Have Fun Jay............Be good Now !!!!:party-smiley-004:

Dennis, let me know your schedule. That would be cool to bump into you in T & C or St Thomas. :)

nice tread to follow !
Bob, do you thing most of the gas powered go fast boats could do the same run you are doing? or diesel engines are a must? how many gallons of fuel can you carry?

I've been following your thread from England, and summer hasn't started here yet! My question is are your props rated for 1200 Gas HP? If so I reckon that the difference is that running diesels puts a lot more stress on everything including the props?

Bon Voyage - Looking forward to seeing more photos and the GoPro footage!

Thanks Cookee. The Yanmar diesel engines are putting out 1250 ft / lbs of torque. The center prop which is deeper in the water has never failed. All 3 prop failures have been either port or starboard side which are closer to the surface. I think there is a connection there.

Hello Jeff. Gas boats would get thru the Bahamas alright but only regular fuel available. The range on my previous NT was only 200 miles with a 400 gal tank. The leg from T & C to Dominican Republic is 190 miles so that would be close but could be done. Range on the diesel NT is 400 miles with the same 400 gal tank so lots of capacity and range there.

Hey Bob, just wonderin...
did you have that guy make an extra hydraulic hose while he was at it?

:evilb:

wow! twice the mileage with same tank ! We don't see this much of difference with our trucks on the road, from gas to diesel !

It's true. Double the mileage. My operating costs have fallen dramatically with the diesel. I now have 350 hrs on the diesel boat so just broke in while with my previous gas boat I would have already done a rebuild and be well on my way to the next one. The saving are huge. What I am sacrificing is a top end speed of 76 MPH vs 100 but can easily cruise at mid 60's all day long and that works for me. Can still run 70's in a poker run and finish in the middle of the pack and cannot think of one run I did not finish. :)

Bob,

Good Day
Just glad that i can help ,,even in a small way
Maybe I can catch you one day on Marco
My Friend has a house on Marco right over the bridge.

Safe Trip and hope the waters are smooth for you
Have lots of friends in PR and the Fajardo area , if you need anything

Enjoy ,, Be safe

Thank you for Sharing with us all

Jim

Sailflow is showing projected winds for Friday ranging from 12 to 18 knots out of the NE. We should be able to make T & C but winds pick up after that and not sure if we can go further or not. Will be watching this and other sites as the week progresses. I should be doing this in the summer time but it's kind of between boating season in FL and CAN for me and my insurer does not want me in the Islands during hurricane season. Not sure why it matters when I have waived my coverage for any named windstorms. :eek: LOL

High Cycle Fatigue
 

Bob, the propeller failures you are experiencing are the direct result of what's known as high-cycle fatigue. This happens because on surfacing piercing props, the blades flex in one direction as they enter the water and become loaded, and then flex back to the unloaded position as they break the water's surface and become unloaded. This load /unload and associated flexing happens once per revolution of the propshaft. With all the hours you put on your boat compared to most others, you are going to experience more failures. Also, as you've experienced, the center prop lasts longer because it's deeper in the water so the blades don't come out of the water as much at the top of the rotation and thus don't unload as much resulting in less "unflexing" and thus less fatigue.

I don't know if you can trim your drives down a little more or if that would upset your boat's attitude too much, but it's something to consider.

Also, it's always wise to inspect your props for cracks anytime the boat is out of the water. Pay particular attention to the trailing edge of the blades near the base, as this is where the cracks are likely to start. Use a good magnifying glass and you may be able to spot the start of a crack before it has propagated far enough to sling a blade.

Good luck with the rest of your trip. I'm looking forward to you and your crew's updates!

Thanks msm. That makes perfect sense. I can tuck the drives in some. We will use a bit more fuel with more boat in the water. I will try and find a happy spot. In hindsight I would have been wise to install both my spares that had zero hours on them for a trip like this. The next time I am out of the water I will change out the starboard side prop. Port side was changed in Nassau. That would be a good time to have a close look with a magnifying glass as you have suggested.
Again, thank you,
Bob

Bob presenting 1bagger with my retired original SPOT tracker. Paul guessed closest to our arrival time in Nassau on May 8th. He was only off by 20 minutes and probably would have been spot on had we not done a detour to check out Atlantis from oceanside. Congratulations and enjoy, Paul. He will use it on his Harley as well as his Top Gun.

Love these threads, Bob. Thanks!

Thanks. Looking forward to my return to Bahamas on Thursday and getting back on the water Friday morning. All being well should make T & C late afternoon Friday, spend a couple of days there and head for DR likely on Monday.

Here is an easy to use crack detection kit. Similar to those used on cylinder heads, blocks etc.

http://www.drillspot.com/products/28..._penetrant_kit

step 1 clean any grease etc.

step 2 apply dye pentrant and let set.

step 3 remove excess dye

step 4 apply developer and any cracks will show up in the developer as the dye is drawn out of the crack.

Thanks, Wobble. When I get back I will have all of my props checked. I really appreciate all of the help I have received on OSO over the years. Many knowledgeable people that are willing to share. That's what makes for a great forum. :)
Bob

Have a safe trip Bob, looking forward
seeing more pictures.
Rick

Hey bob, any more progress??

Update:
 

Was just going to give an update when I saw your post.

I am sitting at February Point waiting on Jay's arrival. His flight from FLL was delayed a couple of hours and they finally took off with only Jay on board! Too funny. He will be here soon.

Early this morning when looking at the weather I made a decision to leave tomorrow instead. A front just through yesterday and conditions look great to continue tomorrow. Weather into early next week is looking good as well so I am optimistic that we will get the full trip to BVI in.

This afternoon I will take Jay to Chat n Chill for lunch and a cold one as well as Tropic of Cancer Beach to get some pics and Go Pro video. I will see if we can post something more tonight.

Wow, if you didn't have all the gorgeous pics to back up this and all previous trips it would be hard to believe. Have fun, be safe & God's speed!!! By the way, is there a Bobthe builder "crew" enrollment sheet I missed somewhere?

Since you mention pics here are a few from today. Maybe more later. Going out for dinner now. Jay's pics are just totally awesome. He may start his own picture thread. Thanks for the well wishes.

Unreal colors in the waters down here.
Got a few to share, more later.

Bob at work, and Predator on the beach at Chat N Chill.
Plus a few from the airplane on the way in to Exuma.
I was the only passenger on the plane. :coolcowboy:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/...b8622a41_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/...999e044f_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/...149089af_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3301/...2aec53b6_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/...937596e2_o.jpg

Awesome!!!!!!! That's all I have to say about that!:drink:

Fuel story
 

So about 4 PM after Jay and I finished our visit to Chat n Chill and cruising the inside passage we go to the local fuel dock to fill up. Guy says sorry, we are out of diesel. Bob - So when will you have it? Answer - Don't know. The fuel boat is in Cuba ! Bob - so where can I get fuel ? Well, try walking over to the Shell station and maybe they can have their fuel truck come to the dock. So I go over and they said , sure. How does next Tuesday sound, Monday is a holiday. Grr. I then call Emerald Bay about 15 miles to the north and they close at 5 but agree to wait for us. So we are all fueled and ready to go in the morning. $ 4.33 gal. :)

Can't wait to see tomorrow's pics. Glad you were able to get fuel up north. Sounds like emerald must be opened back up. They were having some financial troubles the last time I was down there and the marina was closed.

Sandals bought the place.

Probly be tomorrow night at the earliest before I post any more... we've got 280 miles of ocean to deal with first. :drink:
Weather is looking very good for the next several days.

Love the reflection of the plane in the nose cone here.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/...a68dc208_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3390/...495d4f13_o.jpg

Nice Jay. Keep snapping away. This is going to be good!

David

Have fun guys!!! Wish I was on the boat!:drink: By the way Jay thanks for the Bimini Pics!!

dang 1bagger beat me by 3 minutes guessi should have went over 4pm by 3 minutes LOL great stories Bob keep them coming

That is good news about Sandals. That really hurt the whole island while they were closed because most of the people that stayed up there would take day trips down to Georgetown to shop and stuff.

Keep the pics coming. When ever Bob has a trip underway I bet I check OSO 5 times a day just to see the updates. Have fun and be safe guys..

Team Turks and Caicos
 

We left G'town this morning at 10 AM and arrived at T + C at 3:30 PM. Ran low 50's the entire 290 miles, non stop. Waters were incredibly smooth the entire way. Some nice soft rollers in exposed areas, and had a fun ride. I will try and post a picture of the track spot left later or can be seen by clicking on the link in post # 1. There is a very dangerous reef to cross outside Turtle Cove Marina at T + C. The cruising guide I have said that they would send a guide boat out to take us in if hailed on VHF 16 and sure enough they showed up after a fifteen minute wait. It is very zig zaggy and no way could we have crossed it without the guide. We are now half way to the BVI. We will take it easy here tomorrow, do a little exploring and head for Dominican Republic on Monday.
Should be able to get some pics posted up later. Looking forward to Jay's pics again. Awesome stuff.

Awesome. Glad to hear the seas are cooperating thing year.

Spot: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/f...sE2u07mrnqoRxF

As evidenced by these photos Jay has been a great help ! LOL If he is not sleeping he is sitting there watching me work. Then he crushes my $10 deck chair ! LOL Actually it is a pleasure having Jay along. I am trying to rent a helicopter to get some aerial shots of T & C so will see how that works out.
Last pic is Customs officer in his official uniform of the Islands.
In pic 1 note how flat the seas are. That was half way across the 130 mile open water stretch between Acklands Island and T & C.

Man, it's hard work keeping that seat warm.

I never wanna see that chair again. Nearly took my damn finger off! (when he's not looking I'm throwing that POS overboard)

Got a few new ones here. As Bob said, the seas were very co-operative. It was actually GLASSY in some spots. The ocean gods are smiling on us this week.

About 30 miles out of Exuma:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3350/...805b724a_o.jpg

Castle Rock
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/...9d64ec62_o.jpg

Arriving at T&C
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/...fa3782a9_o.jpg

Nicely lit sportfisher at the dock
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/...f0887b1b_o.jpg

Very tricky path across the reef, we needed a guide boat to get us in.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3370/...6bbde81a_o.jpg

In pic 1 of the last group of Jays pics you will notice that the color of the sky is turquoise. That is the reflection of the turquoise waters on the bank near Exuma. The colors down here are just awesome.

Looks like there will not be any helicopter pics from here at least. It has gone back to British Columbia for the summer. A Canadian company. :)

That castle rock pic is post card quality. Keep the pics coming. I was checking out that reef on google earth last night good thing they send an escort out for you because that thing looks super tricky.

You two got a nice life goin for ya.

Be safe with the lounge furniture:drink::drink:

Bob and Jay have a safe trip and a good time,
keep the pictures coming !
Rick