Prop + Rope = Mess

Well,
I guess it happens to all of us...... Saturday, after a brief ride, I took a break from riding and while my wife was turning around to come get me, I felt the line tighten.... OOPS!! I hollered KILLIT! HOPING it was only wrapped around rudder... I learned that it was indeed wrapped around prop.... Of course I was in a deep spot in the river... finally the other boat wakes eventually pushed us to the bank, although I had to get REAL close to be able to stand up..... After trying to bobble under the swim platform, I eventually pulled the pins and laid it up on the sun deck.... THANK GOODNESS I had a knife on board, although not VERY SHARP...

May I recommend, Store a SHARP knife on your boat somewhere. The bad part was the handle got caught in there. It could have been much worse...like a prop, instead of my wake rope! I comforted my wife that it was not a big deal and it was not a matter of if it happened but WHEN it would happen. Back to the old cheap rope for a while!

Don't forget your knife! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

sorry to hear of your troubles - but thanks for the advice -have to borrow a butcher knife from the kitchen

Last summer the same thing happened to me and when we(me)went to cut the rope off my balancing had slipped off the prop shaft and went into the prop i cut my finger open and had to get 10 stitches in it so it ended up being an exciting day $100 rope+blood in 2 week old boat carpet+urgent care fees(it was sunday)=priceless

this has happened to me twice. 1st time girlfriend driving and she crossed the rope picking me up. it was in 60 feet of water. dropped the anchor and grabbed the leather man and did some diving for about 40 minutes and finally got it cut off the prop and shaft.

2nd time, pulling my son in about 35-40 feet of water and everthing is going fine then all of a sudden there is this god alful sound (thought it was the transmission). turns out we picked up about 30 feet of submerged rope. again anchor, leather man and a lot of diving.

so far knock on wood have not had this happend again in over two year.
karma.

I have a nice sharp Kershaw (w/ wrist strap), large/long hoses for filling the ballast, and a snorkel set. I modified a mouth piece so that it attaches to the ballast hose. The problem is that it takes a lot of energy to breath out of a 10 foot hose.

So far, I've only cut my ropes of someone elses boat.

the mouthpiece for breathing is some serious planning.

Good suggestion on the leateherman.. I think I have an extra... I'll have to put it on board as it would be nice to have!

As long as we can look back on it and laugh... :lol:

goggles are great also.

I keep a "spare air" 3.0 mini scuba tank w / attached regulator.. It is worth about 57 breaths at the surface.. (less than 33 feet/1atm) 57-60 breaths at 12 breaths/min = about 5 min of cutting..
Here is a link.. its about 180 bucks and can be kept in your boat.. Also good for checking under the boat for damage.. or going to shallow depths for dropped items.. (as long as it is clear water)
http://www.scuba.com/scuba-gear-33/Octos-Spare-Air.html
(I also use it for scuba escape/buddy tank in case of emergencies at depth)

A leatherman..
Trauma shears (the kind that cut a penny) with a strap
and a good sharp knife (dont forget wrist strap or you will be going to the bottom to get the knife.. )
I used the spare air once and it was perfect.. got the tubing rope in the prop.. the THICK one..

I keep a pair of goggles, a long length of 3/4" clear hose and a Gerber multi-tool on board in case it ever happens. Knock on wood it never has over the years, probably because we constantly check and always have someone at the back of the boat watching and holding the rope.

Oh Razzman, bad juju there.

The last guy that told me never got a rope, got three at once within a week.

Ed that's just wrong!

Play nice Ed... lol!!

I had my 11 yr old twins and their girl friends tubing on a crowded yet beautiful weekend (to wavy for anything else) the girls know the rules about the ropes, but i guess when you have 5 chatty pre teens the rules go out the window. thank god for the swiss multitool, the seraded saw blade worked the best, goggles would have been nice, with all the waves and all. after 20 minutes finally got it all. wife was smart enough to take keys out of ignition. One large square knot and now we have a 10 ft shorter tubing rope and one funny story to remember (not funny while i was sucking air, banging my head on the boat bottom, and minor cuts from the prop or rudder) i will get a strap for the muti-tool, if that dropped 125ft, we would have needed the all embarresing tow ( about 7 miles)

all in all a great weekend

I wrapped my tube rope (large diameter) aroung the shaft, right at the cutlass bearing. My buddies and I took turns with a butcher knife for about 20 minutes but we couldn't get it all. The friction from the turning shaft on the way back to the dock actually melted the rope. What worked, after I got home, was my CUTCO serrated hunting knife. Amazing how easily it cuts rope. Once I cut through one side of the melted mass, it easily popped off the shaft and looked a plastic bushing. It had blocked the water flow to the cutlass bearing but luckily no damage.

To sum it all up, try to keep the water flow moving through your cutlass bearing!!!

Maybe it's because I'm a young college student, but I didn't have much trouble untangling a wake rope with my hands. I think that I took three long breaths and cut near the cuticles of a few fingers.

Though we do have a multi-tool onboard and I always recommend having one. (Car, boat, house)