48www.oceannavigator.comCORRESPONDENCEAvoiding Maine’s warps and togglesA look at theoptions forpreventing asnagged linearound yourpropellerThe Spurs propprotectionproduct uses afixed blade androtating bladefor cutting lines,nets, etc. A linewrapped on theprop canbecome tightenough tocause shaftmisalignment.Prop protectione’ve all had thatexperience, sailingWpeacefully alongon a sunny afternoon incoastal waters, an eye on thesails, thoughts drifting off,perhaps toward the evening’shoped-for destination, whensuddenly — clunk! — yourheadway drops to nothing andthe boat veers awkwardly likea fish caught by the tail.You’ve snagged a lobster orcrab pot in your propeller. Youthen execute a series of futileturns and sail combinations ina feeble, hopeless attempt tofree the wheel, knowing inyour heart that the only thingthat will clear the line involvesyou, a knife clenched betweenyour teeth and getting wetand banged up under therolling hull. You know the lineis a snarled mess around theblades and shaft, extendingWhile not alllobster trapbuoys are setup this way,this arrangementis morecommon indown eastMaine.Thisdiagram,adapted froma sketch doneby yachtdesigner JoelWhite, showsthe safe wayto pass withoutgettingtangled.Cutting bladesAn obvious answer to thepotential of a fouled propelleris to install cutting blades onthe shaft and wheel. The mostvisible brand, Spurs, has beeninstalled on more than100,000 boats around theworld, from small yachts tofull-size ships. Shaft sizes forshaft-mounted cutters rangefrom half an inch to seveninches. <strong>For</strong> prop-mountedblades, the size of the shaft ispotentially unlimited —such that they are installedon vessels over 1,000 feetlong with shafts over two feetin diameter.The Spurs system consistsof two rotating blades thatare clamped to the shaft. Afixed blade is held in place bya V-block which is fastened tothe bearing housing. All ofthe blades are double-sided sothat they will cut whether theengine is running ahead orastern, and for both left-handor right-hand turning proalmostbar-tight, out of sightbelow you to the sea floor.What’s even worse is whenyou’re motoring along and asnagged line violently causesthe motor to stall; the line hasbecome so jammed on theshaft that it has welded itselftogether, and it might behours before you can continueon your course.I’ve fouled a propeller inpot warp or mooring linesmore times than I canremember — both in theopen sea (fishing net) andnear the coast (lobster or crabgear). And although the experiencesrun together, I canclearly remember the awkwardand dangerous experiencethat hacking at a lineunderwater involves.Sometimes there’s noavoiding a snagged propeller,but this story examines severalmethods for avoidingsnags and then,should they occur, whatyou can do to preparefor such eventualitiesand keep yourself andyour boat safe.Clearly, some boatdesigns seem to snag anylobster pot within 30 feetof the boat, almost as ifthey suck them towardthe hull and then into theCourtesy Spurs Marine ManufacturingAlfred Wood/Ocean <strong>Navigator</strong> illustrationTo the editor: With respect toTwain Braden’s recent articleon line cutting devices (Propprotection, July/August 2010,issue #187), I recall the lateJoel White, aby Twain Bradenpropeller. Other boats seemimpervious to catching traps— no matter how many timesyou see the lobster pot slipbeneath the boat and you justknow you’ve snagged one, justas quickly it pops up in yourwake and slips harmlessly past.Pass hereBuoyWarpNo passTideTogglenaval architect atBrooklyn BoatYard in Brooklin,Maine, writing,when I was runningyacht races indowneast Maine,about his concernthat yachtsmendid not understandthe configurationof lobster buoys withthe result that they tendedto snag them. This, ofcourse, leads to the type ofprotection described byBraden in his article.White prepared a diagramshowing the configurationof buoys and lines.He shows a trap with a singlewarp coming to the surface.The important thinghe pointed out is that mostlobster traps (but not all)have two buoys. One isknown as a toggle and theother is a buoy. Between thetoggle and buoy is anotherwarp. One problem withthe toggle is that dependingon the strength of the current,the toggle itself may beslightly or even significantlyunderwater and thereforenot immediately visible.White noted that boththe buoy and the toggle areaffected more by the tidalstream than the wind. Thebuoy and warp will alwaysbe down tide from the trap.The buoy will be down tidefrom the toggle. Between thebuoy andthe togglewill be aNo passwarp. MyownTideobservationisthat manyof thesailboatsthat gethung updo sobecausethey failToggle may besubmergedWarpto see either the gap betweenthe toggle and the buoy orotherwise make the mistakeof attempting to passbetween the toggle and thebuoy. As White’s sketchmakes clear, any attempt topass the toggle on the uptideside will chance entanglementwith the toggle.Even more serious, anyattempt to pass between thetoggle and the buoy willinevitably lead to the warpcatching on the propeller.Obviously, any sailor inMaine waters must watchcarefully for buoys. It ismandatory that once a sailorsees the buoy, he should alsolook for a toggle and in anyevent, always pass on thedown-tide side of the buoy.I believe that if moreyachtsmen understood theconfiguration of the manylobster buoys in Mainewaters and followedWhite’s advice, therewould be far fewer snagson lobster buoys. Therewould also be no need toresort to the highly expensiveand perhaps unnecessaryuse of cutting bladesdescribed by Braden.—Phillip M. Cronin sails his boatCommon Sense out of North Haven,Maine.18 OCEAN NAVIGATOR SEPTEMBER 2010 www.oceannavigator.com
Delivering the queen of the showTo the editor: Many years ago, my wifeCarol and I, had contracted to deliverthe “queen of the boat show,”1,200 miles from San Diego to hernew owner, in Mexico. It was Octoberand there was still danger of a latehurricane, but the route was inshoreand the weather was perfect. Therewas only one catch.Boat-show boats are sometimesshipped prematurely to accommodatea show’s schedule, rather thanwhen they are ready. Aware of that,we ran the engine against the docklinesfor eight hours, while weinspected and tested every part of theboat. We removed building detritusfrom the bilge, inspected the sails andrigging from truck to step. We spenttwo full days preparing and repairingthe brand new boat, even thoughthere were more than 50 hours onthe engine when we took over.Our departure on ThanksgivingDay, from San Diego, was uneventful.The first 100 miles were fast andeasy. With 25 knots of wind behindus, we surfed past Todos SantosIslands and Ensenada. At nightfall,the wind died and we started theengine. John, our crew, noted thatthe running-lights were getting dimmerand dimmer, yet the ammeterindicated the alternator was chargingnormally. Mystified, we checked theentire charging system and couldfind nothing wrong. The lights continuedto dim and then failed, alongwith everything else electrical: HFradio, VHF, bilge pumps, engineinstruments, all navigation instru-www.oceannavigator.comSEPTEMBER 2010 OCEAN NAVIGATOR 19
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