Chevrolet: 350 Chevy Engine, chevy engine, timing light

Question
A friend of mine has a 350 Chevy Engine used in boating that is supposed to be operating at 4000 RPM at his cruising speed.He has noticed a sudden drop off to only 3000 RPM thus he's not cruising as he'd like to cruise.Says he's tried everything under the sun.He's obviuosly not gotten to the "root" of the problem.I don't like to give advice, unless I speak to someone who might know some specific areas to check/trouble shoot and can provide possible solutions to the problem once identified.Can you help me help a friend? Thanks! Regards, Dave

Answer
Hi Dave, I would be happy to help. What has your friend done so far? It may be as simple as ignition timing, have someone check it with a timing light to see if the timing is off. Has he recently changed the prop? This will cause this problem. Let me know what you find, i hope we can find the problem. Regards, Keith.