SEVERE Prop Walk

[Shirley Cheung, Nonsuch 30C, Toronto, Ontario]

Hello all,

I am a new owner of a N30 C in Toronto, Canada. My engine is a 1983 Westerbeke 27.

I am having SO much difficulty getting out of my slip because of my prop walk. When I reverse at low RPM (10K), the stern turns to the port. Today, when I reversed, I gave a burst of power to try to counter-act the prop walk by steering to starboard, the stern turns MORE to port! At the end, the boat was PERPENDICULAR to my dock!

It was a high drama!

I wonder if anybody use lines to spring the boat a bit to the starboard, get the boat 2/3 out of the slip and then jump on the boat to reverse (center the wheel and let the stern go to  port naturally)?

What do people do? I am quite frustrated each time I go out...

Thanks for all your advice.

Shirley

[Terence Cutts]

What club are you at Shirley?

I’m at TheNYC, maybe I can offer a tutorial 

Terry Cutts

647-856-0377

 

On Sep 9, 2025, at 23:50, Shirley Cheung, Nonsuch 30C, Toronto, Ontario <shirley...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Rob Cohen "Soave" NS33 Westport, CT]

Hi Shirley,

I had similar frustration at first with Soave.  Now in our second season, I've managed to see prop walk as my friend because it provides a predictable sideways force at slow/stopped speeds.

For us, practice in calm conditions allowed me to learn how to anticipate and manage Soave's behavior better.  One day ( with a couple very patient friends standing by ) I departed and returned to our slip single handed about 20 times.  I needed to learn what Soave was good at and what weaknesses she had, then plan to play to her strengths.

A couple general tips.

1. Once moving, Nonsuch boats have excellent maneuverability even at surprisingly slow speeds.  When backing out of Soave's slip, in calm or light wind idle throttle is all the power I need.  Usually 15 to 20 seconds of reverse in idle is plenty to get out of her slip and complete my reverse turn.  My reversing turn is stern to port ( wheel to port ) so once Soave's bow can clear the finger one her starboard side prop walk is my fiend again, steering hard to port in neutral she coast back nicely and her bow swings towards the long fairway.  It seems to be customary to assign the most difficult slip to the "new guy".  I complete my first reversing turn in neutral allowing Soave to coast to a near stop.  Again while throttle is idle I shift to forward and reverse the wheel to starboard.  In forward prop wash will counter walk in a starboard turn.  Once I get forward motion, I can center the wheel and steer a normal course.  Then increase throttle.
2. It's easy to loose track of where your rudder is because hard over is 1+ turns of the wheel.  Soave has an auto pilot that displays rudder position on her chart plotter.  Before departing I make sure my chart plotter is on and the rudder position is displayed.  When I start Soave's engine I check for exhaust water flow and visually verify Soave's rudder is centered.  Figure out a reliable way to know where your rudder is while maneuvering. 
3. The force of prop walk at idle speed is easy to counter with a stern line to starboard.  If you have extra crew they could stand ready to steady the stern with a dock line rigged to slip for recovery.
4. Don't be afraid to use your rudder aggressively while moving slow.  When reversing NEVER let go of the wheel.  It will spin hard over in an instant and may damage  your steering. 

If you post a diagram of your slip assignment folks could add suggestions specific to your slip.  I've attached a digram of Soave's slip assignment so you can visualize the maneuvers I've described above.

Rob Cohen

s/v SOAVE

NS33 #009

Cedar Point YC

Westport, CT

 

[Joe Valinoti]

The prop walk can be controlled by putting the shift in neutral after you get moving and then steer.  There is no prop walk when in neutral.  I’m sure there are videos about this.

 

Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA

~~~~~(\_ ~(\_ ~(\_~~~~~~~~~~

[Shirley Cheung]

You mean the steps to back out are

Start engine

Reverse

As the boat starts reversing

I put neutral

Then I steer ?

Thanks

Shirley 

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[Joe Valinoti]

Practice that and you should do fine.  Of course everything is dependent on the wind.

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[Madison Dauti]

Hi Shirley,

I highly recommend the book Maneuver and Dock Your Sailboat Under Power by Grant Headifen. It has en entire chapter on prop walk- why it happens and how to over come it. It describes in great detail and with videos (scan a QR code to watch on your phone or tablet) the process folks are describing here- reverse/throttle up/throttle down/neutral/coast/repeat. I found it extremely helpful for backing straight out out of my slip and starting my turn when I want. 

Keep at it! 

Maddie Dauti 

S/V Cheers NS33 

Boston, MA 

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[Charles A. Mitchell, III]

also, once you get the boat moving, go to idle as that helps with the reverse direction without the high prop walk that goes with high rpm's

Chuck Mitchell

Chill

NS 33 #90

Cape Cod

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[Shirley Cheung]

Thanks so much ! 

I was reversing yesterday and have a burst of power and the prop walk became very severe!

Now I understand : high rpm at reversing means more prop walk !

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[Shirley Cheung]

Thanks ! I am buying the paper back in Amazon

Is there a QR code inside the book to scan to watch the video ?

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[Shirley Cheung]

I am at WYC :) 

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[Madison Dauti]

Yes! The book has QR codes for video examples and tutorials embedded throughout the chapters. 

Maddie Dauti

S/V Cheers NS33 

Boston, MA 

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[Shirley Cheung]

Great !!!

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[Nicholas Hirst]

I find that wind is much more of a problem in reversing out than prop walk although I have a different set up on my 30U with a Yanmar engine and V-drive with a Kiwi feathering prop. I had huge difficulties in combatting wind when I had an exposed slip. Now at my more secluded birth, leaving and returning to the dock is much easier. I do think that the recommendation of going to neutral on your way out is good. The docks at Whitby where your slip is are fairly tight and I had trouble entering there in strong winds (fortunately the brush with the dock washed off). You can counter the effect with a Dockmaster stern thruster. I have one but rarely need to use it. Other recommendations I have, which are repeated here, are to be aggressive with the wheel and turn it hard over, all the way. I have found that, except in strong winds, increasing RPM makes initial maneuvering more rather than less problematic: a short burst works, with a shift into neutral but more just increases the prop walk. Best, Nick

Mirthin

N30U

RCYC Toronto.

[Shirley Cheung]

Hello,

Here is the photo of my dock. The green Nonsuch on the port side is my boat. You can see I am very close to the short. If my stern turns to the port, I do not have a lot of space before I hit the land.

I am thinking of two options:

Option 1:

Start engine and get it  down to 1000 rpm

Turn rudder 80% to starboard

Release lines in order: 1st spring line. 2nd bow line. 3rd stern line

Reverse at 1000rpm for 2 seconds

Then neutral

Adjust the rudder to back out

Option 2:

Rig a spring line - line attach to my stern cleat to the mid-ship dock cleat

Start engine and get it  down to 1000 rpm

Center the rudder

Release lines in order: 1st bow line. 2nd stern line. 3rd HOLD the mid-ship spring line on the boat

Reverse at 1000rpm for 2 seconds

Then neutral

Release the spring line

Adjust the rudder to back out

*Reason for the spring line is to prevent the stern from turning TOO much to the port.

I read somewhere the spring line method (Option 2 here)  is good for very tight space or high wind

Any comments on these 2 options?

Thanks,

Shirley

P.S. See photo attached.

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[Brian Godfrey]

Hi Shirley,

   Nice looking boat!  And yes, the first thing I saw before I read your message was how your boat is going to want to back into the shore when you leave the slip.  May I suggest a third option?  Back into your slip so you can pull out forwards.  Perhaps with the help of a spring or pivot line on the end of your dock.  And maybe put in for a slip farther out away from the shore when one becomes available or when you put your boat back in next year.
   And if you somehow end up in one of those slips to the right side of the photo, you will probably go bow in and then learn to back all the way out of the fairway.  I had to do that many times in my first slip here in SD.  It's not so bad once you get used to it and it makes it easy for you to look for cross-traffic rather than sending someone out on the bow to do it.  When I was finally offered a new slip to move to it was just like yours, only the first one from shore, not the second.  I turned that one down and I finally got a good one.  You need to manage in the mean time, but there's no reason you need to put up with a hassle slip for the long term.

--Brian M. Godfrey
  br...@wildbirdshop.com

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[Rob Cohen "Soave" NS33 Westport, CT]

Hi Shirley,

You photo looks almost identical to my situation.  Hopefully the water near the shore stays deep.  I make the "stern to shore" turn when departing.

Are you to trying to back up the fairway ( the harder turn to make)  ?  Or turning immediately after leaving your slip and motoring forward up the fairway ?

Brian's suggestion to back in is a good one, but we prefer bow in for the privacy it provides being so close to the gangway.

My departure process is to reverse turn (stern to shore, then forward turn to starboard, and motor forward down the fairway... I'll note differences in highlighted text.

Your Option 1:

• Start engine and get it  down to 1000 rpm ( I think my engine idles a little slower, I maneuverer mostly at idle  )
• Turn rudder 80% to starboard  ( I start with my rudder centered which allows the boat to begin moving before I steer )
• Release lines in order: 1st spring line. 2nd bow line. 3rd stern line. ( When departing I release whatever line has tension last, the slack lines aren't doing anything  ) 
• Reverse at 1000rpm for 2 seconds ( I reverse with idle throttle, and use rudder to counter prop walk once I'm moving, usually 1/4 turn to starboard.  Once the boat is moving shift into neutral, for Soave it takes about 4-8 seconds )
• As soon as our bow will clear the finger on the starboard side I steer to port usually about 1/2 turn,  it looks like you have more distance to the dock behind you so you may want to turn slower to leave more space for the starboard turn coming up. If the boat slows before you are ready to start your starboard turn give it a tiny bit of reverse. Plan to let the boat coast to a near stop before shifting into forward.
• Then turn wheel aggressively to starboard (at least 3/4 turn ) and shift into forward ( throttle still idle )... you may feel a little vibration in the wheel as the prop wash flows over the rudder fighting the prop walk.  Once the boat starts moving forward you will feel the rudder grab and the boat will steer to starboard.  It's worth practicing this a few time in open water.   In the book that you ordered this is part of the maneuver called a standing turn.
• Once you complete the turn center the rudder and proceed up the fairway.

With a right handed prop,  you can only make standing turns to starboard , but not to port.  This is why it is easier ( if we're docked bow in ) in our slip to to turn as we leave the slip.

Maybe your idle is set a little fast ?  It may just me the tachometer reading is off.. it sounds like your boat accelerates faster than Soave. . 

After I got the hang of the maneuver,  I decided to keep the slip because the WIFI is stronger than further out the dock and I like to take Zoom meetings from the boat.

Good Luck with whatever approach you decide is right for you.

Rob

s/v SOAVE

NS33 #009

Cedar Point YC

Westport, CT

[Shirley Cheung]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for your detailed message. Actually, as soon as I reversed at 1000 rpm, the stern starts to move to port. My mistake was KEEP reversing continuously while giving more throttle. This makes the stern turn more aggressively to port.

That's why, in the future, I will leave the throttle at idle at 1000rpm, reverse for 2 seconds only (like you said) and then neutral. I realise neutral has no prop walk and so I let the stern to coast a bit first.

I will try again this weekend and see...

Thanks,

Shirley

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[Mark Powers La Reina 26C Vancouver, B.C.]

Shirley,

Does your boat have a two or three blade prop. Generally two blades walk more than three. Also if the idle speed was set at 800 rpm rather than 1000 you would experience less prop walk. 

Mark Powers

[Shirley Cheung]

Hi Mark

Mine has 3 blades fixed prop. Ok, will try 800rpm next time. Thanks for the tip :) 

Shirley 

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