This comes from the C320 group but I thought it valuable to bring it to ours as well since I haven’t seen it discussed by our group. The discussion started with using wrenches and a propane torch to heat the hub:
“More heat should work. My experience is that it generally will take a MAP torch to get enough heat on the prop to break it loose. The MAP applies about 3 times the heat of a propane torch.”
“Any need to worry about heat deforming the cutlass bearing?”
“Start with a cold prop and shaft, a MAPP gas torch will heat the hub fairly quickly and the hub will expand enough to get the prop loose well before enough heat can get to the shaft and travel to the cutlass.
So no problem. Propane will work too but isn’t nearly as hot so you’ll heat the shaft more in
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My question is that in the North East, is it really necessary to paint the prop and shaft with the special anti-fouling paint?
Right now, I have prop and shaft all polished and cleaned.
Thanks
Jack
C380 #68
JaxSan
I used PropSpeed paint on my prop. It is very expensive but a year latter i did bottom cleaning and all I had to do i wipe it with a piece of carpet. Prop is the only exposed metal in water aside for 25mm of prop shaft. I changed zinc even though there was more than 75% left because it was covered by barnacles.
I would use PropSpeed again
Regards,
Mario Vrdoljak
I second the Petit product. I have used it for a number of years and had no barnacle attachment. A friend in a neighboring marina had so many barnacles on his after only 6 weeks in the water
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I have a Campbell Sailor 3 blade prop on our C380, and love it. The boat backs up straight, very controllable. While the previous owner installed the prop on the C380, I did install one on our prior boat, a C30. The prop seems to counteract prop walk much more on the C380. On the C30 I could really rely on the paddle wheel effect to turn the boat, but not so much on the C380. I like the simplicity of the Campbell Sailor, with no maintenance, or history of failures. As reported in independent tests by “Practical Sailor Magazine”, it achieves top results and is their Editor’s pick for fixed blade propellers.
Question for those of you who upgraded to a folding or feathering prop. From what I researched so far, it seems like folding is a better way to go, especially with 2 blades. Folding has less drag when sailing but slightly inferior with respect to motoring performance. 3 blades is better for headwinds and waves but has more drag and costs much more. The two best choices for price seem to be Gori 2-blade around $1300 or Flex-o-Fold 3-blade, slightly over $2K. The Gori 3-blade is well over $3K. One thing I couldn’t get a clear answer on was whether folding props reverse blades when backing up or if that is only a feature of feathering props. Can anyone approximate average speed gains? Any improvement with prop walk when backing? Any problems/failures with prop not unfolding? Any maintenance problems from marine growth on the gears? How about the 2-bladers? Anyone
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For anyone who has followed the long and tedious thread on my F-O-F prop, here is the conclusion:
I finally exchanged the blades to 18×11. This is either the perfect pitch or slightly under. An 18×12 would probably work fine too, but the 18×13 was clearly too much. My RPM is around 3750 while it should be 3600. Trouble is, my tach shows inconsistent reading when above 3500 RPM. Bottom line is at the top of my cruising range 3000 RPM boat speed is between 6.7-7.4 knots. This is as good if not slightly better than the fixed 18×12 prop I replaced. Sailing in light air gains ½ knot boat speed when folded. Haven’t had heavier air as of yet which is uncommon this time of year. Prop walk is virtually non-existent. I am very happy with the prop.
One word of caution if you are a prospective F-O-F buyer.
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The list below provides links to owner websites and their descriptions of improvements they have made to various aspects of the Catalina 380 series. I include them in this post so that they will be available to the search routines of this site.
Last summer I always felt that there was just a little too much vibration when under power. This winter I took the propeller off sent it to Michigan Wheel. They found that there was a burr in the taper of the propeller. I also took some valve grinding compound and ground the tapers on the shaft and propeller to match. This helped to reduce the vibration level.
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