A crew member is in the water trying to clear the fouled rope. What tool and technique should they use?

A. Use bare hands only, with no tool, regardless of how tightly the rope is wound

B. Use a sharp knife (ideally one designed for use in water, kept easily accessible on board for exactly this kind of situation) and work calmly and patiently, cutting away small sections of rope rather than trying to yank the whole tangle free in one go

C. Rush the job as quickly as possible without taking care over hand placement near the blades

D. Try to pull the entire wrapped rope free by hand with brute force, without cutting anything

A. This always means the engine has suffered a major internal failure needing a full rebuild

B. This pattern always means the fuel has run out completely

C. A sudden bang and slowdown like this is completely normal and needs no investigation

D. A rope, mooring line, or fender line has almost certainly wrapped around the propeller, jamming it or stalling the engine — this is one of the most common causes of a sudden loss of drive with this exact pattern of symptoms

A. Increase engine revs to try to cut through the rope with propeller speed

B. Ignore the engine entirely and focus only on the boat's position for several minutes

C. Put the engine into neutral and switch it off straight away — continuing to run the engine winds the rope tighter around the shaft and propeller, making the problem worse and risking damage to the shaft seal, stern gland, or gearbox

D. Keep the throttle open and try repeatedly going forward and reverse to "shake" the rope free