broken anti-ventilation (cavitation) plate

[boslaw]

Went to the boat on Sunday to find that a nice chunk of my anti-ventilation (aka cavitation) plate was missing. Don't know how or when it happened.

I've heard conflicting reports about it - some say I need to get it fixed ASAP, others say I can wait until the off-season.

I got a quote of $195 to weld a new piece on. However, I would have to pull the boat, put it on stands, remove the lower unit, drop off at the shop, wait a week for the return, re-assemble and resplash. Potentially increases my cost by a lot if I pay someone else to pull the boat, etc.

Anyone have any advice/experience on waiting vs. repairing immediately?

Thanks

 

[seasick]

As long as the LU was not compromised, you can run it but the handling may change. That is an odd breakage especially since you didn't feel or hear anything and the prop is not damaged(I assume). It is possible that something got pinned between a blade and the underside of the cavitation plate and snapped it up.

 

[boslaw]

I suppose it's possible that someone at my dock bumped into the boat, although it would have been hard to break the plate without dinging the prop. It's also possible that a lobster trap got caught between the prop & the plate but definitely weird that I didn't hear or feel anything.

 

[catch22]

My guess is someone bumped into you at the slip?

I wouldn't consider it an emergency, but I would still haul the boat out now and have it repaired. Why risk it?

 

[jethro99]

It is fairly typical to see that type of damage. The blades on the left hand side of a right hand rotation prop are moving upward. A blade can pick up a board or such and it gets wedged between the top of the upward moving blade and the bottom of the anti-ventilation plate. Something has to give and it is usually the aft left hand portion of the plate.

The damage is done. It generally does not hurt to continue to use it in the present condition. I don't that you will be able to feel any difference.