Good place to dry out

[duncanhall]

I suspect I have a partially fouled propeller following wrapping a line round it in the new year plus 1 sail.

The simplest solution appears to let it dry out somewhere near and clear the rest from the prop.

Can anyone recommend a good spot nearby. i.e and not mud.

[allan]

The top of Jacksons bay is quite good. I'm sure that there are parts of Penarth beach that would be fine too. You could go down with a HH GPS and check before going to get your boat.
Personally I would do it on the mooring, preferably by getting one of the divers in the club to do it for me!
You could always talk to Jock about getting the boat lifted in the hoist just long enough to check the prop.
What I thought was a fouled prop turned out to be a gearbox problem.
Allan

[Camelot]

Pity you didn't say sooner - I dived the weekend before last to clear a rope from Sui's prop, and Martin dived a few days before to recover a dropped item.

I'd be happy to dive again to look at your prop - but won't be able to do so for a week or so.

Assuming you need it done before this (perhaps ready for Portishead on the weekend), Jacksons Bay is very good option for drying out. You need to gently motor aground onto the beach when there's about 8.7m of tide. This puts you on relatively flat sand - much above this and the beach is a bit steep, and below it gets muddy! It's also generally very sheltered. I intend to do this again myself in a month or so to scrub my bottom. See my photos from when I did it last year with one of the fishing boats at the club - cardiffyachtclub.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cruisingchat&thread=1077&page=1

Alternatively, have a word with Vince - he dried out on Penarth beach last year, which might be a better option with a risk of losing engine drive.

[sheila]

Vince dried Volition out on the slipway at Penarth, the one near the pier. However, a man from the council (or somewhere) did a lot of shouting at him and said he had to move immediately (a bit difficult when no water under you!) or else he'd report him blah blah!

[duncanhall]

I did not realise until yesterday that I still had a problem as the boat will only active 2600 RPM rather than 3200. We wrapped part of a haliard round it at and cleared it to be functional but I suspect there is much wrapped round that is making it less effective and generating resistance.

I may try on Friday at Jacksons bay as the tide seems good.

[allan]

I'm sure you are correct but often a fouled prop will do exactly the opposite. Can you see anything around the prop?
Allan

[duncanhall]

Cannot get in a position to view.

Note I have a new engine and gearbox and new prop shaft with about 30 hrs use. It all was fine until 2nd Jan. I definitely caught the halliard and had to be towed back. I thought I had freed it by putting it into reverse and letting the rope cutters do their job.

A mirror with a long pole and spotlight would be really useful for such tasks.

[allan]

You could use a waterproof camera or a normal one in an aquapack. Just laying on the pontoon with your arm in the water should get it close enough.
Something on the prop that stops it biting in the water will normally mean the engine over revs rather than slows.
If there is something on the prop, a bread knife taped to a pole will often remove it. I did mine on the Dale pontoon last year.
Allan

[duncanhall]

I will have a go from the pontoon on friday with a torch and boathook and bread knife with a torch strapped to it. I think line of sight is possible