Maximum pain with a Max-Prop

And I thought that I had problems. These poor people were coming back from Opening Day May 2nd and thought they could clear the railroad bridge. Deckstepped mast. No one hurt.
Here is the new prop in all it's glory. Had a used two-blade Max-prop that I put on last week. Splashed the boat and when I took the boat out for a sea trial had some serious vibrations occurring while in forward. No vibrations in reverse. Checked to see if the pitch was correct, it wasn't. Hauled the boat and the manufacturer said 26 degrees of pitch was good. I could hit 7.5 knots at 2800RPM will a shitload of vibration. Hull speed is 6.5 or so. I was afraid to push the motor up to 3600 RPM due to the vibration but black smoke was coming out at 2800 so that right there tells me the prop is overpitched. So overpitching can cause cavitation which can cause vibration. We pitched the boat to 24 degrees and checked the shaft to make sure it was true. Short of taking it out of the boat, it looked really good. Cutlass bearing and P-Bracket all good. Put boat back in the water and same old vibration. Checked the shaft alignment and that was as good as anyone could get it. No problems there. Called the manufacturer, PYI, and told them my tale of woe. Turns out the 2 blade Max-prop and my boat have a know vibration issue. Two blades and Sabre 38s also. So I guess am just lucky. Bought a three blade max-prop and can trade in the old one. $2100 and two haul outs later, I have new three blade Maxprop. I haul and hang toworrow (Tuesday the 5th) and give more info then. I am crossing my fingers.

Here is the keel. The keel had, on the starboard side, 3 areas that sea water got into from the keeling flexing and then breaking the fairing. Then mineral deposits got in the crack and started to expand, finally causing a blister like area. No actual blistering on the fiberglass keel sump just in the fairing area. I am aware that right after they lift the boat the crack will appear again but we tightened the keel bolts per the C&C manual and that is all you can do with this type of arrangement. I think!
Pete Z. checked out the symmetry of the rudder and found it to good. Not perfect, the port side is a little fuller but good enough.
Here she is with the second coat of Petitt Ultima 60SR on her. Looks good to me and I didn't have to do shit. Just have to pay for it now. :( On the the 30th of April, she goes back in the water. Bought time!
Hopefully she is as fast as she looks.

All ready for the water!!

Just waxed and ready for the water. 4 weeks out of the water. Have no idea on the final price either. I am dreading it but in the end it will be worth it.

Ah, friends! What would a boat owner do without them. David (on the left) and Chris helped me with the Max-prop. This is a feathering prop that was originally on the boat. The old owner took it off and had it rebuilt and then never put it back on. I bought the prop for $800 and was told that it would go right on with no modification. WRONG! If that prop was on the boat then it is a wonder that the shaft held up. It was loose as all hell. After tightening the retaining nut, the prop would slid back and forth about 3mm. Nothing lined up. Hence the next photo.
We had to cut the shaft about 1 inch or so. Chris did this while I buffed the hull out.
End result. I painted it with Pettit anti-fouling paint for metal. It is basically a zinc paint. The prop was a beautiful shiny brass but in this area, it would not be shiny for long. Hopefully we set the pitch correctly. Unbelievable that people can install and adjust this thing underwater. It was a pain in the butt up on the hard.

Rudder problem

Port side looks OK.
Starboard side not so good. The bubble encompasses the entire face.

This is the rudder face after being cut off with the angle grinder. The photo below is the starboard face of the rudder. Click to enlarge. They just coated it with epoxy. The rudder was basically dry inside and the face came off easily due to bad lay up at the factory and sun shining on it while the boat was hauled out getting her engine replaced 3 years ago. COVER YOUR RUDDER WHEN OUT OF THE WATER!
Luckily the foam was completely intact and that made build up the new face of the rudder easy. Otherwise they would have had to template the opposite side and then reconstruct it. $$$$.
I have no idea what the blue stuff is. Stinks though. I missed the opportunity to photo the fiberglass getting layed up but was told they used woven mat and just built it up. Faired with fairing compund. They used a batten to get the curves right. Looks great. $1500 to have it done. OUCH!

Here is the completed rudder. That will be the new bottom paint. Petitte Ultima SR 60. Albative paint.

Avocet

Went sailing on Avocet this Wednesday. Had good wind about 10 knots or so out of the North to NW. Cold though. Had great chili type rice and pulled pork dish with some Hot Buttered Rum. Great day. Went out with Z. He got cold but warmed up in the cabin. The stove blew out once but relight itself. Flew the stormjib. Neat little sail. Pictures following later. Forgot my camera on the boat.