Posted by Max Bottomtime on June 22, 2003 at 13:19:41:
Ross and I decided to fight the lousy dive conditions and go to the Palawan this morning. Same choppy seas as yesterday and layer of dirty water at thirty feet made for another night dive at nine in the morning. I hadn't been to the Palawan for a couple of years and was impressed at the amount of invertebrate life covering the outside of the hull. The vis was OK at twenty feet, but it was very dark and cold. As we made it back to the anchor to begin our ascent we both spotted something dark on the sand about ten feet away. I went over to investigate and was surprised to find a fairly new propeller. Fortunately it was a Volvo-Penta Duoprop propeller like the ones on my boat. I was thinking I had another spare if the pitch was correct. As we made our slow ascent I began wondering about the prop. After completing a short deco at ten feet, I swam over to the stern of my boat. My fears were justified. It had indeed fallen off my boat. Somehow the nut and cone had come loose and the prop had slid off the spine. I was fortunate to find it. Tomorrow, I get to buy a nut and cone instead of a $250 prop. We limped back around the peninsula on one prop and as we made it back inside the harbor my engine began overheating. What next?!!! After a few moments of worrying about burning up the new engine I remembered what a friend told me a few years ago about raw water intakes. If you suck up some kelp or plastic and start to overheat, put it in reverse and punch it. As soon as I did that, the engine cooled. We made it back into my slip and nobody died, so I guess it was a good trip.