east tx skier
06-17-2005, 09:52 AM
Well, I had about 10 minutes of pucker yesterday. My wife, father-in-law, and I were headed to the river for a sunset ski (bug run) after a huge storm blew through yesterday afternoon.
We took a regular shortcut off the boat road, but when we reached the mouth of the river, it was blocked by water hycinth (sp). This nasty stuff floats about and the State is doing zip about it. I turned the boat around as I didn't want to pull a James Bond a la Live and Let Die across it even though I knew it wasn't attached to the bottom. Still, it looks like a solid island.
I got turned around and as I took off, I heard a knock like I'd bumped a stump. Soon after, a mild vibration could be felt and my mood deteriorated. I gave it a good reverse a few times, but the vibration didn't seem to go away. We headed home.
When we got to the dock, I gave it a good throttle up and went down the course. Nobody could feel any vibration. It was getting dark and another storm was approaching. We put it on the lift and I moved my hand across the blades of the prop. Not a mark. Apparently, some of that nasty stuff just got wrapped up in the prop. Whew!
I saw one small mark on the hub, but it's not a gouge. I'm figuring it's just one of those spots that they hand rubbed and I'd never noticed before.
By the way, the prop test is coming along. I just need to get wake pictures for the acme. Plan to swap them out later today. Glad it's for testing purposes and not because I banged up my other prop. :o
We took a regular shortcut off the boat road, but when we reached the mouth of the river, it was blocked by water hycinth (sp). This nasty stuff floats about and the State is doing zip about it. I turned the boat around as I didn't want to pull a James Bond a la Live and Let Die across it even though I knew it wasn't attached to the bottom. Still, it looks like a solid island.
I got turned around and as I took off, I heard a knock like I'd bumped a stump. Soon after, a mild vibration could be felt and my mood deteriorated. I gave it a good reverse a few times, but the vibration didn't seem to go away. We headed home.
When we got to the dock, I gave it a good throttle up and went down the course. Nobody could feel any vibration. It was getting dark and another storm was approaching. We put it on the lift and I moved my hand across the blades of the prop. Not a mark. Apparently, some of that nasty stuff just got wrapped up in the prop. Whew!
I saw one small mark on the hub, but it's not a gouge. I'm figuring it's just one of those spots that they hand rubbed and I'd never noticed before.
By the way, the prop test is coming along. I just need to get wake pictures for the acme. Plan to swap them out later today. Glad it's for testing purposes and not because I banged up my other prop. :o