One of the blades on the prop on my Mercury 4-stroke has a noticeable
bent, plus a few nicks and scrapes on the other two blades. Since I
have to drive the boat quite a distance in shallow water (2 feet)
before I reach the 4-5 feet depth, I hesitate to have the prop
repaired until the end of the season since it will be damaged again in
no time. But, I do not want to damage the motor, of course...

Can someone give me more information on the risks of running a motor
with a bent propeller?

A.Z.