A good feed and............ a Tow Home :(

[cormorant]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune (and, of course, the poor whales....). Glad you got back ok.

Newbie question... Is the thrust bush the sacrificial part of the prop installation? Designed to break rather than shafts and gears?

If so is it something you can re-install at sea if its broken? What spares, if any, should I have for that type of event?

I hope not to hit anything.... But as we just saw, it can happen to even the most experienced of us.

Yes the prop bushes are designed to reduce damage to props, gearbox and motor just like a shear pin . Ally props used to be a lot kinder on strikes than the stiffer harder and heavier stainless but saying that some of the alloy now used is very hard.

Nothing is ever easy on the water but it is possible if conditions allow. We did it on a cat with a walkthru between motors after a log strike ( we think) and I have also seen a bloke smacked in the head doing it from the water. Unless you are a long way off and know exactly what you are doing and can do it safely a tow is the answer or even just making way at idle displacement speed as the bush may have enough grip to allow that to get closer to a tow. 5kg of sharp metal is not what you want to be playing with in a boat bucking around at rest.
Spare prop , block of wood and a prop spanner - some lanyards, spare nuts, pins, thrust washers gloves etc . Not easy to do on or in the water depending on boat and motor set up. You could get away with just a bush on the systems where the bush is not pressed in but you still may have a damaged prop.

Spares you really need is main and portable radios, gps , decent tow point and rope, , good anchor, parraanchor, all safety gear so you can get attention and if no auxillary a buddy boat to travel with along with logging on so if all else fails someone is looking for you. Last resort the epirb. If you have a sat phone it is a great back up out wide.



Glad to hear it was a safe tow in.

[Spaniard_King]

I had a prop with the removable bush (flo-torque) so easily fixed (on dry land)

I dont carry spares unless going wide, generally out of VHF range.

One point I would like to make is that if you ever need a tow the only way the tow vessel will attach their rope is to your D-bolt where you attach your trailer winch ... you may shrug this off but try reaching it from the boat at sea I am lucky mine is easy but some arn't

Worth thinking about now!

[ozscott]

Garry - good to see no damage save for the hub (from an area - Nine Mile - my Vag was named after). The tow/winch hook is an overlooked item. I just replaced mine with a 200mm variety - no damage to the original, but nice to stick in a new quality Ronstan one just to be safe. Its comforting to see how much glass is between the bolts and plate and the exterior ring. But yep attaching can be a reach.

Cheers

[honda900]

Garry,

thats a scary tow through that bar on the wrong end of the tide.. lucky you got a couple of fish..

Regards
HOnda.

[Sandman]

Gary
Must have been the day for towing!! I ended towing my 5th boat back up the Bris River yesterday . Glad to hear the damage wasnt worse than your prop ! So it was a confirmed whale ?

Mick