People often ask me if their boats need sea strainers. They usually follow up with “My boat was not equipped with one from the manufacturer.” One of the first things I ask is: Do you boat in waters that have seaweed or turtle grass? If the answer is yes, than I strongly recommend adding a sea strainer.
Most high-performance powerboat manufacturers today install sea strainers. This is very important on boats with hull-mounted water pickups as they scoop surface water. The vast majority of debris picked up is usually on the surface. That is not to say that only boats with hull-mounted pickups are prone to picking up contamination—any boat can be subjected to water starvation as a result of debris entering the seawater system.