Prop Shaft Packing Gland

[Kevin Henderson]

Over the past couple weeks I have had a more than usual amount of water in the bilge.  We have had a great deal of rain and thought  it to be rainwater.  I took a taste of said water and discovered it to be quite salty.  Tracing the source of the water I checked my shaft packing gland and to my astonishment found it dripping an amazing 64 drops per minute.
Digging into the manual and the forum and my trusty tech notes I took it upon myself to address the adjustment of the packing gland.  For a newbie this can be a daunting task but I loosened up the locknut and made minute adjustments to the packing gland nut and tightened the locknut again.  Started the engine and rechecked to find I now have a drip of 6 drops a minute without the engine running.  Could not have done it without referring to the owners manual and the tech notes from the C34 Association.

Thank You Much   

[mainesail]

Kevin,

When you're ready to repack it:

http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=125430

or here:

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/stuffing_box