Well Folks I have news,
after spending 1.5 hours under the boat this morning in <10F
weather I discovered something, the PO of my boat had mis-installed the Maxprop
Classic 2 blade and made a very reasonable mistake.
Since standard props list diameter and Pitch distance in inches, they mis-interpreted the degrees (as listed by Maxprop for a feathering prop) for pitch in inches and set my Maxprop at 17in. by 16 degrees (9.1 pitch inches) instead of 17 in. by 16 pitch inches (26 degrees). This explains quite a bit regarding the issues I had my first season with the boat related to poor performance.
Talking with PYI and researching this further - this is a standard problem with feathering props because they list the degree angle along with the inches of pitch traveled.
So after talking with PYI regarding what the pitch inches travel should be and what the degree pitch would relate to, and dis-assembling in 8F
weather (grease was like wax), I have
solved the performance issue and plan on staying with the MaxProp classic
2 blade for a second season but change the pitch inches from 9.1 to 15.7 as recommended by MaxProp.
A very reasonable mistake that took me a week to figure out (not as smart I would like to be)
Best regards
Andy