On Sat, 13 May 2006 14:30:49 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:


I think in the end that the best cure is technique. Once water starts
flowing along the keel and rudder, prop walk is minimized. Give the
boat a quick burst of power in reverse to get it moving a little and
then shift to neutral. Apply more reverse as needed in short bursts,
and use the rudder to compensate for additional prop walk.
Many people are reluctant to build too much boat speed in reverse but
it really does a lot to minimize control issues of al types.


I know the OP wanted physics and not art, but the prop walk of my old
fixed two-blade was so nasty (and contrary to my port side docking
situation) that I learned quite early to just walk the boat off the
dock in neutral and "coast" until I could put it in forward, and to
"dead stick" the boat back to dock by throwing it into neutral,
bleeding off speed in a sharp S turn and basically crabbing right into
my slip.

So even though I can back down straighter (after a slight pause as the
blades open), I still don't use a lot of reverse thrust. I fell out of
the habit.

R.