Kiwi Prop

[russp]

Hi All, just a very quick update on the Kiwi prop on Avalon. I have been off cruising on a charter boat in Tonga so put off doing anything on Avalon, so it still has the "as supplied" 21 deg pitch and I haven't done any realignment work, but I have dropped the idle to just below 900 rpm.

Hull was recently antifouled and in flat water I now can do 6.9 kts SOG via GPS with no current, so genuine, at 2600 rpm which is WOT and pushes the temp from the normal 160F up to 180F so the engine is working hard but not smoking. I also get huge thrust in reverse at less than 1500 rpm, and WOT in reverse is only about 1700 rpm but it is not a problem, she picks up speed quickly and does have a lot of prop walk contrary to some articles I read about Kiwis before I purchased. So aside from vibration which I don't attribute to the KP, and the fact the factory over pitches them for the C350 specification (IMHO), I am happy with the KP. I couldn't say for sure, but I think I have picked up about 0.5 knots when sailing compared to the free wheeling fixed prop.

So, still to do is repitch, replace damper plate, change out the PSS boot (10 years old), and check alignment and straightness of couplings and shaft. May even look at a flexible coupling, there is no room in the standard installation with the PSS, but the distributor here said that he is aware of many boats that have cut down the length of the PSS boot at the aft end and just used one SS hoseclip. If you do that there is then room to install a flexible coupling, but still thinking about the consequences of failure. There isn't that much water comes in through the cutlass bearing, but I still wouldn't want to deal with a detached or failed boot when out at sea!

Regards