Not perfect launch day…

[Tally Ho]

I launched Tally Ho yesterday morning….nice day on the south end of Lake Michigan….

I had installed a new Max Prop this spring, replacing my old 2-blade fixed prop. The new one is a 3-blade Max Prop Easy. I was really looking forward to the reverse thrust the prop is known for, and to get some extra speed while under sail.

I had talked to Fred at PYI several times as I was evaluating different props, and finally settled on the MaxProp because I wanted the ability to adjust the pitch.

I thought I had the prop set up correctly, but when I backed out of the slings yesterday, it sure didn’t seem like I had a lot of REV thrust. Then I took her for a little spin outside of the marina….engine at 3500 RPM’s and I was making around 3 knots

I reread the PYI manual, and had a bad feeling that the blades were not right….but I didn’t install them…the prop came assembled. But I DID mess around with the prop before installing it…so I must have done something to it.

I had some photos and a YouTube video so I sent those to Fred at PYI and he called me pretty quickly. He says it looks like the blades aren’t installed correctly…and he suggested pulling the boat, pulling the prop, and tearing it down and reassemble it correctly.

So, I have asked the marina if they can haul me out late tomorrow afternoon after their last launch, let me hang in the slings overnight during which time, I will pull the prop and re-assemble it, then put it back on and launch early on Thursday morning…bummer.

Fred and PYi have been very helpful and I am so looking forward to the new prop. The one thing I will say from my test t
drive yesterday was she runs really smooth. Even at 3500 rpm‘s, way less vibration than my old 2-blade prop.

While I was at the marina I installed a wifi surveillance camera that I bought for my house….you can connect to it where it is, as long as you have wifi there….

Every year when I launch Tally Ho, I get a lot of water in the bilge….I have no idea where it comes from….thruhulls are closed, no water around the various transducers…maybe rain water trapped in the pan…

So when I left yesterday, I set this camera down near the bilge, and I was able to monitor it for several hours. I could see the water rise to the line on the bilge pump, hear the pump kick on, see the water level drop and then slowly fill up again. But being able to see the pump do it’s thing made me feel better



The camera has infrared so even at night in the dark, I could see a black & white image of the bilge.

Today, after going to the marina and checking thing over, I used a shop vac and sucked the bilge dry….
and this afternoon ( photo was taken around 3:25 this afternoon)….bilge looks pretty dry

Now, to just get that prop thing figured out. Hopefully marina can pull me out tomorrow.

Cheers,

Greg

 

[shemandr]

Bummer. I followed your installation with interest. I've watched competent yard workers struggle with the orientation of the blades which is evidently not intuitive.

 

[Tally Ho]

Bummer. I followed your installation with interest. I've watched competent yard workers struggle with the orientation of the blades which is evidently not intuitive.

Fred gave me the best clue (wish I knew it before I launched) that the little triangle arrows on each blade are supposed to point AFT when the blades are feathered.

As can be seen in this closeup, the arrow is pointing FWD



Oh well, if I can get hauled and hang in the slings a few hours, I am sure I can get it right !

Greg

 

[kappykaplan]

Good luck with the teardown and reassembly, Greg.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Every year when I launch Tally Ho, I get a lot of water in the bilge….I have no idea where it comes from….thruhulls are closed, no water around the various transducers…maybe rain water trapped in the pan

Water trapped in the pan is a good guess. Each year I lose some there while winterizing and it doesn’t come out until I go sailing a couple times. The other possibility is wood backing plates on thru hulls that can dry and shrink over the winter, then swell back up after being in the water for a day.

 

[Tally Ho]

Water trapped in the pan is a good guess. Each year I lose some there while winterizing and it doesn’t come out until I go sailing a couple times. The other possibility is wood backing plates on thru hulls that can dry and shrink over the winter, then swell back up after being in the water for a day.

I think I get rain water in over the winter - even covered, I get water in the bilge over the winter. Not sure where it gets in, but it always does.

The first few years I had Tally Ho, I was sure she was sinking

Now I keep an eye on it, make sure that the bilge pump is working, and give it a few days…

I just checked the camera, and she looks dry….must have finally drained it all out.

Greg

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

So, I have asked the marina if they can haul me out late tomorrow afternoon after their last launch, let me hang in the slings overnight during which time, I will pull the prop and re-assemble it,

I hope you remember that it gets dark at night .
Make sure you take all the portable 120V lighting you've got at home because you just KNOW that you're going to drop the smallest screw in the prop assembly and it's going to roll, and keep rolling until it's out of sight.

I'll light a candle for you tomorrow night when I'm at church. Hope everything goes well.

 

[dlochner]

At least your marina has a working Travel Lift, found out yesterday the lift at my marina is not working (again) with no known repair date.

 

[Tally Ho]

I hope you remember that it gets dark at night .
Make sure you take all the portable 120V lighting you've got at home because you just KNOW that you're going to drop the smallest screw in the prop assembly and it's going to roll, and keep rolling until it's out of sight.

I'll light a candle for you tomorrow night when I'm at church. Hope everything goes well.

I will bring the prop home if it goes that late. But this is a municipal marina…. I think they start at 10:00 and go home at 3:00….and they take an hour lunch! I just hope the crew shows up today.

Greg

 

[Tally Ho]

At least your marina has a working Travel Lift, found out yesterday the lift at my marina is not working (again) with no known repair date.

Bummer. last year I was scheduled to launch, was sitting on the boat waiting for the lift crew…who were late. Turns out they found the lift had a flat tire and it took a week to get it fixed.

This year, I heard that they blew up the hydraulics. But by the time I got home from some travel, they had it fixed.

Hope you can get launched soon.

Greg

 

[Project_Mayhem]

The problem is that it says O'Day on the side of the boat Mine will stay dry for a few days and then fill with water for the rest of the season.

This guy had a very bad launch day at 31st street yesterday. I'm not sure who's responsible for the plug but it wasn't installed

 

[FastOlson]

According to the PYI site:
"The Max-Prop Easy is a step forward in Max-Prop design. This propeller replaces the well-known Max-Prop Classic, facilitating simplicity for the customer without sacrificing performance. The Easy model’s main attributes over the Classic are: 1) ease of installation (simple bolt on to the shaft); and 2) flexibility of pitch adjustment without the need of a haul out."

I have to wonder why the yard people were taking apart something that was supposed to be installed as-received? The original "max prop" from the 70's/80's was a different design, and did have to be assembled in place. Very tricky - like 3 handed dentistry - until you accumulated lots of experience with it. Spposedly they no longer sell the original version. I do know lots of sailors have have one. Back in the 90's I installed a Martec Feathering prop, chosen partly because its blade angle was adjustable after installation, without starting over.

Good luck on unscrambling your blades!

 

[jssailem]

Good luck Greg. Sounds like you were so close to success. …, but….

Tomorrow. Is another day. Wishing you good vibes.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

But this is a municipal marina…. I think they start at 10:00 and go home at 3:00….

The early quitting time will hopefully give you enough time to complete the work at the marina. Not much chance the municipal employees will want to stay late on the day you need to start at 3:00 pm.

Best of luck with this.

 

[Tally Ho]

According to the PYI site:
"The Max-Prop Easy is a step forward in Max-Prop design. This propeller replaces the well-known Max-Prop Classic, facilitating simplicity for the customer without sacrificing performance. The Easy model’s main attributes over the Classic are: 1) ease of installation (simple bolt on to the shaft); and 2) flexibility of pitch adjustment without the need of a haul out."

I have to wonder why the yard people were taking apart something that was supposed to be installed as-received? The original "max prop" from the 70's/80's was a different design, and did have to be assembled in place. Very tricky - like 3 handed dentistry - until you accumulated lots of experience with it. Spposedly they no longer sell the original version. I do know lots of sailors have have one. Back in the 90's I installed a Martec Feathering prop, chosen partly because its blade angle was adjustable after installation, without starting over.

Good luck on unscrambling your blades!

I can’t blame the yard people for this… I installed the prop.

But the PYI instructions haven’t been updated for some of the information. But I am to blame as I messed around with the prop while setting the pitch. I didn’t realize that the blades were feather backwards, and not moving to the correct FWD and REV positions because I removed a circlip and something inside moved. So it is on me.

The pitch adjustment is very easy, and mounting it on the shaft is also very easy…just don’t mess with the Internals if you don’t know what you are doing

Once I reviewed the disassembly info, it made sense.

Greg

 

[Tally Ho]

Good luck Greg. Sounds like you were so close to success. …, but….

Tomorrow. Is another day. Wishing you good vibes.

Happy to report that the marina hauled me out this morning around 10:30, and left me in the slings for an hour. I had all of my stuff ready to go and was armed with information after watching the PYInMaxProp disaaembly/assembly video a few times last night.

My prop pulled would not fit on this prop, but the prop comes apart, leaving only the spindle on the shaft…so I could reassemble everything pretty much right on the shaft. I did not need to open the body of the prop or remove the blades (which might have been a pain to reassemble without octopus arms). I did call Fred at PYI once to ask about separating the 2 halves of the body (his video didn’t show any screws holding the 2 halves together, but mine would not come apart…the 3 screws are new, and not in the video).

My mobile workbench


Getting the circlip on was the worst part. Had to remove almost off the grease in the body before I could get the circlip fully in place… not something you want to come off (although I think the prop nut would keep the thing from coming off completely)…



All done and ready to put Tally Ho back in the water…


I had the lift operator hold me in the sling so I could power forward and see if it felt “right”…sure didn’t want to pay for another lift (and it was blowing a stink today and I was solo…so getting into the slings was a real treat…and I didn’t want to attempt that again either).

Difinitely had good bite in the water (FWD and REV) once the prop was on right! The pitch seems pretty right on…Seemed like I could get higher revs without blowing black fuel out the exhaust. And boat speed was 6+ knots in not smooth conditions…

Now to get some sails on the old girl!

Greg

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Congratulations ................... job well done ................. does this mean you're paying for all the drinks tonight ?

I notice you've got two zincs on the shaft, forward of the strut. And that LOOKS like a big heavy zinc on the end of the prop. Are the shaft zincs required now ?

 

[twodzusfittings]

Congratulations ................... job well done ................. does this mean you're paying for all the drinks tonight ?

I notice you've got two zincs on the shaft, forward of the strut. And that LOOKS like a big heavy zinc on the end of the prop. Are the shaft zincs required now ?

It's like a party. The more the merrier!

 

[dlochner]

Congratulations ................... job well done ................. does this mean you're paying for all the drinks tonight ?

I notice you've got two zincs on the shaft, forward of the strut. And that LOOKS like a big heavy zinc on the end of the prop. Are the shaft zincs required now ?

Yes. And those had best not be zinc. In Chicago they should use Aluminum or Magnesium.

 

[Tally Ho]

Congratulations ................... job well done ................. does this mean you're paying for all the drinks tonight ?

I notice you've got two zincs on the shaft, forward of the strut. And that LOOKS like a big heavy zinc on the end of the prop. Are the shaft zincs required now ?

PYI says to keep the anode on the shaft, and they provide the big cone one with the prop.

I sure don’t want a $3000 prop eaten by galvanic corrosion, so yes, I will keep 2 on the shaft (I replace the oldest one each year). I will see how the cone anode hold up after this season.

And no, I am broke after paying for the haulout …

But glad the prop now works as it is supposed to

Greg