On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:46:44 GMT, Jere Lull wrote:

I've always wondered... Why not put a feathering prop on at least one
of the shafts? Yeah, I know they're expen$ive (we have a MaxProp), but
it seems like it might be overall cheaper in the long run.

Then again, I'm not sure I've seen a 30" feathering prop. Nevermind....
MaxProp show up to 44" and some indication of a 4 blade; Autoprop shows
up to 36". Dang, I'd hate to pay their cost, but I don't much like
buying fuel or transmissions either.

It's a good thought and one that I might consider if I have to reprop
again sometime in the future. Do you have any idea how they work? Is
the pitch adjustable in some way or do they just self-feather from the
force of the water like a folding prop?

The other important issue is reliability. If you are docking a 60,000
lb boat in close quarters you *really* want to know that forward and
reverse are working exactly as planned. There is no fending off by
hand if something goes wrong. The reality of today's boat insurance
market is that if you have an expensive liability claim from damage to
another boat, you are probably going to get cancelled and have trouble
finding another policy. You pretty much have to self insure for all
but the very largest losses these days.