Boat Maintenance
Here's some scary things you never want to come across on your boat. All boats have sleeping dogs that should be coaxed out before they have a chance to wake up and bite the captain
Bottom Paint Haloing
"Haloing" of bottom paint is sometimes observed on boats with bonding systems that are in poor condition or are providing over protection of the bronze components. It's most prevalent with vessels using black or other dark-colored bottom paint and is more common with certain brands containing higher amounts of copper. If found on your boat, inspect your bonding system connections (if you have one) to ensure they are clean, tight, and corrosion free. Another good idea is to conduct a corrosion survey to ensure proper galvanic protection is being provided.
Shaft Nut Configuration
It seems like a no-brainer that the larger nut against the prop would do most of the work and that the smaller nut should go on second, to kind of hold it in place. In truth, however, it's the smaller nut that should always go against the load because it is the "jammed" nut, not the "jam" nut. When the second, outer nut is tightened down, it compresses and deforms the inner nut a tiny bit, rotating it a fraction of a turn. This effectively unloads the threads of the first nut and engages the threads of the second nut. Thus, the top or outer nut takes all the load. As the larger nut has more thread area (and more holding power), that's the one you want as the outer nut. I see prop nuts installed backward all the time while surveying. Will the prop fall off because of it? Not likely. But who wants to find out?