Bad luck on Loch Lomond

[claretcass]

Enjoying 3 days in my inflatable on Loch Lomond then "wallop", going in close to one of the islands to take photographs and hit rocks shearing off one of the 2 blades on my Torqeedo 1003S. Managed to limp back the 4 miles to Milarrochy bay successfully and land.
Got up the next day to the best boating day of the week and had to sit it out....
Then shock number 3, rang up and ordered a new propellor to find its £90...
Sat down now drinking "speckled hen" to drown my sorrows...

[Xk59D]

sorry to hear you had a wee bump with the seabed.

if it is any consolation it happens all the time at LL, the local merc dealer keeps a lot of props in stock and they don't sit long.

cheers

[Fenlander]

That's really bad luck but typical of brackish inland lochs which I've found have more hard bits waiting to catch the boater than the coast.

We had a stressful week on Loch Morar one year when the water was low and so many areas were just waiting to take bits off the props.

Just today I've sorted out a spare prop for our Mercury for next week as I never holiday in Scotland without a replacement to hand.

In one of my kit bags I have taped together the spare prop, spare nut, ring spanner and a small block of wood to lock the prop to get the nut off.

[McNish]

thankfully I run motor with a shear pin.

[claretcass]

I fully expected this pin to shear but it just bent and locked in the shaft.
The good news is....new propellor delivered, fitted....ready to go.

[Poly]

The shearpin doesn't need to be weaker than the prop, in fact if it was there is a risk if would ping too often on things like weed or a rope. Its purpose is to be weaker than the vulnerable bits of gearbox etc.

[claretcass]

Thanks Fenlander. Seeing as I go every 3-4 weeks to either Loch Lomond, Loch Ken or Loch Earn I have taken your advice and "spared up" with a propellor, pins, locknuts and tools so I can do repairs as and when needed.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by claretcass

I fully expected this pin to shear but it just bent and locked in the shaft.
The good news is....new propellor delivered, fitted....ready to go.

If the pin bent & locked up its possibly the wrong material . They are supposed to be made from a slightly brittle material that will snap rather than bend to avoid exactly what you describe
I'm not sure what the material is but it shouldn't bend & lock up

[Fenlander]

Cheers claretclass. At the moment we are in our second week on a sea loch with a fair level of prop eating threats. One long narrow leg we've explored says in the pilot guide "Do not attempt passage unless rocks are exposed". They were on the way in... but on the way out with a rising tide they were all covered and it was quite scary to know what was just inches under the surface.

So far so good but we have a few days left to test... err... the waters.