Friends:
I forgot to mention that the velvet drives turned out to be 2.57:1. Everything is OK, and all the angst regarding 2:1 was for nothing. I noticed while at the Anchorage Marina in Lindenhurst, NY that a good many of the cruisers had 4 blades on instead of 3. Of course, these boats were much newer than ours. The Viking 35 that the motors came from had a 4 bladed prop. How long (hours of cruising or similar)would it take in gas savings to pay for new (or used if available) 4 bladed props instead of the 3 bladed ones? Or would the proformance be significantly different enough to justify the switch regardless of the gas savings? I do not remember how big my current 3 bladed props are. I may have to shove someone overboard and tell 'em to take a look as long as they are down there.
Jerry