I did that, about 20 hours on my new boat, a 16' centerconsole, i was
cruising at top speed. ripped the skeg right off, and mangled the prop, it
appeared to be a partially submerged railroad tie. what else would u expect
in a river... anyway, about 300 bucks later, new skeg, cant even tell of the
repair, and a new prop. 2 days in the shop.


"Mikhael" wrote in message
.. .
For those who don't know, I own a brand new four winns 180 freedom. I hit
a
shoal this weekend. Extremely windy on the st lawrence near
johnstown/ogdensburg. In the bay near grenville park there is a bunch of
shoals. These are marked, however the one I hit was not. The marker was
submerged. I was just raising my tilt when I hit it. I immediately went
to
neutral, then raised my tilt as far as I could stand it, then puttered out
of there.

In 10 years of owning a boat, the shoal incident waits until I own a very
expensive boat to occur.

When I finally made it back to the ramp, I brought my boat on shore to
examine the damage. To my relief, it was only minor damage to the prop.
I
planned on purchasing a new prop with my xmas bonus this year anyway.

Question: Is it ok to run an Mercruiser Alpha drive in a tilted up
position
where the prop is barely covered in water? I can't really see the joints
on
the drive lasting too long in that position. If I get into another
situation where I have to trim way up or hit a shoal, what are my options?

Mike