This post is a little late, and isn’t much of a report but here I go. Went out with a boat-load on Sunday 6/24. I was headed towards the Edisto Banks / Royal Terrace area. About 4 miles shy of the ledge the boat came to a sudden shudder. I did the usual routine; power down; neutral; reverse; try again… The props were bound.
Luckily, I had a problem several years ago and now carry a dive mask, and luckily, I had a guest on board who is an avid recreational swimmer. He hops in a takes a look at the props, and lo and behold the port prop is bound up with some mystery rope. I never saw this floating in the water from the bridge. I happened to have some plastic tubing on board that served as a snorkel, and it was calm that morning, and my buddy hops in with a filet knife, a safety rope, and the snorkel, and was successful in extracting said rope. See photo below.
Once free, all was well and we proceeded as normal. Slow morning; had to go south; found a weed line and started working. We got one nice hit and I’m happy to report that my bride (as of June 2nd) angled in a real nice Wahoo. I hate to mention weight on this site, but I did have a shimano scale (that goes to 50 lb) on board that weighed this in at 45 pounds. (Yes I understand opinions will very). Photo below; if it helps, my wife is 5’10" for size comparison.
Not much else the rest of the day; a few peanut dolphin were around; we lost some tails off some ballyhoo, but didn’t get anything else substantial. Had a nice ride in. And then, would you believe it, smack dab in the middle of the Jetties, the boat suddenly shuddered and turned starboard. Went through the routine again. Opened all the hatches; motor running, shaft spinning, but no motion from that side. Again, someone hops in the water and yes, suspicions confirmed, the starboard prop is gone along with part of the exposed shaft. Th