There is no way to determine the amount of damage to your propeller as the blades could bent and there are numerous things many can not observe that are wrong. If it has lost that much we dont think most propeller shops will get it all back. Its just a larger job than a $200 repair bill will allow, and they sometimes have the same limitations on trained staff that does not see everything. PLEASE READ BELOW:Not saying you have this issue, though a warning below to all who may read this and be experiencing similar decreases in performance. Or have slight hull damages. Suggestion #2: Check the hull for blemishes which can lead to water jacketing, which is the resins being eaten out of the laminate by water pressures while running top end. What happens is your hull gets on a stump, rock or other object and you hear that dreaded creaking and cracking of the hull sounding like ice breaking. After all it is around 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of weight in the rig. That place pressure on the hull and it slips off with what appears as little or no damage, a chip, gouges in a 5″ area, 12″ scratches or whatever. The noise you heard was the resin failing or breaking, not the glass. The glass is very strong however the newer resins are more brittle than those prior to 2004 model year when the EPA regulated VOCs. That breaking sound is the hull fatiguing. If your under power you may not hear it. When you operate your hull water then can impregnate that laminate and hydraulic the laminate removing that crystallized resin, which continues under pressure to eat at the remaining resin that was not effected. Eventually the gel coat being smoother runs outside ugh pressure is building a pocket underneath that gel coat acting like a water balloon while under power. Speeds begin falling, falling, then all of the sudden the laminate will shear that smooth gelcoat off when the balloon pops and the hull peels like a banana leaving Raw fiberglass and a fuzzy laminate against the remaining woven riven core material. The issue was relatively uncommon to us until these past few years and the quality of ALL resins suffered for what we feel are a variety of reasons. There are no trick Vinyl Ester resins any longer unless you use Less than 58,000 pounds annually, including the gel coat. This would only allow a company to build around 75 boats legally. Thus no one has the ability to use the Vinyl Resins we love and used prior to 2004, then cost of those today would be another factor. We have images of most every brand with water jacketed hulls. It is not common to any brand, nor more likely with any brand we know of. It is simply more common today. Insurance companies have a poor understanding of this issue and the damages are misdiagnosed by most Marien surveyors we have seen. There are a very few local Marine Appraisers who are more informed as they specialize in bass boats, being in the general neighborhoodor radius or more manufacturers. On a brighter note; we have been able to assist a resin supplier in providing a much more durable resin after September of 2012. Wile no where near as tough ad the VE resins we had it is much better. We also continue to trial other variants every month trying to find a solution to the issues that raw materials from petroleum costs and the EPA have presented this business. This is why many of you will hear Ward often inject to seal those blemishes when someone asks here. Gotta give him credit on understanding more than what ails human.
