Forums, Engine, Gearbox, Stern Gear, etc, Propellers (Again!)

Alastair Pugh at 30/12/2018 09:59:25

Marisca has a 2-blade 14×8 prop with mottled pink, slightly nibbled blades and interesting cracks emanating from the blade roots.

The swept back angle of the blades is also noticeably eccentric. Despite this I used to get ~5kts at 2000rpm and ~6.5kts at piston-popping teeth-rattling 3300rpm on my Yanmar 2GMF in flat water but a hobby-horsing 3kts or less in head seas. “Used to” ‘cos I re-engined in March with an instant starting 3YM20.
The re-engining was a bit rushed as an unused, still in its packing case but 7-year old donk fell into my hands and has been an almost unalloyed joy all year. (Did I mention instant starting?) The rush meant I kept my original prop and the performance remains the same except it revs to 3600 and gets a stern-squatting ~7kts. What hasn’t changed is the ability to punch into short steep seas or the vibration from the prop.
I am contemplating a Darglow 3-bladed Featherstream – a reforming/weld of my original 2-blade is the alternative – and seek the forum’s wisdom. Will it give more bite into head seas and be a bit smoother? The forum has tales of woe from earlier Darglow adopters of low speeds and worn stops – are these problems all in the past?

Edited: Alastair Pugh on 2018-12-30 10:00:52