Bluewater Cruising Capability

[Mr B]

My props all had shear pins and a cotter pin,
The shear pin was for hitting things with the prop, It snapped off, The prop stopped going round, but did not fall off,

The cotter pin if properly bent over cant come out,
That stops the nut from coming off which holds the prop on,

You lose a prop, Its your fault, dont you ever check your props, and the nuts that hold it on,

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Very Very Good video, Puts paid to the hitting a floating container fear,

A few dents after that pounding, These boats are not as fragile as they look,

I did expect a hole after hitting that rock wall,

Great stuff Mate,

If you have THAT boat, maybe.

A few weeks ago a chap hit a commercial lane bouy in a 47' Hunter at 7 knots. Kinda a glancing blow off the bow. Put a nice big holein it you could stick your hand through. It was above waterline and calm so they were OK.

Had the above experiment been duplicated with that boat the results would have been dramatically different.

It's not good to generalize.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Well, after thinking about this for a few minutes, I'm left wondering how someone with the mindset of predicating the whole design of their yacht around retaining the propeller could possibly then employ a shaft/propeller that relied solely upon a "simple cotter pin" for that connection?

Seriously, the only prop design that I can think of which does rely upon a cotter pin is in small (~ 2 hp) outboards. All the shaft connections with which I am familiar employ nuts to force the prop onto the taper of the shaft. The nut is indeed often then secured with a cotter pin, but sometimes not... then using a jam nut instead.

The whole point of my thinking is that to say that a full keel/attached rudder is necessary to assure oneself of never loosing their prop and thus this is required for "Bluewater cruising capability" is a bit extreme.

Finally, I bet that your long keeled yacht has a whole lot of cotter pins securing clevis pins in your standing rigging. The loss of any one of those cotters can lead to the clevis working its way out, and then the mast falls down (I know this from personal experience, BTW). How could you possibly go to sea thus endangered?

I guess it is all about prioritization of risks...

Cheers,

Jim

I do have them in the rigging where I can see them without much of an issue,my prop has a bolt and fastner,not a cotter pin! ..Same diffrence though,if a bolt or pin were to "let go" the prop would be lost,just like those rudders without ,at the very least a skeg,how did that one fellow put it a few days back, "I watched the rudder float away"( after it had snapped off..) I am trying to make a point with all of this and that is ,there are things that ,IMO, need to be considered when choosing a boat for sailing away from the shoreline...Maintanence obvious would be something to practice on a regular basis,but did you bother pointing that out to the fellow that lost the rudder?Predicating the whole design around a propeller? There is a lot more to it than just that,I wont get started,I am to tired ...goodin naucht

[Ballenxj]

Originally Posted by trapoc

Here's a video everyone should watch. A fin keel boat being put on the rocks just to see what would happen to it.

That's one tough boat.

[trapoc]

Originally Posted by hpeer

If you have THAT boat, maybe.

A few weeks ago a chap hit a commercial lane bouy in a 47' Hunter at 7 knots. Kinda a glancing blow off the bow. Put a nice big holein it you could stick your hand through. It was above waterline and calm so they were OK.

Had the above experiment been duplicated with that boat the results would have been dramatically different.

It's not good to generalize.

So I'm to take it you have tested a 47' hunter like that already ? You seem pretty sure of yourself. Please show your documentation. Charley

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Mr B

My props all had shear pins and a cotter pin,
The shear pin was for hitting things with the prop, It snapped off, The prop stopped going round, but did not fall off,

The cotter pin if properly bent over cant come out,
That stops the nut from coming off which holds the prop on,

You lose a prop, Its your fault, dont you ever check your props, and the nuts that hold it on,

I did dive down and check it last year and it was loose then! I tightened it hand tight and thought I would get a wrench and finish what I started,I forgot and this is what I got for being complacent, a cold plunge and another and another!!

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

I did dive down and check it last year and it was loose then! I tightened it hand tight and thought I would get a wrench and finish what I started,I forgot and this is what I got for being complacent, a cold plunge and another and another!!

That hurts, Bet your kicking your self over that one,