Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: CT/ Long Island Sound
Thanked 34 Times in 33 Posts
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Do you have a folding prop? I would suspect that if you do, it is not opening fully- -possibly because of crud you missed, or which has grown and blocked the spaces that allow the prop to open and deploy as it should. We find that shifting into reverse, then forward, helps the prop to open fully if built-up crud is keeping the blades from deploying as they should. The difference in propulsion is amazing, once the blades are out all the way. If you have a fixed prop, the least amount of growth on it will detract from your performance under power. Growth on the shaft, not so much. Growth on the prop, along with things like the wrong pitch, will cause cavitation (bubbles) that result in lots of spinning and not much forward motion.