I replaced mine in the water as have others here and there are posts about the task here somewhere.

It helps if you work well under stress but, the amount of water the comes in is not as much as you would think. It looks exciting at the shaft but as I recall I am not sure the water level in the bilge even got high enough to trigger the bilge pump. Just have all of your tools and parts readily available and the work area open and accessable with plenty of light available and you will do fine. A good tool for cleaning out the old packing material is key to a rapid change, it will also help if you precut the new packing prior to taking the nut off. Use the shaft forward of the nut to measure and cut the new pieces.

"the entire packing gland assembly out of the shaft hose and tightened the hose clamps around the shaft itself "...I don't think so. For several reasons, not least of which is that the shaft hose is not flexible enough to allow significant compression; also for fear of damaging this critical hose if you tried the idea. If this hose fails the boat sinks. No, leave the hose in place.

Do a search on the Forum for this topic and you'll find previous threads. Also, you might check the C36IA Technical - Maintenance library to see what we have there.

Rdamaro,

I was too quick in my response, Larry is correct you would not want to remove the entire packing gland, just the packing nut. Then use a pick to remove the old material and install new.

Search our site for more details on this and it will give clues as to who has had success with various tools to remove to old packing, as I recall some have used sheet rock screws, cork screws and specialty packing gland tools. I used some dental picks, caution is needed to prevent scratching up the shaft as that will tear up the new packing material quickly, doing a light polish on the shaft with crocus cloth or mild scotch bright pad would be a good idea before installing the new material and nut.

This comes up all the time. You could go out to lunch after opening up the box and the boat will still be floating.:D

There is a little known advantage to doing it in the water: The flax gets wet right away, before you turn your engine on and test it. Many folks do it on the hard and the flax could well dry out. I know mine did when I had the boat hauled many years ago for lots of work - it was out for four weeks, and by the time I got back into the water the box was leaking heavily.

You can cut the flax before you open the box, assemble your tools and with the great access your boats and ours have, it doesn't take too long.

Others have suggested taping a plastic bag around the stern tube. My experience has been that doing that and removing it will take longer than repacking the box. :rolleyes:

Rdmararo,

Try page 14 on this page, you will find some more discussion about this.

It took me several hours to replace the packing -- while the boat was in the water. That was because I had a hard time getting the old packing out of the nut. It was so old and hard that nothing would get it out, including the specialty tools. I finally had to slide the nut all the way up the shaft and use a drill to drill it out. (By sliding it up the shaft I didn't score the part of the shaft where the packing normally sits.)

My point is that the boat didn't sink. The bilge pump easily kept up with the water coming in. At first it was stressful, until I realized that the bilge pump would easily keep up.

I've found those little unpacking tools are too big for the opening. We use a sheetrock screw and small (very small) flat screwdriver to remove the old packing.

My boat is on the hard and I'll be putting the prop shaft back in then the engine back in soon. Months may go by before I get the boat back in the water. Should I not put packing gland material in now or put it in then replace it again when I get the boat back in water?

Also, I need to replace the 1 5/8" I.D. X 5" L fabric reinforced hose, Where is the best place to buy a new one? Mine actually measures about 3 1/2".

And should I replace my packing gland assembly?

Will be sending pix along with this so hopefully they'll come thru.

I don't think it much matters when you put the packing in if you use synthetic packing, but I'd probably wait until closer to splash day. Strongly recommend using Gore GFO packing. Very good stuff but pay attention to break-in process, it's simple but important to do.

Catalina Direct probably has that hose. I wouldn't change the box itself unless it is in really sad shape corrosion wise or has thread issues.

I realize it's a bit of a long shot, but what if the bilge pump fails while you are in the middle of this already stressful "operation"?

I personally would want a Plan B for that scenario, such that I could get the boat to a haul-out facility (even if I have to be towed) and out of the water before the boat sinks. Maybe some way to quickly stuff the packing nut area with some easily removable material (rag? t-shirt?) and screw the nut back on?

I should clarify my comment, I would put the packing in on the hard but closer to when the boat will be splashed. Putting it in when the boat's in the water is not a huge deal since the amount of water that comes in is not a gusher but why take the risk if you don't have to?

That brings up aligning the shaft. I would think that you would do a rough initial alignment of the shaft when the engine is installed, presumably on the hard, with no packing in the box. Then pack the box before splash, and do the final alignment checking at the coupler when the boat is in the water?

[QUOTE=Spanki;12663]

Also, I need to replace the 1 5/8" I.D. X 5" L fabric reinforced hose, Where is the best place to buy a new one? Mine actually measures about 3 1/2".

And should I replace my packing gland assembly?[/QUOTE]

[url]http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=775788&highli... I'd guess Hamilton Marine would have it.

No, you shouldn't need to replace the box, just clean it up.

[QUOTE=benethridge;12671]I realize it's a bit of a long shot, but what if the bilge pump fails while you are in the middle of this already stressful "operation"?

I personally would want a Plan B for that scenario, such that I could get the boat to a haul-out facility (even if I have to be towed) and out of the water before the boat sinks. Maybe some way to quickly stuff the packing nut area with some easily removable material (rag? t-shirt?) and screw the nut back on?[/QUOTE]

Yes, easy to tape a plastic bag over the stern tube hose if you want to.

[QUOTE=Spanki;12663]Should I not put packing gland material in now or put it in then replace it again when I get the boat back in water? [/QUOTE]

Nope, just do it once. You can do it now, or do it later, doesn't matter if it's empty when you're not in the water. No reason to do it twice.