Hey buddy can you spare a prop?

Susan has been bravely working to breakthrough her seasickness and fear, and been doing great! So about a week and a half ago we headed out of La Cruz to Punta de Mita to anchor for the night before embarking on to Las Tres Marietas (the three little Marias), an island chain renown for incredible sea life and snorkeling.

Does it get any prettier!



Morgons first kill

Looked ugly but tasted awesome!

We were motoring against the wind on the way back. When we were about an hour out of Punta de Mita we heard a big BANG and the boat started to shake violently. Morgon was at the helm and I hollered for him to back into neutral and rushed down below to pull the sole up and see if we were taking on water. There was none that I could see so I went back up and put her back into gear. The shaking started again. The only thing left was to go over the side to see if I could find the problem. It wasn’t hard to spot. One of the propeller blades had sheared right off at the hub. The good news was that the hull looked untouched.

After that point we were sailors! Motor sailing or straight motoring was no longer an option. We tacked four times to get back into Punta de Mita and sailed beautifully into anchorage like we had done it a thousand times. It had gone well enough that Susan and the kids were comfortable going all the way back to La Cruz under sail the next day where I could start my search for another prop.

Under sail after we lost the prop

Rooftop restaurant in Punta De Mita

View as we sailed into Punta De Mita anchorage.

I have been getting a real education on propellers the last week. You don’t just grab the one nearest you, toss it on the boat and head out. Propeller sizing is one third science, one third art and one third alchemy. I found that I had been way over propped, which meant that my little perkins diesel couldn’t get up to its running rpm's. Kind of like driving up a steep hill in sixth gear.

After a week of searching, charming and begging (there are boats everywhere in Mexico but no props) I had resigned myself to sitting at the dock for a few weeks while one shipped in from the states when one of the cruisers on my dock coughed up his spare. It is beautiful! A campbell sailer 15X9 cupped prop. This is the one I would order new if I had time and money. But when I put it on it wouldn’t slide up the taper enough to cotter pin the nut on! After going over the measurements with Norm from West by North up in B.C. (thank you Skype!) he told me to just cut about a quarter inch off of the prop base with a hacksaw. I was pretty sure that with my cheap little saw, hacking away dockside would make a mess of this shiny new prop. Peter at the La Cruz shipyard was too busy to get to me for a week so told me to help myself to his shop so I could get it done (I was a little stunned, do you get this kind of hospitality from your shipyard mechanic back home?). So now the propeller is back on and we are ready to head out the first calm day we get!

Look at the size difference! Way less drag with the new prop!

Working under snorkle power. Glad I quit smoking!