab pot because he had a line cutter installed. A smart sailor, sailing in places where pots are common installs a line cutter because he knows it is dangerous to wrap a line around his prop.

Also, not all lines are attached to crab pots. Some are just abandoned and floating nets.

"Fishing line" is relatively rarely a problem, but it does happen.

If the boat is out of the water, a spurs install should take about an hour.

[slug]

Originally Posted by moctrams

Any boater that installs spurs is a total jerk When you cut a crap pot line, the pot sinks to the bottom and the crabs die.

What you say is true

Ghost fishing gear is a menace to sea life

Terribly destructive

I don’t use spurs

I seldom pickup ropes

When I do it’s alway entering. port , making landfall ... at night

Avoid this night work and you avoid ropes and fishing gear

[Dooglas]

I picked up a polypropylene line and float motoring into the anchorage at Anegada, BVI a few years ago. It had apparently broken loose from a fish pot. The float was quite some distance away from my course so there was very little to see. The line melted onto the shaft before I was able to anchor. It took me 2 days to remove it with a hacksaw and serrated knife. Thank goodness I was at anchor so the removal was possible. I would certainly have appreciated a line cutter on the shaft of that charter boat.

[Robert E]

We have had spurs or a similar line culling mechanism on all three of our cruising boats. I believe in the 20,000 km cruising northwest and Mexican waters they might have cut a line once. In my mind this is well worth the maintenance necessary to keep them sharp. Polypropylene, lost fishing gear, illegally placed crab pots and other debris is common especially coastal cruising. A fouled shaft crossing a bar or in bad weather risks the vessel.

The greater loss of crabs and crab pots is from whales. Last year 46 whale entanglements were reported off the west coast. There are new technologies to prevent this and it is time that they be used. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...geness-season/

[Sailing4Jesus]

NOTE: You can please All Sailors Some of the time, and you can please Some Sailors All of the time, but Pleasing All Sailors All of the time is an impossibility.

Senior Chief

[Phyrcooler]

Here’s an interesting review of various cutters I found on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/gU9bwlSTg-s

If the link doesn’t work, it’s from the YouTube channel of the British magazine Yachting Monthly.

I had them on both shafts of my last boat. They were serrated and looked almost like a bicycle sprocket. Can’t attest to whether they worked or not... but I never did have anything wrap - that I knew of.

[sailm8]

I have a line cutter and have had 2 wraps that required me diving and cutting away the line anyway. To be fair I have no idea if it cut lines I am not aware of.

[jewt]

I see a lot of reply's from the west of the US but few from the west coast of Florida where all the waters are FULL of crab and lobster pot , including the Hawk's channel, without any consideration for traffic using the channel. It is a real bi--- trying to navigate at night or any low light time

Jewt,

S/V Bifrost 8
'89 Morgan 44 CC sloop