Well, now we’ve got our “earliest” back in the water date…sometime in late June. That was already our earliest expected time to get back in the water but our propeller order pretty much cinches it up to be late June.
With the tight aperture of the keel-hung rudder we didn’t really have fore-to-aft space for one of the adjustable pitch props (like Max- or J-prop) so we focused on getting an efficient fixed pitch 3 blade propeller for Mahdee. As it is, the propeller hub will be custom cast 1.25″ thinner than the “standard” hub for our 1-3/4″ shaft. This, along with cutting off 1″ of the stern bearing (we only need 5″ bearing surface and we’ve got 7″ so we’ll be down to 6″ with that cut) will give us a whopping 3/8″ clearance when we’re removing the propeller from the boat (without removing the very difficult to remove rudder).
Our decision was the Campbell Sailor. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that we made a good decision. The design is known to be good in full keel boats like Mahdee; in particular the Campbell Sailor is helpful when the boat is in reverse (reduced prop-walk). We’ll let you know how it goes once we’re in the water. Link to Campbell Sailor Prop
Wonderful blog – I first read about your boat in “good boats on “volume one by Roger Taylor. I myself on a 47-year-old Marshall 18′ catboat, with auxiliary power provided by a one cylinder Yanmar Diesel engine. Several years ago, I decided to replace the traditional two – blade sailboat propeller and I, like you, settled on the Campbell Sailor. I couldn’t be happier – in fact, in the catboat race at that years Great Provincetown Schooner Regatta, I won the catboat class! (When I told friends about my new propeller, I was subject to humorous accusations of “don’t tell me you had your engine on!”)
Just out of curiosity – what ever became of the original gasoline/electric drive? Did you keep with the electric drive concept, or did you end up going with a more conventional setup? If so, I’d be curious to know what you are using.
Hello John, thanks for your question. The original electric drive and two gas generators were removed by the boat’s 2nd owner in the late 1930’s. That second owner was probably faced with high battery costs or another matter that led to his actions. He also is the one who removed the gunter rig which the original owner, Moffat, liked so much. We’ve begun to think of that 2nd owner as not such an innovative fellow compared to the other owners of this vessel. The boat has thus used various traditional diesel engines since the late 1930’s. The previous owner to us purchased a new diesel engine but never installed it. We did the install ourselves during the rebuild of Mahdee. Her original forward engine room (for the two generators) is now a stateroom and the diesel engine sits where the electric drive originally sat. If one were inclined, an electric drive could be combined with a traditional diesel generator in the future. We have little reason to change things at this time though.