Rope around props

[Hugo_Andreae]

Has anybody got any good photos of rope or netting caught around their props?

We are running a story in the next issue of MBY on what steps to take if you snag something on your props and would love to see any pics you may have from your own experiences.

You can post them here or email them direct to mby@ipcmedia.com

I'd be particularly interested in any shots of sterndrive tangles or people trying to free their props from the bathing platform or the water.

Many thanks

Hugo

 

[JClarkes]

about 20 years ago we were coming out of Portpatrick to head back home after spending a few nights there, a few miles offshore the inevitable happened. The prop stopped. So we dived under to see what the problem was, indeed it was a large rope caught around the prop and was not coming free. So we called for help and a yacht passed by, he tried to pull us in but was getting no where. Then out came Portpatrick coastguard. I was very young at the time so was all very interesting. We came back into Portpatrick with the entire harbour crowded with people to see what and who was coming back with the coastguard. We ended up staying another night and managed to get the rope off and back to Strangford.

Its was my Granda's boat and I was young so cant remember all detail.

 

[epervier]

Has anybody got any good photos of rope or netting caught around their props?

We are running a story in the next issue of MBY on what steps to take if you snag something on your props and would love to see any pics you may have from your own experiences.

You can post them here or email them direct to mby@ipcmedia.com

I'd be particularly interested in any shots of sterndrive tangles or people trying to free their props from the bathing platform or the water.

Many thanks

Hugo

About three years back I caught some orange netting on the stb leg while in transit in the Solent just off the entrance to the Beaulieu river doing about 25kts at the time, it felt like driving a car which suddenly had square wheels, shut down both engines immediately raised the legs to beach position, over the transom on to the swim platform to find the offending net wrapped nicely round both props on the stb leg spent 20 mins unravelled the mess to find it had cut the shaft oil seals between the props and bent one of the blades, limped back to home berth, then lift out, props to the repairers, two new oil seals £63.00 +liftout+props reset and balance checked, made for a great weekend
unfortunately didn't have the presence of mind to take photos while hanging over the swim platform,head submerged half the time, trying to breath through my arse, but you can guess I was non too pleased that some smart arse threw some of his unwanted net over the wall.

I did take the offending net ashore with me and photographed it on the ground, I don't know what I did it for, probably in the vain hope it would admit to who owned it.

 

[gjgm]

Has anybody got any good photos of rope or netting caught around their props?

We are running a story in the next issue of MBY on what steps to take if you snag something on your props and would love to see any pics you may have from your own experiences.

You can post them here or email them direct to mby@ipcmedia.com

I'd be particularly interested in any shots of sterndrive tangles or people trying to free their props from the bathing platform or the water.

Many thanks

Hugo

I had to do this just off Priory Bay from the tender, in calm shallow water. It would be horrendous at sea. I think you would break your arm between the drive and the underneath of the swim platform in any swell, though perhaps if you are on the platform itself your body is moving with the boat (unlike from in a tender)

 

[djefabs]

Has anybody got any good photos of rope or netting caught around their props?

We are running a story in the next issue of MBY on what steps to take if you snag something on your props and would love to see any pics you may have from your own experiences.

You can post them here or email them direct to mby@ipcmedia.com

I'd be particularly interested in any shots of sterndrive tangles or people trying to free their props from the bathing platform or the water.

Many thanks

Hugo

Hi Hugo
I did pick up a huge amount of netting around both props just North of Guernsey. this was back in August 2006
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98485
Very lucky because I was single handing but in company with very good friends who were ahead of me in there Targa 40 called TYCO.I had no forward or reverse so TYCO took me under tow and towed me into St Peters Port and directly onto an outer pontoon. Very squeaky moment for both of us !!! As luck would have it the divers were in attendance to the Fast Cat who had rope around there bow thruster so they then came and untangled me. They spent over an hour cutting it all free and the resulting mess filled the harbourmasters dory twice. Again very fortunate that I had no damage/bent shafts/vibration

 

[Neil_Y]

We've got a video of the outboard cutter working which could easily be adapted for stern drives ((when we get the chance) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTQXsYivIp8 Suzuki weren't completely happy with us bolting stuff to their engines but it works.

I have a picture of one of the ABP Southampton pilot boats props covered in rope but you need to ask them if you can use it as it's their picture.

Contra rotating props pose a more complex problem though.

 

[Hugo_Andreae]

Hi Hugo
I did pick up a huge amount of netting around both props just North of Guernsey. this was back in August 2006
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98485
Very lucky because I was single handing but in company with very good friends who were ahead of me in there Targa 40 called TYCO.I had no forward or reverse so TYCO took me under tow and towed me into St Peters Port and directly onto an outer pontoon. Very squeaky moment for both of us !!! As luck would have it the divers were in attendance to the Fast Cat who had rope around there bow thruster so they then came and untangled me. They spent over an hour cutting it all free and the resulting mess filled the harbourmasters dory twice. Again very fortunate that I had no damage/bent shafts/vibration

Thanks for this. Could you send me a high res mversiion of the pic you originally posted on here? I've sent you a pm with my email address.

 

[Hugo_Andreae]

We've got a video of the outboard cutter working which could easily be adapted for stern drives ((when we get the chance) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTQXsYivIp8 Suzuki weren't completely happy with us bolting stuff to their engines but it works.

I have a picture of one of the ABP Southampton pilot boats props covered in rope but you need to ask them if you can use it as it's their picture.

Contra rotating props pose a more complex problem though.

That's interesting. First I've heard of a rope cutter for outboards/sterndrives. Can you send pm details of where you can get these in the UK.

 

[Andrew38]

Rope Around Props

Slightly different story but might have some value as experience for others...

Many of us have experienced the turbulent conditions outside St. Kats when there can be several yachts and power boats waiting, mixed in with the wake of passing river barges and the high speed ferries which, as ever, ignore the need to slow down near craft waiting to enter the lock.

Some years ago, on my Broom 38 and in these conditions, I lost my forward mooring rope overboard; the first I knew of it was the loss of power from my starboard engine. On the river I don't normally have the ropes rigged but I was waiting to lock in and you have very little time to put them on after you've been called by the lock keeper. They'd been tied in place with elastic bungies but the bungy came undone whilst bouncing in rough water.

I quickly realised what had happened, and after a couple of attempts to release it by using forward and reverse, I made a couple quick calls on the VHF and, using the port engine and bowthruster, was assisted into the lock and finally onto an easily accessed berth inside the marina.

With a rope stretched tightly between my forward cleat and the starboard prop the first question is what to do first? Perhaps I should have known instinctively but sometimes releasing something like this, whilst I was not taking on water through the shafts, could have opened the seals up - I just didn't know.

A quick call to Brooms brought the rapid answer "cut the rope".

Cutting a long story short no damage was done! I'd been fortunate that it had been a forward rope not a stern one. Apparently the forces were in a straight line so the P bracket didn't bend and the shaft wasn't affected. If it had been a stern rope the P brackets would have bent.

How did we get the rope off? An amazing guy, who had his Fairline 36 berthed nearby, had a mask; he wrapped some chain round himself and dived for an hour underneath the boat with a carving knife!!

He was called Albert and came from Doncaster - what a fantastic guy he was to do that. Let's face it the water in St Kats is never going to be warm even in July!

Lessons learnt; cut the rope as quickly as possible and choose your berth neighbours well. Thank you Albert!

 

[Racingfrank7]

Sorry for my ignorance but why especially stern drives ? Are they not easier to free due to been able to raise the leg and use a bread knife to cut rope/ netting ect ? Just like the boys had to do on the S34 on the round Britain tour?

I would have thought shaft drive would have been of more interest due to not been able to access props from bathing platforms, especially boats that can't run rope cutters due to be been in brackish water ( or used in )because the bearings are destroyed in a mater of hours !

Has anybody got any good photos of rope or netting caught around their props?

We are running a story in the next issue of MBY on what steps to take if you snag something on your props and would love to see any pics you may have from your own experiences.

You can post them here or email them direct to mby@ipcmedia.com

I'd be particularly interested in any shots of sterndrive tangles or people trying to free their props from the bathing platform or the water.

Many thanks

Hugo

 

[grumpy_o_g]

Sorry for my ignorance but why especially stern drives ? Are they not easier to free due to been able to raise the leg and use a bread knife to cut rope/ netting ect ? Just like the boys had to do on the S34 on the round Britain tour?

I would have thought shaft drive would have been of more interest due to not been able to access props from bathing platforms, especially boats that can't run rope cutters due to be been in brackish water ( or used in )because the bearings are destroyed in a mater of hours !

I think you've answered your own question in a way - if anyone did manage to take a shot of a shaft drive being cut-free it would either be after being lifted or with a diver, lights and camera involved.

 

[Neil_Y]

Sorry for my ignorance but why especially stern drives ? Are they not easier to free due to been able to raise the leg and use a bread knife to cut rope/ netting ect ? Just like the boys had to do on the S34 on the round Britain tour?

I would have thought shaft drive would have been of more interest due to not been able to access props from bathing platforms, especially boats that can't run rope cutters due to be been in brackish water ( or used in )because the bearings are destroyed in a mater of hours !

QuicKutters don't have bearings and hence aren't effected by sand and silt in the water. So there is no reason not to have cutters on a shaft drive boat. Fitting cutters to cast alloy legs of outboards and outdrives is more of a problem.

Many commercial boats, the Royal Navy and the RNLI have removed scissor cutters to fit quicKutters over the past 4 or 5 years.

 

[Racingfrank7]

QuicKutters don't have bearings and hence aren't effected by sand and silt in the water. So there is no reason not to have cutters on a shaft drive boat. Fitting cutters to cast alloy legs of outboards and outdrives is more of a problem.

Many commercial boats, the Royal Navy and the RNLI have removed scissor cutters to fit quicKutters over the past 4 or 5 years.

How much are the quick cutters ??

 

[Racingfrank7]

I think you've answered your own question in a way - if anyone did manage to take a shot of a shaft drive being cut-free it would either be after being lifted or with a diver, lights and camera involved.

What about technique of engage forward and reverse ? To a novice surely that would be helpful to know due to a lift out or a diver not been possiable whilst out and in middle of no where, if on a single u would be pardon the pun ! But shafted !!!!

 

[Neil_Y]

How much are the quick cutters ??

As at Dec 2012
There are two sizes S16 or S25
S16 for bearing carriers less than 100.00mm OD £276.00
S25 for bearing carriers larger than 100.00mm OD £345.00
There are hardened blades available at extra cost, generally only used by commercial/military vessels.

This equates roughly to shafts of less than 60.00mm = 16 size greater than 60.00mm to 200.00mm = 25 size

Spool material is also required, the ammount (length/diameter) depends on individual boats as a guide between £30 for the smallest boats and anything up to £150.00 for some of the 150.00mm shafts we do.

Patented brand name is quicKutter™ not quick cutter but most people think it's a typo!

 

[DAKA]

Not a very good photo, not good enough to print in magazine but I thought the thread is a little short on photos so here is my contribution, 15ft green fishing net round Port prop.
We made a dash across the Channel trying to keep ahead of a strong wind warning, not very pleased to loose power as the tide turned and seas mounted.
On arrival at Cherborug (after usual trolley dash and a cold one) we found a short length of twine which when pulled got longer and longer, I used a mask , snorkel , fins and dive weights , 40 mins later cut away 15 ft of green fishing net.
Very cold and dizzy when I had finished.

I believe we dragged the net about 10 nm, boytress seas disguised the effects.

 

[prv]

Very cold and dizzy when I had finished.

Our new boat has a much more vulnerable prop than the old one (saildrive, a bit like one of your outdrive legs except it doesn't pivot). On the principle that "if you prepare for it, it doesn't happen" I am putting together a prop-wrap kit. The core of this is a drysuit - ex-Army, bought off eBay for £80, and looks brand new. I think it was stored but never issued, and it's a top-quality suit.

Also in the kit is a mast and snorkel, a helmet, weights, a harness for a lifeline, one of those glass-lifting suckers to provide a handhold on smooth GRP, and assorted cutting and prising tools.

I don't really want to use it, but a potentially useful thing to have at the bottom of a locker, I think.

Pete

 

[jimg]

This is the only one I have, most of it was cut away by the cutters, did stop us dead in our tracks initially.

[/IMG]

 

[macnorton]

Shopping trolley, Birchwood 33.
Do I win?

Lets see rope cutters deal with this one!

 

[Hugo_Andreae]

Sorry for my ignorance but why especially stern drives ? Are they not easier to free due to been able to raise the leg and use a bread knife to cut rope/ netting ect ? Just like the boys had to do on the S34 on the round Britain tour?

I would have thought shaft drive would have been of more interest due to not been able to access props from bathing platforms, especially boats that can't run rope cutters due to be been in brackish water ( or used in )because the bearings are destroyed in a mater of hours !

Simply because we have fewer photos of sterndrive tangles, probably because more people manage to free them without having to lift the boat for a nice photo opportunity!