Bent prop...AGAIN!!

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rosssavage

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Question: is it normal to bend a prop 3 times within 12 months? Hit a log yesterday and got my third strike in a year. Is this normal, or am I just unlucky (or perhaps a naff helmsman?!!) I'm getting a bit peeved with the cost and unavailability of the boat now!
 
rosssavage said:
Question: is it normal to bend a prop 3 times within 12 months? Hit a log yesterday and got my third strike in a year. Is this normal, or am I just unlucky (or perhaps a naff helmsman?!!) I'm getting a bit peeved with the cost and unavailability of the boat now!
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No. it's not normal. If you're hitting things you couldn't possible know about or see, then you're unlucky. If you're hitting things you should know about or be able to see, well, you said it! ;)
 
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Following on from Phils post, i'm gonna risk sounding rude (although it isn't meant to be so) and suggest that maybe you need to keep a better lookout. Hitting a log big enough to bend your prop does seem like a case of poor watch keeping. Of course, you know the full details and how well you really were keeping watch, so ask yourself, were you keeping a good enough lookout ? Was there any way you could have seen this log and have avoided it ? When under way i feel it's important that at least one person be keeping a constant watch, rather than bunging the auto pilot on and relaxing with a beer lol
 
We spent a couple of seasons in The Nene at Wisbech. Flood water coming down from as far as Northampton and being carried back and forth by the tides meant you had to be on your toes, so maybe we're a little keener to keep a sharp lookout than some. Logs, trees, fence posts, TV sets, car wheels and tyres, house doors, shed sections, you name it, i reckon we saw one in The Nene.
 
We had a very unlucky run early last year and went through three sets in as many months. First we where faced with a wall of wood and trees in the Ouse and picked up a tree in the props smashing three of the seven blades off, then a few days later after having the props replaced managed to ground her on the Ure bending a blade again, but managed to repair this one. Then a few weeks later managed to ground on the Trent bending the set that had just been repaired.

Not had such bad luck lately, but we do now carry a spare set with us as they are relatively easy to change in the water.

So dont take it to heart. These things happen.
 
PaulGooch said:
We spent a couple of seasons in The Nene at Wisbech. Flood water coming down from as far as Northampton and being carried back and forth by the tides meant you had to be on your toes, so maybe we're a little keener to keep a sharp lookout than some. Logs, trees, fence posts, TV sets, car wheels and tyres, house doors, shed sections, you name it, i reckon we saw one in The Nene.
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I know what you mean. It's the same on The Straits, everything from a tree to a dead sheep!
 
Knew a chap back when i was boating on the Thames who ran over a car whilst going through Brentford...he did mention that the comments from the insurance company were a little puzzled when hearing about this! lol
 
I've been through 4 sets of props in just over 12 months - all just bad luck - from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The more you use your boat, statistically the more likely these things are to happen.

I picked up a polypropylene rope off Hengistbury, then only a month later hit something massive but fully submerged, probably a container (I counted myself lucky that the hull wasn't damaged) and 2 months after that the props struck a gravel/sand bottom or bank when the depth sounder said I had 3m under the keel. Finally, earlier this year some scrotes untied my lines at Wareham Quay and the boat drifted across the river and struck the rocky bottom.

All you can do is keep your fingers crossed that you've had your share of bad luck and it won't happen again. But you do have my every sympathy.
 
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