Skeg repair

[binduni]

Well, I did it - brand new boat and I broke the bottom 1/3 of the skeg off!!! <br /><br />Does anyone have suggestions for how to fix this, if at all possible? I've seen a "repair kit" in Overton's , but $100 for a chunk of SS seems a bit of whack.<br /><br />Also, I'm use to outboards giving when they strike and object - do I/O's do this too?<br /><br />BTW - this boat is a '02 Rinker 212 w/ 5.0L MPI and Alpha outdrive.<br /><br />Thanks in advance!

 

[Walter]

Re: Skeg repair

Don't tell me... You bottomed out either in front of Willamette Park (off Macadam), or up near Milwaukie, or above the falls between West Linn & Hebb Park!! Am I right? If so...welcome to the club! However, I'm afraid your dealer ain't gonna help ya out on this one.<br /><br />When this happened to me some years ago...I pulled my gear housing off and took it down to Independent Marine which is located underneath the east side of the St. Johns Bridge. They do A LOT of prop work for the boat dealers in our area. They also do a fine job replacing skegs!<br /><br />Pulling the gear housing is a piece of cake if you wanna tackle it yourself. If not, you can e-mail me at salingwa@hotmail.com and I can put you in touch with a Merc tech. buddy of mine who does excellent work. He wrenches full time at a boat dealership in Beaverton but does a lot of side jobs as well.<br /><br />Walt<br /><br />P.S. Yes, your outdrive does kick up when striking an object...but don't count on that saving much. Just be thankful you only lost a skeg... I recently stopped by my friends shop and saw what the rocks at Milwaukie can do to the gear cases of THREE Bravo 3's that were once attached to a 42 ft. Baja. The majority of those gear cases are still in the river. OUCH!!!!!

 

[Spidybot]

Re: Skeg repair

The skeg it there merely for protection. If you feel, you can file into a smooth shape and let it be.<br /><br />Drives can kick up when needed but both the friction and the prop thrust must be overcome to do it. So if you run bow high thre's a lotta pressure on the trnasom from the prop and it won't easly give way.

 

[ndemge]

Re: Skeg repair

learned from experience.... if there is a small bend in the tip of an alum skeg.... a big pliers is NOT going to bend it back.<br /><br />figure, it's alum, it will bend... nope. snap.<br />well, guess in a way, it did work. the bend is now gone and skeg is traight.

 

[binduni]

Re: Skeg repair

Walter,<br />You guessed the location exactly right! Terrable channel marking - furtunately I was reading my depth finder, saw it at 2 feet, and was only in gear at idle. We had our neighbors in the boat for a total of 4 adults and 4 kids with a full tank of gas, so I guess we sat a little low as well. Pulled out of that wonderful section of the river and put in at Cedar Oak, where the river is sand, deep and not very clean.... boat seemed to run fine, even with the skep broken. Arrrgh, I just hate having something happen to my new toy!

 

[Walter]

Re: Skeg repair

Well...actually I made three guesses. Which one was it? Above the falls??<br /><br />What have you decided regarding repairing the skeg?<br /><br />Walt

 

[binduni]

Re: Skeg repair

It was above the falls. I put in at Willamette Park in Wes Linn and went south. Saw the depth gauge go from 30 to 10 to 5 to 2 real fast, backed off on the throttle, trimmed up and BANG! Guess my depth gauge is a little off..... Needless to say, I won't go there again!<br /><br />Decided to at least wait until the end of the season to get it fixed, if at all.<br /><br />BTW - any good recommendations for winter storage around the West Linn area?

 

[dhammann]

Re: Skeg repair

Welcome to the trials and tribulations of boating.<br />The skeg is like your tonsils, it nice to have but you can live without it. It does offer some protection for the prop but most of the time it will just sink in the mud (or break off) A skeg guard is the easy way out and it will take the ugly out of your drive.