Prop Walk

 

    In changing out the dripless seal I also turned my attention to the prop.  

    After the shaft removal, I pulled the prop off.  I have a large prop puller I purchased years ago when I owned my larger twin screw boat.  This tool comes in handy, especially when you have "whacked" as many rocks as I have.  With unprotected props in an area of a lot of shallow water like we have here in Crystal River, it happens. I think a puller is by far the easiest way to get a prop off without beating the crap out of it (which again I would not recommend but I did underwater the first time I "dinged" them). 

     My prop puller is for a larger diameter shaft & larger props so I had to use my pipe wrenches as a spacer.  If you are removing the prop while the shaft is still in the boat, after the cotter pin is removed, just back the nuts off & remove only the outer nut but DO NOT remove the inner nut.  I was on the ground so I took both nuts off.  The C Clamp shaped puller has fine threads and applies a lot of pressure to the back of the prop. When it starts to get tough, you do need to take a hammer and whack the handle in the clockwise direction you were turning.  Just when you think it isn't coming off..."BING" it jumps back off the shaft. That is the reason NOT to remove the nut.  I have done this under water & the last thing you want is that big prop jumping off and landing on you, this could lead to a bad scenario. When that thing pops it makes me jump every time.

    With the prop off I took it to Homosassa Prop. They have been in our area forever and now the son Mike is doing the work. We are fortunate to have such a great company in our area.  Again, we have lots of shallow water & unforgiving rocks so Mike has no shortage of work.   

    The prop had a couple of slightly bent tips from a previous (before me) strike of some sort.  I noticed a little vibration early on which I attributed to the bearing, alignment or the prop.  Balancing a prop the "old fashion" way is something this guy learned from his dad.  They have a serious collection of dies they use to hammer the prop back to true. It is I'm sure an art more than a skill but the results are good and he has a good eye.  

    Once the prop was trued up, they sand blasted it & re-checked it.  I showed up a little early & Mike informed he he was running behind & that he needed 1 hour.  I had no choice but to go down to The Shed on the Homosassa and cool off with an IPA (OK 2).  Mike called & I picked up the prop & took it to my shop, cleaned it with some denatured alcohol & coated it with some Pettit #1792 Zinc spray coating.  I have had good luck with this product.  Our waters here are brackish and although we get some fouling, it is not as severe as the more tropical southern waters of South Florida & the Bahamas.


    I put 4 coats of the Zinc spray on the prop and it was ready for re-installation on Pau Hana.  I am not saying this is the best solution, I just know that it has worked well for me in my waters.  I dive on my boat once a month during the warmer months to check for growth & knock off any barnacles and crud.


   I greased the taper & keyway, placed the small nut on first, tightened it up & using some 5200 put the larger nut on and torqued it as well, placed on a new cotter pin!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Bottom Line

Image
    H ere in the Crystal River area where we keep our boat, underwater fouling is minimal. This is due to the amount of fresh water we have. Our canal is "brackish" with not alot of salinity and the closer you are to King's Bay and the springs the salinity goes way down. Out to the Gulf and further south, hull bottom fouling becomes worse. Go to the Keys and the Bahamas and it is very aggressive.  Wintertime when the water is cold, the growth is minimal, but when the water warms it is alive with billions of tiny organisms ready to cling to something and start reproducing. Now that our boat is in Tampa Bay and the water temperature is moving into the 70's the growth is accelerating.  How do we combat this? The list of ways is endless but the basic method is to apply Anti-Fouling coatings. Bottom paint. There is a whole science and tons of info about anti-fouling coatings so I won't go into all of it but basically there are 2 types of paint. Hard & Ablative. Bot...
Read more

Pre Loop Madness and Monotony

Image
   The build up was huge, the anticipation was killing us. Now we're here, living on the boat in Bradenton, FL for the next 14 days before we "shove off". With everything we think we will need for the trip in the back of our car, we load it onto the boat. Where in the heck are we going to put all of this stuff? Organizing and storing in every nook & cranny, sorting and reprioritizing. Re-looking at something and saying, "Do we really need 3 of these?" "Put it back in the car." After two full days, Beth managed to get it all labeled and packed away, somewhere. This little boat has a lot more storage space than we thought. Now, to be able to find it when we want it. I looked for my work gloves for 20 minutes!  "Where is all this stuff going to fit?"     Meanwhile I'm doing the same for all of my tools and gear, gallons of oil, fluids and filters, spare parts and odd things that we just might need to get us out of a pinch.  A few last mi...
Read more

The "REAL" Journey Begins

Image
TRAVEL DAY 1 - Palmetto to Sarasota February 14, 2023 4.2 Hours/31.6 Miles     Today is "really" the day we start of the Great Loop, as opposed to the "Unofficial Start of the Great Loop" . We felt pretty confident that all the preparation and work would pay off . Well, feelings are one thing, realty is another.     We pulled out of our slip and headed for the fuel dock to top off the tanks with a few gallons of diesel and pump out the holding tank. Of course the predicted wind was not what we got, neither was the air temperature, still it was a decent day for a cruise. We're still in our home waters so we basically knew the way. Our destination was Sarasota and a free anchorage. We had planned to pick up an anchor ball at Marina Jack's but it was full. Free anchorages mean more money for food, snacks and drinks! Out of the Manatee River and around Ana Marie Island     Beth had planned some routes on her Navionics and Aqua Maps apps and was ready to assume ...
Read more