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I hope you've read all of the articles here:  https://c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=Stuffing_box

Jim's right, please stop loosening it, and he explained why, as do all of the stuffing box articles in the wiki.

Yup, I read all of them before starting the job, that's why I was so surprised to find no drips. I had started with the nut loose enough that I figured water would be flowing out of the thing at launch. I'm also fairly certain that I got all the rings in straight and flat. All I can guess is that the flax swelled sufficiently after launch that my loose-enough nut was now too tight. I knew to expect some swelling, but maybe I underestimated it.

So if the packing nut only gets warm how is it going to generate enough to damage the shaft?

That's my thinking. I'm just hoping it is safe to go for a cruise which could potentially result in a couple hours of motoring if the wind doesn't cooperate. Hoping, as suggested, that it will eventually start dripping. Or, do I really need to get this sorted out first? I'd hate to lose another weekend of sailing, the season is so short here. And, if loosening the nut further is ill-advised, is my only option to start fresh?

Edited to fix quotes - Stu

I'm just full of questions this week.

So, I re-packed the stuffing box while on the hard. Pulled out 2 strips of 1/4 teflon packing, which surprised me, as the previous owner was meticulous and did everything right. So, I measured the stuffing box and got .180 on the callipers. Closer to 3/16 than 1/4 I figured, so put in the normal 3 bands of 3/16 (PTFE impregnated flax, that's all I could get). I coated the flax generously with Syntef shaft packing lubricant. At launch I got the box set to about 6 drips/min, and we then sailed off to our marina, which was maybe 20 min of motoring and 1 hour of sailing. I checked on the box about 10min after starting the trip, and had no drips. Once we shut down the engine to sail, I checked the  temp with my hand and it was just warm to the touch.
A few days later I loosened the packing gland until I had some drips, which seemed fine, until I tightened the lock nut and the drips stopped again. I tried this repeatedly, and every time I tightened the lock nut, the drips stopped. After doing a bit of reading, I have determined that I've been looking for drips in the wrong place all along. The only drips I have ever seen have come from the threads, not the end of the gland where the shaft enters it. However, there was a band of wet grease on the shaft, which indicates to me that something is getting through.

At no point have I tightened the packing nut beyond hand tight, and right now it is not even hand tight, still no drips from the shaft. I motored for an hour a couple days ago hoping things would change, but the stuffing box remained dry. Again it is just slightly warm to the touch, but Lake Superior is probably only 4c right now. I've ordered an IR pyrometer, which will hopefully arrive soon.

So, on to the questions:
I've heard that flax packing can take 10 hours or so to break in. Should I leave things as they are, and see if they self resolve? As long as I can hold my hand on the nut, is it safe to run like this for that period? How hot for how long does a stuffing box need to get before it will damage a bronze shaft?
Is it possible that the grease I put in there is just creating an extra effective seal, and needs to break down a bit?
Or, do I assume the previous owner had similar issues, and moved to two strands of 1/4 inch for this exact reason, and start over?

Thanks again guys. I think Ken is right about this being a great opportunity to learn epoxy, in a low consequence situation. From what I understand, the slow hardener is recommended for filling things like screw holes, as the fast hardener can result in runaway exothermic reactions and bubble production. Up here in Thunder Bay, days with the minimum recommended working temp of 16c for the slow hardener are hard to come by. If it's above 16c, I'd rather be sailing. I'd guess the temp in the bilge is probably something like 10c right now. Would the exothermic reaction of the epoxy effectively compensate for that though?

I would agree with the above but add a few more details to clarify.  Drill pilot holes for the screws you intend to use for the new switch and then put a small dab of 4200 on the pilot hole, then mount the switch using the screws.  The screws do most of the work, and the 4200 is just a bit of extra insurance and seals the hole to avoid water migration.

Ahhh I think I understand now. The 4200 just gets carried down with the screw, sealing the threads as it cures. It's not forming the material being screwed into like the epoxy method would be.

Hey guys! Well, I decided to try filling the bilge with clean water, to make sure the old float switch was working, and... it ain't. I've ordered a new switch of a superior design, which means unfortunately it won't line up with the current mounting holes from the old switch. I've read a few previous posts and seem to have a few options. As I've never done any epoxy work, or even bedding of hardware, it's hard for me to determine the best approach.
It looks like the current switch is screwed directly into the floor of the bilge, so when I remove it I will need to fill those holes. I'm guessing epoxy would be the best way to go, or is this overkill, and I should just squirt some 4200 in there?
Once that is dealt with, it comes to mounting the new switch and opinions seem mixed. Some folks suggest drilling oversized holes, filling with epoxy, drilling pilot holes into the epoxy, and then screwing the switch in. I've also seen 4200 suggested for this purpose, which I don't really understand. Do you just fill the hole with the 4200 and push the screw in while it is still wet? Or do you let it dry and then screw into it? I can't imagine how one would screw into something like that, or that the screw would gain much purchase.
Others suggest simply sticking the switch down with 4200 and drilling no holes at all. Having never worked with the stuff, how hard will it be to remove the switch if stuck on with 4200 when the new switch inevitably dies?
A third option seems to be glueing down a piece of plastic with 4200, and then screwing into that. The only disadvantage I see with that method would be raising the switch slightly, and thereby increasing any standing water in the bilge. If I were to go that route, what sort of "plastic" are people describing? I guess it would need to be at least 1/4 inch thick for the screws?
Thanks!

Wow. I just got home from futzing around performing the transmission change while doing a side plank and bruising a rib. I should have checked what was new in the forum a couple hours ago.

Sailing : Most of us that have older boats have change out out drive shaft to Stainless Steel!!

A thought

I guess when I go to do the stuffing box, I'll see if the graphite packing that the PO used has caused significant corrosion. Hopefully we don't suddenly find ourselves forced to change to stainless!

For what it is worth, the Dura-Max literature on the Ultra-X packing states it is galvanically OK due to the construction.
See  text at bottom of attachment. I found it to be easy to cut cleanly, and it packed well also. Probably because it holds its shape and doesn't fray at the ends.
Only a wee bit more expensive.

Interesting! Duramax seems to be the favourite on this forum, so that is good to know. It's the word of the manufacturer, so I guess we need to take it with a grain of salt, but it seems unlikely they wouldn't make a claim that would be so easy to refute if there were a bunch of corroded bronze shafts out there amongst Duramax users.

Take a look at Mainesails article "Re-Packing A Traditional Stuffing Box" on his website marinehowto.com. Near the end of the article he cautions about using graphite impregnated stuffing material with a bronze shaft.

Exactly, that's why I was wondering if it is an issue in the Great Lakes as well, or if it is only a concern in salt water.

Just about to order some new stuffing for the stuffing box, and I'm not sure if I should go with PTFE impregnated flax, or graphite impregnated material. Judging by a piece of scrap I found left behind from the PO, he used Gore (it's also 1/4" which seems odd). I guess I won't know if the bronze has already been damaged until I loosen the packing nut, but I'd like to order new stuff now, given how slow shipping is these days. Is galvanic corrosion even an issue in fresh water with graphite stuffing? The PO was a real perfectionist, so I can't imagine that he would have overlooked the possible issues.

Here's another way to refill it correct "Read the damn instructiins" 

The manuals actually TELL US how much fluid to put in the tranny, we've put a lot of effort into getting a the manuals on the Wiki!!

Yeah, but Ron's advice accounts for the fluid you can never get out. Also, it's a bit crazy how many errors I've found in the manual in the short single season we've had the boat. There are revisions on revisions. Sometimes it's hard to know which revision is the revision for your boat, especially it seems with the many iterations of the M35.

Yes, there is currently a mix of old and new fluid in there. That was my impression of how some folks were doing it based on the 101. I suppose emptying and filling with all fresh in the fall would make more sense, as that is what we do with the engine oil.
The previous owner of the boat had a small hand pump, which appears to have been used for ATF, judging by the residue in the baggy it's stored in.I suppose it would be best to clean it thoroughly before using it, in case there was some other sort of oil used with the pump as well. Any suggestions in that regard? Just flush some ATF through it, or would there be an appropriate solvent or something to use first?
Maybe it would be best to start fresh with the battery filler idea rather than the pump, I do like the idea of not having to mess with the dipstick. I suppose I could attach a piece of stiff tubing to the hose on the pump, and mark it the same way. There shouldn't be any back flow from the pump, so the fresh bit of tubing would solve any contamination concerns as well.

[If the Yard will do that ?]

Aaron : I like to be lifted the last lift of the day and stay in the sling overnight.  That way you can paint the underside of the wing keel - so the paint will dry.  Then you are the first to be splashed the next morning.  If the Yard will do that ?

A thought

Oh, that's clever. Unfortunately we are already booked in as the first lift of the day! Are there no concerns with leaving the boat in the slings that long? My impression is that on the hard, the keel takes all the weight not the hull on the pads.

We shipped Coral Wave from Kingston, ON to Thunder Bay, ON (1,550 km or 960ish miles) last fall, when we relocated. It cost us about $6800, but everything in Canada is more expensive. We were super happy with the company we used, Andrew's Trucking. I suspect they only operate on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes though.
We have a shoal draft, and still had to remove all the enclosure frames etc to make the max height requirement. The biggest pain was removing the davits, which would have put the load just a couple inches over the legal limit for the highway. Mostly that was a pain because the boat was still in the water at the time, due to time constraints on the haul out/shipping day.
It took the better part of an afternoon for the driver to essentially customise the bed to hold the boat perfectly. The sort of modular nature of the truck and the amount of  adjustability was actually pretty impressive to see, and definitely made us feel more relaxed about the move. Everything looked so nice and secure. The mast went on a special rack on the side of the truck.
We have a shoal draft, and still had to remove all the enclosure frames etc to make the max height requirement. The biggest pain was removing the davits, which were just a couple inches over the legal limit for the highway. Mostly that was a pain because the boat was still in the water at the time, due to time constraints on the haul out/shipping day.
Unloading the boat was a much more simple affair, I think it took under an hour.

The transmissions on our boats hold very little fluid, so I'm wondering how much the transmission dip stick measurement may be off by, with the boat on the hard. Coral Wave spent the winter on a bit more of an incline than we had intended, we only realised after looking at other boats in the yard. Anyway, I filled the transmission to the top for winter storage, as the manual specifies, and now I intend to drain last year's fluid and fill with new for launch. However, with the boat on such an angle, what would be the best way to determine that the level is close to correct? How detrimental would it be to briefly run the engine after launch while moving the boat to the slip, with an incorrectly filled transmission, and would it be better to err on the side of over or under-filled?
Cheers,