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Kelp cutters ahead of your fin stabilizers.

Discussion in 'Stabs, Tabs & Gyros' started by RyanThorburn, Dec 29, 2025 at 12:23 AM.

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Do you have kelp cutters ahead of your fins

This poll will close on Jan 28, 2026 at 12:23 AM.

  1. Yes

  2. No

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  1. RyanThorburn, Dec 29, 2025 at 12:23 AM
    #1
    RyanThorburn

    RyanThorburn New Member

    Joined:
    Yesterday
    Messages:
    1
    Location:
    British Columbia
    I have a new to me Rhapsody Lifestyle est 2023 58’ Bruce Kelly designed trawler splashed in ‘84 in Sarasota Fla and it has done numerous trips to Alaska and south through the canal. It has active fin naiad stabilizers and knife Sharp kelp cutters ahead of it. The problem is I’ve lost my second one so far in two years. Sometimes I just can’t see a log whether it’s partially submerged or I’m travelling at night when I hit a stabilizer kelp protector with a log it tears it off. It is usually stainless thin triangle about a 5 inch triangle with a blade coming down off it screwed to your hall when I knock one off the hull I expose three screw holes into my boat, which have to be plugged immediately. I don’t want to screw my new ones into the hull any more. Should I epoxy a 6 inch triangle of plywood to the hull, fibreglass it maybe and install 3 female bolt receivers to make it sacrificial if I hit another log and there won’t be 3 screw hole torn out from my girls belly. Does anyone have any suggestions? Besides don’t hit logs then I don’t have to sit in the engine room and perform my absolutions to my big fibreglass girl!! Tap the pics and they will become easy to see

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  2. d_meister, Dec 29, 2025 at 12:00 PM
    #2
    d_meister

    d_meister Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2010
    Messages:
    504
    Location:
    La Conner, WA.
    I ran one yacht that had them, and the kelp would sometimes get caught up on the stabilizer behind the Kelp cutter. I wonder how effectively they actually cut kelp in real life. For the most part, if a strand of kelp is perfectly snagged in the middle of it's length, it will hang on and ride, and if it's snagged well away from the center, the long end will drag the short end off. I've run enough yachts with stabilizers up and down the West Coast and in the Salish Sea, that I think kelp is not a huge problem and would just as soon not have them.