INSTALLING A NEW FOLDING PROP SO WE CAN SAIL FASTER!

[@timmy_monaz]

Great to see you both back on the water, looking forward to this season! Safe travels. ✌✌☮☮

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Great to be back 😆 thanks so much! happy new year 🍾

[@leehoffman3604]

Nice job on the prop, but if I were you, I would get a battery-operated impact wrench for the boat. It would have come right off. On that shaft, remember Leftie Loosie. A torque wrench would be handy for putting things back on if torque is required. It's great to see you back in the water. I know you are loving it. The cats' following you around the yard cracks me up. Obviously, they love you, and you are their family. So, that's all for now. Keep enjoying life on the sea.

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Thanks for the tips 😆 the tool kit needs are never ending aren’t they 🤣 Thanks so much! It’s great to be back I know they are just the cutest, they really are like our kids 🙈 Cheers, happy new year 🍾

[@bradkuether3561]

I have had that exact FOF prop for years now. It has been one of the best upgrades I ever did. I can literally sail in 3 knots of wind, and if the bay is calm, less. (At some point wind can't sustain the weight of the headsail.) So I can pretty much guarantee you, that you WILL sail faster, especially in lighter winds, and it works really well downwind. The last cutlass bearing replacement fount the prop difficult to remove. Hopefully you did a bearing refresh beforehand to maximize that time. You MAY want to consider taking it apart every 3 to 4 years so you don't have it "cemented" to the shaft like mine was. Just for comparison time wise, I paid $2300 for mine. Sorry.

[@walterbottan]

Bravi ,come sempre v i seguirò ! Buon Natale felice Anno Nuovo a voi , ciao !!

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Thankyou 🥰 and same to you! Cheers 🥂

[@deerfootnz]

Those flexogold 3-blades are easily the best cruising props. Now you have a great prop, next you will be wanting a real sailing boat... 😁

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Yeah it’s been amazing so far, very happy we installed it. Hahah don’t worry Jase has been eyeing a performance catamaran that you may have never heard of for a bit, but unfortunately we’re quiet a while off being able to afford a new boat 🤣🙈

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Although I must add our little Jeanneau is a super fast boat for its size. Obviously still a cruiser but we seem to do really well against other larger boats 😝

[@deerfootnz]

@LeadingtheEscapade sorry but it isn't "super fast". You need to look at more boats that aren't production boats. Like an Adam's 54, or Sundeer or Deerfoot. Or an outbound 46 or Morris 486 or Kaufman 47 or anything designed by Graham Radford or Carl Schumacher. You probably have never looked at any of these. My Sundeer 60 has averaged just over 200 miles a day for the last 18,000 miles. Much of it was not downwind and was in light air. Our good days are 230 mile's plus. A friend on an oyster lightwave 48 averages just under 195 miles/day. Last year I left Fiji on the same day as two Outremer 52's. I put half a day on then by the time we got to NZ, an 1100 mile passage that we did in under 5 days

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

@@deerfootnz I should’ve added were fast for a production monohull haha. Yeah we’ve heard of an Adam’s 54, it’s an Australian built boat.

[@deerfootnz]

@LeadingtheEscapade sure is. Designed by Joe Adams & Graham Radford. Fast & light.

[@jonathanscott550]

great video looking forward to 2nd season Caribbean

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

@@jonathanscott550 thanks Jonathon, also looking forward to what the season will bring ❤️ hope you had a lovely Christmas!

[@jonathanscott550]

@LeadingtheEscapade Thanks. Yes, we did. Sorry, I should have asked you the same.

[@gohavefun3838]

Great job done on the boat look awesome!!!❤more speed on the boat A! Stay safe ! Nice sunset that was pretty!!!!❤ happy sailing 🎉merry Christmas happy year !!

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Thankyou 😆 she’s coming together nicely, still lots more work to do but that’s just boats isn’t it 🤣 Merry Christmas and happy new year to you too 🍾❤️🤩

[@robertthorogood9250]

Sea foam deep creep penetrating oil is the best.

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Thanks for the tip 😆

[@dennispatrick4999]

Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

@@dennispatrick4999 Merry Christmas Dennis ❤️

[@davidread5199]

Merry Christmas from Texas and Happy New Year!

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

@@davidread5199 Merry Christmas and happy new year to you too David 🍾😆

[@alexs3447]

Congrats on finishing the work

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Thankyou!! So glad to be done woohoo 😆 hope you had a good Chrissy

[@xoxo9970]

Hello everyone. I see you have very poor visibility at the plastic side window on the hood. A tip: use a polishing machine and toothpaste and polish it, and you will have good windows again and good visibility. Greetings from Sweden.

[@FatherTech]

Geez people and their home remedies. Look they make specific products these days for what they call “cutting in” and polishing. These have specific size particles for evenly and gradually polishing things like isenglass or stratoglass that are damned expensive to replace. Toothpaste has very coarse and uneven grains by comparison and will leave you with swirl marks, micro scratches, and haze that will never come out. It is expensive to replace your dodger, spend a little bit of extra and use the proper products for the job.

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

We did try to use some plastic polish from a boat brand with a microfibre cloth but unfortunately it didn’t make too much difference 🥲 I thing they’re too far gone and actually have very small cracks through them that replicate a desert ground. But maybe we’ll give them a go with the polishing machine

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Yeah unfortunately when we had the dodger made we bought the products in Malta to take to Tunisia and they didn’t have the best quality clear plastic in stock so we bought what they have and it hasn’t held up well in the Caribbean sun. The only one that’s still good is the window which is Rolled up often. But I think we’re going to buy the good clear plastic ourselves online from the US and send to St Martin to hopefully save some money and see if a friend can sew it on for us 😅 we already tried to polish them up with plastic polish but didn’t seem to do the trick 🥲

[@FatherTech]

⁠@@LeadingtheEscapadeIt does sound like yours may be too far gone to save. Unfortunately even the high dollar isenglass and stratoglass have what I feel to be too short of a lifetime for what it cost to have a dodger and enclosure made. But I am a big believer in good maintenance of them. When you get your new vinyl you have to clean the salt, water spots, residue, etc regularly. I am very sorry to sound preachy, but most people just have them installed and forget about it and only clean/maintain when the boat gets washed and waxed every 6 months if that. I guess there is a huge variance in opinion on best products to use if you have isenglass or strataglass as they have different coatings from the factory and supposedly imar molecularly bonds better with strataglass. But at the end of the day it is all clear vinyl whether it is rolled or pressed and polished. The key is regular maintenance with whatever product, Plexus, 303, Star Bright, whatever… Just keep a coating of UV protectant and wash down with fresh water regularly(my job when it rains😂) and they will last 10 to 15 years instead of 5. Geez I sound like a sailor, everyone has their opinion and their way is always the right way…

[@racervx54]

Nothing better the pb blaster haha

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

🤣🤣 try corrosion X and tell us what you think 🙌🏼

[@thomasthornton5737]

😀😀😀👍👍👍❤❤❤ Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2025 from Seattle, WA. (Northwest USA)

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Merry Christmas and Happy new year to you too 🥰🙌🏼🍾

[@davidmontgomery1016]

I have that prop on my boat. I can't speak to performance improvements as it was on the boat when I bought it but I do like how the shaft doesn't spin when the transmission is in neutral. The only issue I have had is that growth will prevent it from completely folding and then it spins in neutral. When that happens it is time to jump in and clean the bottom.

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Hey David, oh glad to hear you’ve been happy with it! We’ve been sailing with it for a few weeks now and are honestly astonished at how much of a difference it’s made. We’ve definitely gained at least a knot while sailing. Yeah I thought that could be the case, which is why we wanted to apply prop speed to it, definitely give that a go next time you haul out 😃 thanks for letting us know your thoughts ☺️

[@FatherTech]

@@LeadingtheEscapadeI have the flex-o-fold prop on my boat. Works great and haven’t had any issues with it in the two years I have had the boat. Mine came with the boat when I purchased it as well, so I don’t know how many years of use it actually has, but it has held up without issue. I was stuck in a Marina for 7 months doing upgrades and didn’t clean the bottom. I had a ton of growth on it, but it cleaned up easily and never affected performance once I opened and closed it a couple times. Great prop!

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

So glad to hear! That’s Amazing! We’re so happy so far. We also have friends who had one on there boat but it also came with the boat so couldn’t really make a comparison but we’re really noticing a difference in comparison so far so we’re happy we made the switch, well worth it 🙌🏼

[@ckfpv]

Hey guys 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸⛵⚓⛵🍻

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Oh heyyyy

[@markusschmidt4803]

Danke!

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

@@markusschmidt4803 Danke ❤️😆🙏🏼

[@Mark_4_Now]

Questions: Do boats have ceramic coating on hulls yet? Wouldn't ceramic coating cut down on drag significantly and reduce barnacle adhesion?

[@christopherwilson4003]

I Believe the whole ceramic coating came about because of use on boats. Don't quote me 😂... Wrong ....The origin of ceramic coating can be traced back to the aerospace industry in the 1970s. It was developed as a solution to protect military and commercial aircraft from the damaging effects of extreme temperatures, corrosive substances, and UV rays.

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

I know they do ceramic coatings on the sides above the waterline to help with cleaning these days but I don’t think’s it’s a thing for underneath the waterline. I’m not exactly sure why though

[@CasseltonValleyGrainFacility]

First to comment!! LOL!! Great videos. Thanks.

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

@@CasseltonValleyGrainFacility haha thanks for the comment guys 😃 always helps us out! Cheers 😝

[@ckfpv]

Thats all ya got 😂😂😂✌️

[@CasseltonValleyGrainFacility]

@@ckfpv Busy workin'!! I have a family to feed!!

[@CasseltonValleyGrainFacility]

@@LeadingtheEscapade Thank you for helping me dream about sailing like you guys do. I'm a North Dakota flat land farm kid. I've done a few things but I don't think I'll ever get to sail like you. I know I could do it. I can fix almost anything.

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Oh thanks so much!! Hey if you put your mind to it you can do it if you want to!! Let’s do this 😝❤️

[@johntaggart859]

Great prop.. should make a world of difference sailing. Really good installation and preparation of the prop… the A team in action…

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Thanks John 😆it’s been great so far, we’re very happy with the comparison in performance

[@patrickfewell3257]

Please be careful. A different sailing couple recently had a run in with pirates near Venezuela.

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Yes we saw this 😟 super scary! We had already left the area before this happened in real time as we’re a few weeks behind with content but it hit close to home that’s for sure! The area where you sail from Trinidad to Grenada near some oil rigs had pirate attacks happening around 5 years ago. I hope it’s not going to start up again around there too although I believe Trinidad really cracked down

[@richardtravers8772]

As funny as buggery, great care to clean the prop with the provided wipes and doofus with his dirty hands grabs and turns one of the blades. Well done A for effort F for fail.

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Hands weren’t actually dirty just stained

[@jeffreysearle2996]

You read your iPhone wrong. It wasn’t the island of leprosy it was an island of leprechauns. 😎

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

That would be cool 🤣🤣🤣

[@R.E.HILL_]

Did you check the taper fitment?

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Hmmm please explain what this is?

[@R.E.HILL_]

KZbin search "lapping propeller to shaft"... Basically it means how much of a contact area is it between the inner taper of the propeller and the taper of the propeller shaft. A propeller is connected to a shaft using the taper. The key and nut is just safety features..

[@ronbeattie2638]

Merry Christmas from Oz, what is the name of the anti seize spray you used on the prop?

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Merry Christmas to you too 😆 it’d called Corrosion X, we’ve used it on 2 separate occasions now and worked an absolute treat! Definitely worth getting yourselves a can. We used a friends but we’re buying some now

[@ronbeattie2638]

Thanks mate.

[@josepmassot4696]

Y no se debía de llenar el interior de la hélice con grasa ?

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

Hey Joseph, some prop do but these particular props are maintenance free and water lubricated 😆

[@bobbybronkhorst7129]

Garfish or needle fish not barracuda.

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

That’s what I thought too but almost looked like a baby Barra 🤣

[@bobbybronkhorst7129]

⁠nice vid as always!

[@TheSgkerr123]

30 seconds… don’t exaggerate 😂

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@pablogonzalez3064]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpDRpGSqZb2Sj68si=w_y5N8Yjj1hixLmi

[@pablogonzalez3064]

Ella menciono venwzuela y granada y recorde de estos chicos lo mal que la pasaron ojala le sirva de dato .. saludos desde la Argentina :)

[@leeoldershaw956]

Sorry to see another cruiser with a folding prop. For a few tenths of a knot, another possible source of failure is introduced.

[@LeadingtheEscapade]

@@leeoldershaw956 not true! It’s been amazing so far and we’ve gained atleast a knot! We’ve been sailing with it for a few weeks and are honestly amazed at how much of a difference it’s made

[@jackdbur]

​​@@LeadingtheEscapade How much reverse thrust do you lose ? Though far less likely to drag fishing gear.

[@leeoldershaw956]

@LeadingtheEscapade Sailing Nandji was adrift for days in calm winds in the shipping lanes of the straits of Malacca when their folding prop fell apart.