First Rock Strike—anything to do?
 

Some of you may remember when I scratched my skeg on a rock at Ragged because I got in too early, but tonight, after seven summers of boating in the north, I actually struck a rock (is it inevitable?!). It was dark (must've been literally inches off), and it was just a momentary thunk, but it looks like the skeg and one prop blade got scratched and the cone scratched and maybe slightly dented (I can't tell if it's the waterline distorting the look, but it's definitely scratched).

Everything is operating normally and there's no unusual noises or vibrations. Do I just continue using it, or is there a value in having someone look it over?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

Definitely have it looked at! You could have bent your prop shaft even though it’s not vibrating. Also, from experience, denting / scratching the bullet / cone is not good. My insurance company made me replace an entire lower unit due to deep scratches in the cone, never even touched the prop! Something about the pressure inside the cone...

Good luck!

Dan

Congrats!

You no longer need to worry about dinging your motor.

Scratches and dents usually don't matter much.

If it's a stainless steel prop run your hand along the blade and compare it to the others. Is it bent? If so, you may want to get it repaired.

If it's aluminum you can file down any dented edges.

So there you have it, get it looked at, or don't.

Focus
 

Power down your cell phone, stop posting here and pay attention to the chart.

Oops, might not have been clear enough: the strike already occurred and attention wasn't an issue.

The really lame thing is that, just before I went through the channel I did, I thought "why don't I ever take the OTHER channel? Nah, maybe next time."

Hindsight is 20/20 and, given that I've gone through where I did tens of times before without incident, it's just bad luck.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

Whereabouts did it happen?

Whaleback Island. Coming west (towards Greene's Basin), I went to the right which is always fine, but in the dark a few inches matters.

What annoys me more is I saved two people from hitting there on the 4th.

I'm really bummed because the motor was pristine and, even though everything appears fine—I've got an email in to MVM to maybe double-check—I'd done such a good job keeping it perfect. [emoji3525]

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

Think;

Here's a pic of my "bullet" that a rock scraped up. Never hit the prop just the bullet and the skeag. I wanted to just have someone "bondo" it up and paint it and my insurance company (Progressive) said no way. Entire lower unit casing needed to be replaced! On a 350 Yamaha, those casings are not cheap! From the way it was explained to me there is a lot of pressure in that cone and any kind of scrape or dent will compromise the integrity of the cone leading to a possible full failure down the road...

I didn't argue with them and had it done. They paid for everything and my rates never increased...

FWIW;

Dan

Thanks, Dan. I took a closer look this morning in the daylight, and what I thought was a dented cone is just the shape of the overall prop. It looks like I just hit the very bottom of the skeg, none of the blades hit, which explains why it was short and the motor didn't stall. I'll get pics with the GoPro later and go from there. I'm thinking I dodged a bullet.

BTW, if it is just a skeg scratch, should I be touching it up/painting it?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

If it's just a skeg hit you should be fine. File it smooth and paint it up. You will feel better about it the less you can see it! :D

Dan

If you want to protect your skeg even more, look into one of these:
Skeggard
Skegshield
I installed one on the outdrive skeg on my Volvo Penta when I owned a little 4 Winns 190
I hit a couple of rocks in unfamiliar environs (just slow scrapes) and one time I forgot to raise the outdrive when trailering it up a launch ramp. Did a nasty scrape-down of the bottom of the skeg before I realized it (was in a hurry to clear the launch ramp so others could launch.)
These will protect your skeg if you want to prevent any further damage.

I had a chunk taken off my skeg and abrasion to my bullet years ago with no major repair necessary. The skeg fortunately protected the prop. I filed the damage to the skeg and touched up the skeg and bullet with paint. Never had any problems.


Sent from my iPhone using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

I found where I hit today and, just as I thought, only a couple inches off.

In any case, I'm gonna double check next time I'm in some shallows and can look closely. In the meantime, are those skeg guards Hill posted a worthy addition?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

I think a skeg guard probably isn't much stronger than the skeg itself, maybe a little bit, but it can't hurt to put one on. I think most skeg guards you see have probably replaced skegs that are already missing from a previous mishap, and it is a cheap easy way out of replacing it, instead of having a new one welded back up, or it is just being used till the boat gets in the shop for a proper repair.

So it sounds like a real issue was avoided here.... Any marina, will usually and quickly check out your drive after something like this. As Dan mentioned one concern is always that the prop shaft gets bent out of spec. Sometimes it just in not enough to notice. This happens quite a bit with Stainless steel props, and why I have never made that conversion.

In Dan's case, everyone I know that has progressive for their boats, finds that progressive is very conservative to their approach, and often simply replace things. With a boat, it is very easy to hit a lower unit multiple times. Although A current hit may not cause an issue, a second hit might... and then the arguments start, which accident caused the issue... its just not a headache insurance companies want to deal with.