New boat mystery - Additional propeller!

[MagicalArmchair]

Under the fore cabin berth of the new boat, we found another propeller! I asked the previous owner why this propeller was in the locker... and he just shrugged and said he wasn't even aware it was stashed in there!

So why do we think this prop has been changed? There appears nothing wrong with the one in the bilges?

Can anyone think why she may have been repropped?

 

[daveyw]

Your car has a spare wheel doesn't it!

 

[knuterikt]

Maybe the rubber bushing have separated from the propeller?

 

[prv]

Are the two different pitches? Maybe a previous owner decided the pitch on the first one was wrong, fitted a replacement with his preferred angle, and then carried the old one around as a spare just in case. I knew a boat which carried the original fixed prop as a spare (bolted to the engine bay bulkhead) after fitting a folder.

Pete

 

[Channel Sailor]

As others have said, different pitch or damage that is not obvious. Perhaps dezinctified under the blue antifoul paint. What make and model of yacht is it? Could be it was changed because the spare one vibrated a excessively, suspected out of balance. But it did not fix the problem so kept it as a spare.

 

[Hadenough]

Under the fore cabin berth of the new boat, we found another propeller! I asked the previous owner why this propeller was in the locker... and he just shrugged and said he wasn't even aware it was stashed in there!

So why do we think this prop has been changed? There appears nothing wrong with the one in the bilges?

Can anyone think why she may have been repropped?

You have a third one in the bilge?

 

[MagicalArmchair]

You have a third one in the bilge?

Ha, I might find one yet! It does look a different pitch. Interesting.

 

[Neeves]

Just keep it, props do fall off - and if they do it is slightly inconvenient. However if a prop does fall off they are commonly retained with at least one nut and then options of cotter pins, tab washers and other nuts. A spare prop is not of much use if you don't have spare nuts etc (which cost peanuts).

Jonathan

 

[Daydream believer]

Odd that an owner does not know he has a spare prop in the forecabin. The boat is not exactly a super yacht.
Bit like explaining to the wife why there is a strange woman on board.

 

[snowbird30ds]

Bit like explaining to the wife why there is a strange woman on board.

That's easy, just explain that's how mirrors work and that she's always been strange......

 

[Arcady]

Is it just the way you’re holding the spare prop in the photo, or is it actually the opposite rotation?

 

[Jcorstorphine]

It may be my imagination but the spare prop looks Right Hand rotation by the shape off the blades. The one on the boat looks Left Hand rotation which is normal for a saildrive (well my Bukh saildrive is).

 

[RichardS]

Surely if the two props were opposite-handed, the OP would have spotted that immediately?

Richard

 

[Laysula]

Surely if the two props were opposite-handed, the OP would have spotted that immediately?

Richard

Not necessarily. Some people still have trouble telling their arse from their elbow. How ever I am not referring to the OP here.

 

[Daydream believer]

It may be my imagination but the spare prop looks Right Hand rotation by the shape off the blades. The one on the boat looks Left Hand rotation which is normal for a saildrive (well my Bukh saildrive is).

Bit of a b..ger, if you have to send a diver down every time, to change the prop, if you want to reverse out of the berth. :ambivalence:

 

[MagicalArmchair]

Not necessarily. Some people still have trouble telling their arse from their elbow. How ever I am not referring to the OP here.

The previous owner only had the boat for a year and didn't use her much. The first thing I did after I bought her was to crawl into every locker and under every sole board :encouragement:

 

[Laysula]

Is the boss shortened to take a rope cutter perhaps?
Look on the bill of sale and write to the previous, previous owner and ask him.

 

[NormanS]

If you look under the double bunk in our aft cabin, you would find a prop there (plus nut etc, Jonathan). As soon as I bought the boat, I realised that the prop didn't have enough pitch. I bought and fitted an Autoprop, but decided that the spare was no use sitting at home.

 

[Heckler]

It may be my imagination but the spare prop looks Right Hand rotation by the shape off the blades. The one on the boat looks Left Hand rotation which is normal for a saildrive (well my Bukh saildrive is).

Thats what I thought!

 

[Neeves]

If you look under the double bunk in our aft cabin, you would find a prop there (plus nut etc, Jonathan). As soon as I bought the boat, I realised that the prop didn't have enough pitch. I bought and fitted an Autoprop, but decided that the spare was no use sitting at home.

I find props (and anchors) interesting businesses. I note when I attend boat shows, in Australia, both anchors and props occupy significant stand space. There are number of anchor and propellor manufacturers, or their distributors, and many of them exhibit their wares. Some sell other products as well, like Lewmar, Gori here, I think, are sold through the Yanmar distributor base and Volvo sold (or exhibited) alongside the engines. Others like Manson or Anchor Right are effectively a one product line operation.

However the conclusion I come to is that if there is the need, and sufficient turn-over, to support attendance at an exhibition then sales (and margins) must be high. As far as I know all yachts come with a propellor (and anchor) - which suggests many people change, or lose, their propellors and anchors - or these people (the manufacturers) would not feel the need to exhibit.

I accept that for anchors some want to change from the anchor supplied and some want to supplement their anchor wardrobe - but that simply does not support the evidence at boat shows - as propellor and anchors (once you are happy with your choice) should last forever (well almost).

The contradiction is - no-one mentions losing their propellor (nor anchor) and whereas people might carry spare injectors and some, might carry, spare alternators - how many carry a spare propellor (and nut, etc).

Now - interesting story - someone will mention that props wear out - Our X99 was supplied with a prop, as would be expected. A rather nice Gori 2 bladed folding prop. I cannot recall why but I had reason, some time after we had owned the boat, to complain about some defect of the prop -and I complained direct to Gori. They quickly responded and said they needed the prop number - which I supplied. They quickly responded to advise the information must be wrong as the propellor had been supplied to X Yachts some 3 or 4 years earlier than our build date.

It was all settled amicably - the dealer had taken their old prop off their own X 99 and swapped it for our new one, when ours was commissioned, reasoning I would never notice (which was fair reasoning) - they had not thought I would 'dry sail'. We ended up with a new prop. But it does seem props do 'wear out' or why swap props?

Now the we have 2 engine and 2 props - we don't carry a spare prop (they are rather expensive). We seldom use both engines simultaneously (its inefficient, more fuel but no commensurate increase in speed). Having said that - manouvering in tight spaces on one engine is challenging.

Jonathan