When I first bought and commissioned the Navigator I was a little
nervous about my boat handling skills, especially since I had gone
from a 28 footer to a 52 footer. To make matters worse the slip I had
in Scituate was right behind a floating fuel dock and I had to back
the boat about 150 feet from where I made the initial turn, passing
within 10-15 feet of the fuel dock (which often had other boats tied up
to it) and into the slip that only had 6 inches of clearance on each side.

Fortunately I hired a very experienced tug boat captain to go out with
me a couple of times and give me some lessons and tips on close quarter
maneuvering. The Navigator was equipped with thrusters but he refused
to let me use them. He's the one who really emphasized the "neutral is
your friend" concept and taught me to back the boat towards the slip in
a series of reverse, neutral, reverse, neutral steps, adjusting as
necessary with the shifters (not the throttles) to keep lined up with
the slip. It was well worth the short money he charged for these lessons.

I never thought of a prop acting like a "paddle wheel" that's interesting to know. Of course outboards and I/O's you aim the prop the direction you want the boat to go. Especcially in reverse makes backing much simpler. I apreciate the education!

On 3/19/2015 8:54 AM, Tim wrote:
I never thought of a prop acting like a "paddle wheel" that's interesting to know. Of course outboards and I/O's you aim the prop the direction you want the boat to go. Especcially in reverse makes backing much simpler. I apreciate the education!


You can demonstrate prop walk with an outboard or I/O although
sometimes it's masked or affected by wind and/or current.

If it's a still day and there's little or no current, pick a fixed spot
behind the boat like the end of a dock or a piling or something.
Center the helm so the outboard or I/O leg is straight and put it in
reverse at idle throttle. As the boat starts moving toward the fixed
object the stern will slowly start moving left or right depending on the
LH or RH rotation design of the prop.

On 3/18/15 6:10 PM, Tim wrote:
Greg's thread made me think about my old Chris-craft Cavalier and how it was set up. It had solid shaft propulsion. And looking from the back, it had the rudder just left of the prop. I wonder why it was set that way instead of being directly behind the propeller instead of offset the way it was. Also I wonder why only one prop instead of two. It was a bugger to back out of a slip .

When underway everything was fine and would steer well regardless of speed or direction.
Any ideas?


Offset rudder. First time I saw that was in the late 1950s. It wasn't
uncommon on inboard runabouts that "wandered" into my dad's shop.

--
Proud to be a Liberal.

On 3/18/2015 7:28 PM, Keyser Söze wrote:
On 3/18/15 6:10 PM, Tim wrote:
Greg's thread made me think about my old Chris-craft Cavalier and how
it was set up. It had solid shaft propulsion. And looking from the
back, it had the rudder just left of the prop. I wonder why it was set
that way instead of being directly behind the propeller instead of
offset the way it was. Also I wonder why only one prop instead of two.
It was a bugger to back out of a slip .

When underway everything was fine and would steer well regardless of
speed or direction.
Any ideas?


Offset rudder. First time I saw that was in the late 1950s. It wasn't
uncommon on inboard runabouts that "wandered" into my dad's shop.


I think even in larger, twin engined boats with rudders, the rudder is
not necessarily dead center to the prop. It's usually offset, not by
much, but is not perfectly centered. I remember this on the Egg Harbor
I had. When it was being launched but still on land I was standing
behind it and noticed that the rudders where not perfectly in line with
the center hub of the props. They were offset by about an inch, one in
one direction, the other opposite.