On 2008-06-26 15:19:04 -0400, Rosalie B. said:

We pulled the boat yesterday and Bob said the cutlass bearing was
extremely loose and he is pretty sure that was the problem. He said it
was vibrating again on the way over to the haul slip, and there was
nothing on the prop except some barnacles..

If it feels loose, it is.

He had put a vibration damper spacer in and he thinks he didn't get the
cutlass bearing far enough back to account for that.

Hmmm. Sounds like there was an error in installation. Ah well, live and learn.

However, someone has just emailed me and explained that they change the
cutlass bearing every time they haul the boat as a precaution. (They
only haul about every two years)

I was given the impression that the old (70s) cutlass bearings lasted a
decade easily. The new ones are supposedly better. If they wear faster
than that, I'd look to other causes, misalignment first, bent shaft,
then prop balance. That doesn't seem to be your problem, though.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/