The Dreaded Dripless Shaft Seal - Part 1

    Any boat owner knows the frustration when you need to repair something and your pretty sure that either the boat builder was an idiot or they employ some very spry, very tiny workers with long arms and skinny fingers...


   Since buying the boat I have dreaded dealing with the dripping "Dripless" shaft seal.  I have laid awake in bed for hours thinking, how in the heck am I going to deal with this thing?  No really, I have. I solicited advice from anyone with this boat or anyone that has had to deal with an inaccessible shaft seal.  Not one productive hint, although one dude suggested "...pay a mechanic, let them figure it out."  I just didn't think that was the answer.  

    Originally the access to the seal was not bad, but in this boat, a previous owner installed a generator in really what is the only practical place.  One thought was to remove the generator, which someone suggested would need to be done at some point to service it.  Again, I did think about it but kept thinking.

    I shoved a Go-Pro back in there & snapped a few pictures.  I noticed there was an "arch/opening" in the bulkhead and the area went into the Lazarette.  Hmmmm....could I cut an access in there?


    The Lazarette is the area in the stern portion of the boat in the Cockpit floor (outside the cabin).  The access is good here and directly over the shaft seal.  The hose coming up is from the rear bilge pump.

   
    I removed the hose cover & with some careful measurements I methodically drilled 1 hole at a time with different sized holesaws until I could measure how large of an opening I could make.





    Then feeling pretty sure of how far I could cut, I used my oscillating cutter to match up the holes.  It worked like a charm. I now have pretty decent access directly over the shaft seal. Now replacing it or repairing it shouldn't be too bad.  I guess we'll see.  Also once the seal is replaced/repaired, I can have an extra seal on the shaft with easy access to cut out the old seal & install the new, thereby keeping me from hauling the boat & disconnecting the shaft.  That would buy me a whole lot of time between haul outs and a lot of heartache.

 
    Now with the new access hole, I reconnected the rear bilge pump hose with a 3/4" barb & created an aluminum cover for the hole.
    I'm still not ready to haul out the boat to do the repair but now I can measure the parts & gather what I need and hopefully shorten the haul out time (time is definitely money as far as the boat yard is concerned).  I contacted Tides Marine now that I knew what type of seal & the serial number.  I got an email back and the rep said based on the serial number the seal was manufactured in April 1999, Wow, that means it's original.  I will be ordering a new seal with a spare.
    When the boat gets hauled out & blocked up, I'll chronicle the repair, but for now, I feel like this job will be just a tad easier!  

See "The Dreaded Dripless Shaft Seal Part II" to see how it all turned out.

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