I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!! :D

[kungpaoshizi]

Luckily it was just above idle speed... I was watching the shoreline..

It did jolt me though and my hand moved the throttle, prop hit rocks, I came back to idle but it died..

When I first restarted it, it didn't want to idle. :|

But I got it off of it and got it into gear and it went.. I slowly increased speed (since only the prop looked ravaged, the skeg didn't even break any) and got it up to WOT, it didn't blow up..

I don't sense any wobble of the shaft or resistance when turning the prop, didn't hear any grinding..

Perhaps it's alright? Or is the only proper way to disassemble the lower unit?

I turned it off for a bit back at the dock and then restarted it, it did seem to be a hundred or two lower rpm's?! :/

But it seems to run... I might have to increase the rpm a little, but is that a possible side effect somehow? I'm a little lost..

I'm just real happy I didn't sink or seem to take on any new water in the bilge aside from the usual 2 ounces..

:facepalm:

 

[not enuf toys]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

sounds like just prop damage. I am assuming aluminum prop? aluminum takes the force where ss transfers it to another piece that is weaker

 

[kungpaoshizi]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

Ya, my buddy told me when I got this first boat, "get aluminum so you don't trash your gears if you hit something!"

Someone mentioned in another thread getting knocked out of alignment? How does that work? Like knocked out of timing, or the crankshaft is physically affected?

 

[kungpaoshizi]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

View attachment 208088

need to repair or replace before you go out again.

 

[Pony]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

Others may disagree.....but I would be inclined to take it to a shop and have the L/U pressure tested to make sure all of your seals are good to go.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

Get the prop fixed or replaced. Keep an eye on the LU fluid to be sure there are no leaks or water intrusion. Your mother should have named you Lucky.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

Prop damage alone would not affect your idle except possibly while in gear... I would be suspicious that there may be more damage

Not too sure how running aground makes you a boater but glad to hear you are ok

 

[kungpaoshizi]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

Prop damage alone would not affect your idle except possibly while in gear... I would be suspicious that there may be more damage

Not too sure how running aground makes you a boater but glad to hear you are ok

Eh, better to laugh about making the rookie mistake everyone warned me about..

 

[sublauxation]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

Hopefully all is OK. Reading this made me paranoid as I'm hitting the Mississippi for the first time in my own boat this weekend and I've had "wing dam" in the back of my mind all week.

 

[etracer68]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

The prop needs to be repaired, or replaced. Take the prop off, and useing a dial indicator, check the prop shaft for runout, it should be under .003. If you dont have the tools , any machine shop should be able to help you out.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

I don't know what a "wing dam" is but I am constantly thankful for our forgiving soft bottoms around here!

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

Hopefully all is OK. Reading this made me paranoid as I'm hitting the Mississippi for the first time in my own boat this weekend and I've had "wing dam" in the back of my mind all week.

Download the free river charts from the Army Corps of Engineers. The entire river is charted, including the locations of wing dams. You can download just the sections of the river that you'll be boating. The charts are handy and I won't go on the Mississippi without them.

 

[lncoop]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

I don't know what a "wing dam" is but I am constantly thankful for our forgiving soft bottoms around here!

Jetty.

 

[Campylobacter]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

Not too sure how running aground makes you a boater but glad to hear you are ok

In the skinny water behind the barrier islands of NC we have two kinds of boaters: those that have run aground, and those that will. Maybe they have some similar expression in IA.

 

[southkogs]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

I don't know what a "wing dam" is...

I had to look that up too - had seen 'em on a couple of rivers but never knew what they were until now.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

I don't know what a "wing dam" is but I am constantly thankful for our forgiving soft bottoms around here!

In the Mississippi, wing dams are submerged jetties that direct the current toward the central navigation channel of the river, helping to keep that channel scoured out as the water flows more swiftly there by being redirected by the wing dams. In some places they are fairly deep, but in many places you can catch you drive (or even the hull) on them, especially if the river level is low. Unless I know a stretch of river well, I stay to the channel. The charts are pretty good at showing where the wing dams are, too.

 

[Pony]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

Just another reason to be glad I have the GPS combo unit with the lakemater chip........

 

[lncoop]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

Jetties AKA wing dams are good places to catch de fishies.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: I'm officially a boater! I hit a wing dam!!

Eh, better to laugh about making the rookie mistake everyone warned me about..

EH not so much of a "rookie" mistake... I was BORN as a boater almost 40 years ago and just a couple weeks ago I smacked a rock at 50 mph and busted a hole in the bottom of my jetski which sank in less than a minute.