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We all need a prop in life!
In my case it is the prop that is on the engine!
For the first 3 legs I used a 21" pitch propeller. For those that don’t know what that means it means that when the propeller rotates one full rotation the it moves forward through the water 21". In reality that isn’t quite true as there is slip and other aspects that make it slightly less than that but it is a gauge that tells you how coarse or fine the propeller is. Finer pitch propellers, that is propellers that have lower numbers and move less through the water for a full turn, are better at acceleration and less good at top speed (like a low gear in a car) and coarser pitches, higher numbers, are better at top speed and less good at acceleration.
I did some fuel runs prior to departure that suggested that the better prop for this trip would be a coarser one so I fitted the coarser of the two I have… the 21". As it is turning out, this may not be the best choice. I am finding that the sea is much more lumpy than when I did the tests and that is meaning that I am having to slow down and speed up much more than on the test which was done at a steady speed. For speeding up I need a lower pitch propeller and so I have changed it over today to the 19" one I have as a spare. The 21" will now become the spare.
I will see how it goes and report back when I get in to Pwllheli.
