Line cutters

[Mel Tucker]

Headed to Maine for summer. Do I need line cutters installed because of all the lobster traps? Any Hatteras owners used line cutters? What are best? Help!!! Mel Tucker

 

[Boatsb]

I just use my teeth.

Sounds like a nice trip. Enjoy it.

 

[Pascal]

I have never made it to Maine but pots around Southern New England and Cape cod can be dense. Hey are more visible than in Florida though

I had Spurs on a boat I used to run. Expensive and we kept shedding parts. I have up and yanked what was left. If I was going to use cutters I'd use the one piece version. Maybe lea effective but if the spurs cant stay on they don't do much

 

[cb48lrc]

We did the Mane trip, would not do it without Spurs.

 

[petewentsailing]

We were in Maine for a month last summer, cutters are a must. The evolution one piece ones worked well for us, but still needed a diver once.

Agree with Pascal about the complexity of the Spurs.

 

[motoryacht lover]

I had Spurs on my boat and experienced what pascal did. I took what was left off. I as of yet have done no boating in Maine so can't speak to whether cutters are necessary.

 

[Pascal]

If you don't run at night and keep your eyes open during the day you shouldn't need cutters whether in Maine, Nantucket sound or the fl keys

At night though, it all comes down to luck

 

[SEVEN]

Sharp knifes work if you don't want the expense.

 

[krush]

Sharp knifes work if you don't want the expense.

zip tie them to the struts?

 

[jrbrein]

We had line cutters on our catamaran while running the ICW for about a year. One of the cutters hit something that forced the cutters to bend on one of the props (cable, metal rod??? who knows?).
We had to run on one engine till we were able to haul out.

I removed them and never looked back. We traveled the ICW for several more years and did a 3 month cruise in Maine. Lots and lots of lobster pots in Maine. The clutter the main channels, moring fields....everywhere! We were contantly moving the boat and covered all of the Maine coast. I only snagged a line once on one of my rudders and it came off easily. You just have to very darn careful and be concentrating hard on where you are going.

I heard stories about some lobsterman using metal cables but I really do not know.

Just my very humble opinion, but I think line cutters and what ever other interations install a false sense of confidence!

Maine - Lots of fog, rocks and lobster pots. You have to be on your game 120% of the time!
It is worth every minut of it. One of the best cruising experiences we ever had!!!!

Jon

 

[Fanfare]

We ran from Ft. Lauderdale to Nova Scotia and back without any line cutters. Before we left I wanted to install Spurs but found that there was not enough room between the back of the strut and the prop to fit one in. Since the alternative was two new stub shafts I decided to skip it.

While there were thousands of crab or lobster pots (deepest found was at 576 ft!) we only hit one on the whole trip and this one bounced off the bow and caused no trouble. Many floats were actually in the channel and near navigational buoys. (Reminds me of the weekend fishermen anchored in the dredged and clearly-marked channel who seem to expect me to somehow go around them.) Fog sort of becomes good news because I had to slow down which makes it easier to avoid the pots. I got great abs from constantly leaning over to switch the autopilot to"dodge." One result of this trip was my decision to add a hand-held remote to my Simrad autopilot on the flying bridge which I now use all the time.

After reading this thread I think I might consider the full disk kind of cutters over the Spurs. I did carry a serrated blade bread knife in case I needed to cut some line. I once snagged a great bundle of polypropylene lines out in the open ocean. Had to shut down that engine, sawed the ropes off once back in calm water. A regular knife blade did not work very well as it seemed to bind in the tightly stretched plastic fiber.

We mostly tied up at marinas on this trip because we needed to refuel after a long day on plane. We did arrive at Southwest Harbor, ME, in the dark which was harrowing. That'll teach me! On the whole I would do this trip again without line cutters.

 

[Pascal]

One thing I try to carry on board is a bicycle helmet. Protects your head if you need to go under and it's not calm enough