Been There Myself
Unfortunately I had a similar experience Last Summer,only I cought a string of crabpots while sailing in Chesapeake Bay. I was able to dislodge the pots without cutting the line. When the line released there was a lound pop. bang clunk, all these descriptive sounds may be representative of the releas of the crab pots. My engine was not running when we snagged the pots. To get to the unfortunate, when I pulled the boat last April to put it in dry storage I discovered the shaft strut bent to starboard about 3 inches. The serious misalignment of the shaft was the cause of the black ooze that had subsequently been slung out of the coupling to the transmission that had been occuring since that fatefull day. When I was taking the boat to the yard where I was placing it in dry storage for 3-4 years I ended up getting towed after getting halfway there. Thankyou Boat US and the $500 towing I had for soe reason elected for that year, as the tow was $386. The reason I had to be towed was the shaft was working its way out of the coupling as the engine was running and I didn't want to lose the shaft. I was convinced that I wouldn't lose the shaft because I reasined that if the shaft backed out of the coupling it would just stop when it hit the rudder post ( I have a 79' Hunter 30). I obviously took no chances adn called the tow. After hauling the boat and seeing the bent shaft strut, I released how smart/fortunate I had been in deciding to opt for the tow. The bent shaft strut would have allowed the wholr thing to back out, miss the rudder post and leave a hole for the water to get it. I sunk boat. I now believe the clunk, bang, pop sound I heard when realeasing the crab pots was the shaft initially pulling a little way out of the coupling due to the release of tension and misalignment the crab pots caused when wrapped around my shaft. You may want to check your shaft alignment, strut etc. I usually dove my boat once a month to inspect and clean the bottom. For some reason I didn' dive it after the sailing trip where I caught the crab pots. If I had, I would of discovered the reason for that black ooze that had been puzzling me for months when I ran the engine. I ran the engine in the slip for 30 min. every weekend during the winter to circulate oil instead of laying it up, a practice that has stood me well for years.
