reverse gear , very heavy kick to port ?

[michael coxom]

i have an oceanis 373 ( 2006)
whenever we motor astern there is always a vey heavy kick to port .
mostly reasonably manageable but sometimes more difficult mooring stern in heavy cross winds . suspect its the prop which is a double folding variety .if yes what is the alternative ?
MC

 

[kappykaplan]

It's prop walk. I have the same problem. When I have heavy cross winds, I give myself a longer run astern to get enough water flowing across the rudder so I can then back to port. The trick is to bleed that extra speed off before entering the slip.

 

[Tejas]

Although pricy and prop-walk is not eliminated, an alternative might be a MaxProp. We changed to from a two-blade folding prop to three-blade MaxProp.

http://www.max-prop.com/

 

[Stu Jackson]

Michael,

Hi and welcome. If you do a search on the blue tab at the top of the page on "prop walk" you'll find many more ideas.

Good luck. Some of us think that it is a good thing!

 

[weinie]

Prop walk: It's helpful, until it's not.

 

[arf145]

We have a 2-blade Max Prop and it has plenty of prop walk in reverse. Prop walk can be your friend--if you can, try to use it rather than fight it.

 

[DougM]

I have a 2 blade Gori, and it behaves a bit better than the fixed 2 blade that was originally on the boat. However because of basic laws of physics, prop walk is always going to be there. With a little practice one gets the hang of it, offsetting the rudder with an initial burst of throttle gets the boat moving, then reset the throttle. You can actually "walk" the stern out of a starboard side mooring by using a spring line in reverse if necessary. A trick my wife learned for reversing the boat was to stand forward of the wheel looking aft, that way she wasn't always having to consciously redetermine which way to turn the wheel to change direction. It looks silly, but it works.

 

[Captn TJ]

Funny that's how I back into the slip - stand in front of the wheel looking aft. Now if I had a remote for the thruster that would be perfect.

 

[Deadhead]

This month's Sail magazine has an article on prop walk. Nothing really new, but it is information to log into the memory banks. Best bet is to learn to use prop walk to your advantage. For example, I back down a long fairway to my slip so that I can let the prop walk to port swing me right into my slip.

One of the power boaters on my dock lost a screw this summer and had to limp home. After half a dozen attempts to enter his slip he eventually made it. A couple of us sail boaters helped him secure his boat then said "welcome to our world".

 

[Benjamin Disralei]

Prop walk

Stupid as it may sound but I do not mind prop walk, the only adjustment
I had to make was me, now I find it invaluable especialy when pinned to a dock when wind changes, however I akways park so that prop walk will aid me not fail me.

It can be your friend, embrace it.