It may be that Bernie was just heading into current and wind that
was greater than his engine and prop could overcome. Also, as he
mentioned going aground, it may be that he was already aground at
that point and so couldn't make way, no matter how much he revved
up the engine. That would explain why the prop would spin but he
wasn't moving forward.
I've once been in the situation where I couldn't move forward no
matter how much I increased the throttle. In this particular case,
the wind was so light and it was late at night, I'd run aground
in soft sand so gently that we hadn't noticed. :-/ I finally did
notice that we weren't going anywhere, and poking around and
attempting to sail in these light winds finally revealed that we
were aground. Kedged out to deeper water, set the anchors, went
to bed for the night. :-)
Bill B.
P-19 #454, "Dream Catcher"
Nampa, ID
> << The crucial event that set
> course for disaster was the failure of my motor to provide any
> propulsion (the reason for which I have still to figure out, but it
> appeared to be stuck in neutral, though the position of the gear lever
> appeared to be in the drive position)......the prop was spinning but the
> boat didn't move.
> Bernie,
>
> The critical thing is to get the sails down before you raise the board. The
> problem with the motor might be that the motor's shear pin may have sheared.
>
> Ralph Aeschliman
> HMS-18 #67 Moby Duck
> Flagstaff, AZ