Entries Tagged 'Boat Maintenance and Repairs' ↓

Although the dripless shaftseal has been around for many years a lot of boats still have the old stuffing box.

The stuffing box is an old solution to the problem of allowing the prop shaft to turn and exit the hull without letting to much water in.

The advantages of this system are that it is cheap and reliable. Maintenance is easily performed with basic tools and skill level. The packing is cheap and at a pinch it can be replaced on smaller craft whilst the boat is in the water. Though obviously it easier to do this whilst on the slip.

The down side of this system is that whilst underway the seal must be allowed to drip to keep the seal lubricated and cool whilst in use. Obviously this allows a small but steady trickle of salt water into the hull which then must collected and disposed of. Also as the packing material is compressed against the expensive shaft it wears a groove into your expensive prop shaft overtime. Eventually the shaft diameter is reduced so much that seal cannot be maintained and the shaft must repaired or replaced.

To overcome the disadvantages of the stuffing box two types of dripless shaft seal have been developed.

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Every boat owner with an inboard engine should carry out these quick and simple checks prior to starting their engines. Mostly they will prove unnecessary but performed regularly they will familiarise you with the engine and just may prevent inconvenient and costly damage.

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Have you noticed that your boat sails better on one tack than the other? This could well be because the mast is leaning slightly to port or starboard.

If you want to check your mast it’s fairly easy to do. You’ll need a long, non stretch tape measure. It’s possible to use a halyard but it will make it harder to be accurate.

It’s much easier if you have a handy assistant as well.

Securely fasten your tape measure to a jib halyard and pull the end of the tape measure up to the top of the mast or the hounds on a fractional rig. Put a little bit of tension on the halyard so that you can pull on the tape measure without moving the halyard. Now measure from the top of the mast to the chain plates on each side of the boat. Pull the tape as tight as possible and make sure the tape leads directly between the two points. Check each measurement.

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I came across this handy product for all those people who want to put a loop in the end of a double braid line but are unable to do a splice. The SplicingNut is a handy two part plastic fitting which neatly forms a loop in the end of double braid line just by screwing the two parts together with the line inserted. Neat, quick and simple.

It’s recommended for use with soft weave double braided polyester line of the kind commonly available for marine use. The strength of the loop is generally more than achieved with a knot but obviously not as much as a proper splice. The SplicingNut’s strength is greater than the working load of the line and can be used in most situations where a knot or a splice is used.

It’s not suitable for every type of polyester line and the strength of hi-tensile lines such as Spectra will exceed the strength of the SplicingNut. So check carefully before using.

The SplicingNut is available through Deck Hardware who have a list of retailers on their website.