Prop Walk Disadvantage

There is one situation where you are just going to have to suck it up and admit defeat. Propwalk wins this game today and you have to come back and fight another day.

The situation is a combination of wind direction, wind strength, and your desire to land accurately stern-in into a slip.

 Below, the wind wants to push the bow down while the prop walk (for a right-hand screw propeller) wants to push the stern up. The rudder is hard over with boat speed rudder wash trying its best to get the stern downwind to turn into the slip. Sorry, ain’t gonna happen. This happens in winds about 12 knots and above.

To beat this you’ll have to come at it from the other direction. But sometimes that is not always possible. In the case below, prop walk and water flow over the rudder working together can overcome the desire of the wind to push the bow down. The simple “live-today” scenario if you are overcome by the wind in this case might be to go bow into the marina slip – for today. The easy solution is always better than the consequences of fighting nature.

It is a good idea to experience this so that you can feel this situation yourself before you make this mistake in a marina.

Exercise PW4 – Prop Walk Beats You

On a windy day, set up the above scenarios with a buoy and try to turn the boat in reverse where prop walk and wind are working against you. Now try from the other direction, where prop walk and rudder wash work together to beat the wind.

What You Learned

You’ll learn that life is easier when you work with the forces of nature and not against it. (This is not only true in boating by the way).