I lost over a knot...

[osd9]

I've been busy around the house...building a shed, cleaning out an attic and cleaning out a garage all in an attempt to make my 3 Car garage actually fit 3 Cars. All this homeland activity has kept me from using the boat for three weeks. The water right now is still warm in Jersey....actually, offshore, the ocean bottom is the warmest this time of year.....behind the house, the water is still in the lower 70's.

Anyway, Yesterday I 'needed' to take a break from being a carpenter/laborer and go for a boat ride.....so I did.

I'm pretty anal with my logs and I'm very tuned-in to the ride/sound of the boat/motors. The motors fired up just fine and purred like the CATs that they are. When I got out to open water, I immediately felt the sluggishness. I got up on plane with no problem at all, but right at 2275 rpms, where I usually see 20-21 knots, I was just barely making 18 knots. I bumped 'em up to 2325 and finally started to approach 20 knots....but still not quite....only the upper 19's. I ran for another 30 minutes and did a few zig-zags and finally got her up over 20 knots...20.7 knots at 2335 rpms.....but....I would normally be right around 22ish knots at those rpms. I put her up to full throttle for about a minute to check WOT and Temps. I was able to get a hair over 2800 rpms (what is hair anyway?)....2802 P/2805 S.....compared to with a clean bottom I normally reach 2850ish fully loaded.

I had my normal gear onboard, 3/4 fuel, 1/2 water, 2 POB and the dog. I'm sure the props have some worms/baranacles growing on them. I won't be able to dive the boat for another 3 weeks, so it'll just have to wait. You Southern' boys must have a bear of a time in the middle of the season to keep your bottoms/props cleaned!

btw....The shed came out great, the attic is so-so (mostly the admiral's stuff) and, most importantly, I got 3 cars in the garage for the first time ever. I found these neat little female hanger bolts and I was able to hang shelves and all kinds of crap from the ceiling....

 

[trit21]

Not really that big of a deal to keep growth off the boat. Pay a diver once a month to clean and inspect. $1/ft. I have a 320, 32' and he charges $32. Can't beat that. Plus he reports on wear of paint, and if I happen to hit something he will inspect that as well and change out props if needed. Well worth the price.

 

[wish2fish]

she is paying you back for ignoring her!

 

[spikedaddy99]

Dom

I went through the same problem this weekend. I was able to get in some shallow water and scrub for a while, got some growth off, and finally got to "normal" rpm's yesterday. Speed is still 10mph slow, but how many weeks do I really have left before winter anyway?

Thats what we get for leaving them alone!

M

 

[mistercomputerman]

Glad you got a day to motor around, even if it was a bit sluggish.

We "Southern Boys" have to dive, hire a diver or short haul and power wash monthly. The marina I am in has a lot of water flow under the floating docks and July and August are the worst. It is beginning to moderate now that they days are getting cooler.

I took mine out yesterday and put 7 hours on the new motors. I had to get a diver to clean the running gear last week since I couldn't jump in myself. Somebody was telling me yesterday about some stuff called prop-speed (http://www.propspeed.com/index.html). I am going to give it a shot next spring during haul-out.

Did you fill up your new shed with all the crap from the garage and attic?

 

[spikedaddy99]

Somebody was telling me yesterday about some stuff called prop-speed (http://www.propspeed.com/index.html). I am going to give it a shot next spring during haul-out.

Did you fill up your new shed with all the crap from the garage and attic?[/quote]

Rick, are you going to DIY, or take it to Fl? Keep us informed if you do try it.

Mike

 

[tobnpr]

I'm hauling for a bottom job in the next few weeks- it's been nearly two years.
Once the antifouling wears off my underwater gear (it held up until about 6 months ago), and since it's still "summer", monthly cleanings don't cut it. Hull is fine, but with no paint on the gear I dive it weekly, and wet-sand the blades after scraping them with a putty knife...

Doesn't take but a tiny amount of growth to screw things up.

 

[mistercomputerman]

Somebody was telling me yesterday about some stuff called prop-speed (http://www.propspeed.com/index.html). I am going to give it a shot next spring during haul-out.

Did you fill up your new shed with all the crap from the garage and attic?

Rick, are you going to DIY, or take it to Fl? Keep us informed if you do try it.

Mike[/quote]

Not to hijack Cap'n Dom's thread, but, one of the yards in Portsmouth, VA is a dealer. I think it is Full-Throttle Marine. They are supposed to be able to come to wherever the boat is hauled. I have done any research on it yet. The guy who was telling me about it had it done a couple of weeks ago.

 

[osd9]

I've heard good and bad about Prop-speed. I talked to the rep at the AC Boat show last February....still on the fence though.

I haven't been hauled in two years. I'm going to winter in the water and do a short haul next spring. I going from Modified Hard Epoxy paint to Ablative. I'm hoping that will reduce the 'slime' on the bottom and sides......the metals....I'll just continue to dive and clean, dive and clean......nothing seems to work on them darn metals....

 

[osd9]

........ Hull is fine, but with no paint on the gear I dive it weekly, and wet-sand the blades after scraping them with a putty knife...

I use a plastic putty knife/scraper to get the big stuff off and then a small bronze brush to finish up.....never thought about wet sand paper....what grit do you use?

........ Doesn't take but a tiny amount of growth to screw things up.

Ain't that the truth....even with all the torque of the diesels you still can't overcome a few little critters....tiny little bastards!!!!!

 

[Turtlesboat]

I went to ablative on both the bottom and an ablative for the drives. ZERO growth. Usually this time of year i've lost a few knots with slime and growth, went out yesterday after having the boat sit for 2 weeks and it ran just like I dropped it in yesterday.

 

[Sea Gull]

Dom, My brother put propspeed on his running gear for the first time this year. I'll get to see in a few weeks how well it held up.

 

[osd9]

Jeff.....do you know if he had any changes in the boat's behavior when he first launched? Also....that stuff ain't cheap.....and I have spares to do also....plus, you still have to deal with the underwater strainers, struts, shafts, rudders, tabs.....metals just don't seem to stay as clean as the hull.

 

[Sea Gull]

He had the props re-worked last winter and then put the propspeed on them before launch in the spring. He is seeing better fuel efficiency and speed, but I think he is attributing that to the prop re-work not the coating. He coated props, shafts, struts and rudders. The metal also has to be as clean as Winturd's before you paint the stuff on. I will have to ask him about growth during the season.

 

[Pseudomind]

Ok a strange question, but at the moments seems logical.

Has anyone ever set there RPM's at a set point then went cruising and actually watched you speed increase, as the bottom crud wears away.

One things seem clear to me is that in order to do so, it would require all else to stay the same, current, wind, etc.

Seems to me to be possible?

 

[Newbie]

Ok a strange question, but at the moments seems logical.

Has anyone ever set there RPM's at a set point then went cruising and actually watched you speed increase, as the bottom crud wears away.

One things seem clear to me is that in order to do so, it would require all else to stay the same, current, wind, etc.

Seems to me to be possible?

Whenever I haven't run the boat for at least 2 weeks, thats exactly what happens when I finally do. Starts off a little slow with a slight vibration, then settles in and smooths out while RPM increase with no change in throttle amount.

I typically only have the boat dived 2 times per year. I try to run it often enough and only need the diver if i haven't run it for at least 3 weeks. Otherwise, it seems to self clean well enough. My RPM's and speeds have held steady all year so I think I'm OK.

 

[osd9]

...... He coated props, shafts, struts and rudders. The metal also has to be as clean as Winturd's before you paint the stuff on. .....

I took all the paint off the underwater metals on my 330DA one year. I then did the etching, three coats of epoxy and hard bottom paint trick....this was pre prop-speed. Getting them 'clean' was a major PITA....

They still had growth mid season....

 

[brimanst]

I used propspeed once and don't plan on using it again. It seemed to work pretty good, but as soon as you get a scratch, or some wear, you are screwed. To eliminate the growth from the bare spots, you need a putty knife, which tears up the rest of the good stuff. It is pretty expensive and I boat in muddy/shallow conditions so it did not work for me.

And I have to pay $2/ft plus a home visit charge since I don't keep her in a marina for divers.

 

[quality time]

I use Propspeed but can't say I have seen any noticeable difference in speed/economy. I had my props reworked before launch and coated them myself so it's hard to say whether the difference was attributed to the prop work or the coating. My dad uses it on his boat (the greeen trawler in my sig pic) and was just hauled last week after 4 years and the Propspeed was still in tact. I don't get any barnacles where I am but do get slime on the bottom, I believe that any buildup on the prop does sling off more quickly with the Propspeed.

Dom - your dirty bottom numbers look about like my clean numbers...:smt021

 

[osd9]

Dom - your dirty bottom numbers look about like my clean numbers...

That's surprising!!!! Oh wait....do you have digital tachs or are you using the analogs? My numbers are 'exact' rpms and the speed is GPS......