On Feb 8, 12:41�pm, "RCE" wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in oglegroups.com...



I know a guy who had the prop shaft supports ripped out
the bottom of his boat by a whale that came out of
nowhere - hit the stern and everything went bye-bye.

We met up with some guys in a big Sea Ray on the voyage to Florida and did
some partying at the marina we stopped at. *The next day (nursing hangovers)
we elected to stay on the ICW and they decided to run off-shore.

They ended up wrapping a submerged chunk of 2" hawser on one of their shafts
and ripped the cutlass bearing mounting plate right out of the hull.
Fortunately they were able to stuff the hole enough and maintain headway on
the other engine until the Coast Guard arrived.

Eisboch


An excellent illustration of the point that twins don't always make a
boat safer.
With twin inboards, the shaft aft of the shaft log is perilously
exposed. I'd be willing to bet that more sinkings occur each year due
to ripping a strut away from the hull (and creating a 2-3 sq ft (!)
breach) than from a loss of motive power.
Losing headway won't usually put a boat into peril unless there is a
pretty nasty blow going on- but ripping off a strut upon striking a
deadhead, a hawser, a reef, a whale, etc can easily sink a boat in a
dead calm.

For my money, I like the shaft protruding about a foot or so from the
cutlass bearing, protected by a keel, skeg, and rudder. Much safer
than running naked.