Prop Pockets/Tunnel Drives

[Datenight]

I bought my second Penn Yan tunnel drive new in 1977 and still own it.

Add me to the list of Penn Yan owners. Mine was a 1973 23' Fly Bridge model. One of my favorite boats.

Rob

 

[dave907]

I owned a Bayliner 3870 for about 7 years. Surprisingly, this boat had pockets for the props. It was a great choice for cruising in the shallow waters of SW Florida. If you were sensible and went slowly through shallow bits, the deepest part of the boat was about midship. You could stick the bow in the mud, but still back off because the props were free in the pockets.

My new boat is fairly typical SD hull with the lowest bits on the boat being the most vulnerable (i.e. props/rudders). While it's much nicer in the creature comforts, I miss the pockets for the props. Would still prefer a fully protected running gear boat like my old CHB where the keel extended under the prop and protected the rudder too.

Next boat . . .

Grins,

Dave

 

[Lepke]

The landing craft of WWII had tunnel drives. I occasionally ran a later version, the LCM-6 capable of carrying 34 tons or 80 troops. Because they're bulky, handling is slow but they rotate fine. Usually max continuous rpm was used in rotation. With a full load, rotating 90° took about 5-10 minutes.

 

[ben2go]

The landing craft of WWII had tunnel drives. I occasionally ran a later version, the LCM-6 capable of carrying 34 tons or 80 troops. Because they're bulky, handling is slow but they rotate fine. Usually max continuous rpm was used in rotation. With a full load, rotating 90° took about 5-10 minutes.

I mentioned those earlier in the thread. Some of the smaller ones had box keels like a Seabright and ran shallow, less than 2 feet IIRC.