Quick RPM Question
 

I've been doing a boatload of work (poor pun intended) on the boat and haven't been able to start it since the end of May. Ran into problems with the fuel pump (stuck valves) when I tried to start it and got through all of that. Now it is running great, but when I shift into either forward or reverse, it drags the engine speed way down and no matter how much throttle I apply, it barely gets above idle speed. I tried just putzing around the creek, but can't get above 1 1/2 knots and with current, I worry that I won't get back in. I thought it might be the stuffing box (the nut is loose enough to move with fingers, but I've never been able to get a drop of water to come out), but I can spin the prop shaft easily by hand.

My question is, can growth get thick enough in a few months (Chesapeake Bay) to keep the engine from being able to spin the prop adequately? I thought about tangled rope, but I would expect to feel that spinning the shaft by hand.

Thanks,
Steve

Steve, if the rpms rise a bit and no gain in speed is often growth. A Go-pro or a mask and a dip will tell you that.

If it is not the growth it could be sticking advance weights in the distributor an easy check just pop the cap and give the rotor a wiggle.

Once the above is confirmed time to look at fuel delivery. Do you have a fuel pressure gage? Do you have filers installed?

Dave Neptune :cool:

Steve, yes. I have a guy that lives on his boat that works at the marina right next to me where I keep my boat. He says the growth in the Chesapeake this year is above normal.

I would recommend arranging a short haul if you can. I have pictures of my boat (July) with the beginnings of a reef if you are interested in seeing them.

I can see some growth on my rudder. It is a brown carpet looking growth, maybe 1/4" thick. I can only see one white spot that might be a barnacle, but I can't see the whole rudder. I've had people at the marina warn me about going into the bay right now, with the bacteria counts as high as they are.

Dave, the RPMs rise a few hundred at best and the boat vibrates from the drive train. I'll check the weights, but it doesn't seem like an engine problem. Fuel delivery was my problem last week (after the 3 months of sitting). The fuel pump had 2 stuck rubber valves in it. The entire fuel system was cleaned in the process of finding the stuck valves. I don't have a pressure gauge yet, but fuel flow is good now.

I see you're in Pasadena MD, I'm just across the river in Old Road Bay. I had my Catalina 30 pulled out this weekend for the exact same reason. Couldn't get RPM above 1000 and boat speed @ 2knts. Tons of barnacles on the prop and prop shaft. She was running a bit below hull speed 4 weeks ago, so the growth happened pretty fast.

Cleaned everything up and she's running along @ hull speed and able to get RPMs back up to 1800 no problem. Didn't go much over that as I now have a pretty good exhaust leak that needs to be repaired.

I tried diving rather than hauling out but visibility is less than 3 inches right now. They've released the Conowingo dam a good bit over the last few weeks with all the rain and the water is pretty murky.

I'm due east of Steve, in Rock Hall. We pulled her about 10 days ago. Some slime, but the barnacles on the prop, the anodes, and the shaft were ferocious.

Someone should go to jail for what has flowed into the Bay from up north. And they fret over recreational boaters.....

We use a holding tank, period. Always have. Always will.

Bill

Been awhile since posted, but I've been visiting from time to time.

The weather pattern here on Long Island has really limited my use of the boat. This heat and humidity has come from a stuck system. Been horrendous.

Finally got to sail last night after a few weeks. Geez, the boat wouldn't move! Could barely get to 4 kts under power. A quick look from the dinghy changed my mind. I don't need a brush, I need a lawn mower!

Didn't get a good look at the prop, but I'm betting on some large barnacles, too.

Dive, Dive, Dive...

For those of you who did a quick pull, clean, and relaunch, what is a good price? I haven't done it yet and my yard said that for a "short haul," it is $8.50 a foot, $255 for a 30' boat. Good/bad/average for this area?

Thanks,
Steve

We paid $10.00 a foot.

Bill

I dove last night. What a mess. An hour of scrubbing and I rediscovered a prop and a hull.

I short hauled last season after a winter of in water storage. Yard has to paint. The short haul and paint cost me over $800.

I think Oak Harbor (right up the creek from you) charges $7.00/ft for a short haul.

$5/foot @ Old Bay Marina. Short haul and completely cleaned bottom, scrape and power wash. If you could make it across the river it may be worth the ~$100 savings.

I contacted a diver this weekend and he said $3.50/foot. I asked about availability and haven't heard back yet.

I personally think $10/ft is a ripoff, but I understand they gotta pay their people, especially when the travel lift business is s-l-o-w in July...that is what I paid too. I would have never made it across any river..it was slow going to go from F dock to C dock at my marina where the travel lift is located. :rolleyes::eek:

One yacht club here charged $600 dollars to pull a 34 ft boat on a travel-lift for an out of water survey...survey not included. I thought that was steep.

I tried to get the diver out, but he was very unresponsive and finally said he couldn't get to it for a few weeks. I also saw a note about not cleaning ablative paint while in the water of the bay, so I gave up on him. Boat is being hauled and pressure washed tomorrow morning @$8.50/ft ($255). I hope this takes care of the problem.

Steve, given what we have talked about in this thread, it seems reasonable. Still lots of money, but reasonable for the going rate.

Wow, what a difference. I couldn't even get the boat to move in a straight line t get out of the slip, let alone back up. Hauled it, scraped a boatload (pun intended) of crap off the bottom, pressure washed it, and put it back in. Runs and moves like normal now. The big surprise to me was, I spent weeks last year sanding down to bare fiberglass, barrier coating, and applying multiple coats of black ablative paint. I couldn't see any black paint today. I expected it to last longer than that.

http://www.demore.com/Gallery/var/al...er/prop_tn.jpg

Oh, and the other thing that shocked me, there was virtually no damage to the zinc after a year in the water. I expected there to be nothing remaining of it, but you could still read the writing on it.

That's way too many barnacles for one year. I wouldn't use that same bottom paint again. You probably should have re painted while you were out as you will probably have the same problem in a couple of months.

I'll pull it out in the spring to retreat it, but I'm seriously contemplating CopperCoat. It is much more expensive, but theoretically, I would never have this problem again or have to repaint again.

Steve:

Did you use Petit Hydrocoat?

Bill

No, I used TotalBoat Underdog from Jamestown Distributors. It was supposed to be high end stuff, but...

I am awaiting word from them on what may have gone wrong with it, or whether it is just junk. We figured out today, the boat has been in the water two weeks short of a year.

It HAS been a bad year for growth, but that's excessive. I used to use CPP Plus with good results until they started reducing the copper content (but not the price!)

Lately, I've been using Mar-Pro Super-B-Ablative. It's a copolymer paint. I put on two coats, and I usually get two years out of it, with a short haul and pressure wash in the off year.

Here's a photo of what it looked like this past spring after two years. Lot of slime, but not any hard growth on the hull.



This means either one of two things: Either your prop and shaft are stainless, so there's nothing much to protect, or your zinc is not in good electrical contact with the shaft. My zincs have a little spring-loaded copper ball on the inside to inure they remain in good electrical contact with the shaft after the corrosion has started. The shaft should be unpainted under the zincs and wire brushed shiny brite before installing them.

I sanded the area of the prop shaft where the zinc is, then taped it off before painting the shaft with the ablative paint. The zincs have the spring loaded balls in each side and I was told to smack both sides with a hammer to ensure good contact. The prop isn't stainless (brass or bronze colored), but I don't know what the shaft is made of. I didn't wire brush, but did sand it clean. I've heard that without power on the boat, the wear is less, but I don't know how true that is.