African Queen

OOH nothing personal but, thats a dirty bottom, regards for more food for thought. Andrew

I think one more question is required by me to assist in clearing up a possible problem. To grease or not to grease! The previous owner of the boat said he used to give the packing gland 2 or 3 shots from the grease gun every hour or so, so I continued in the same vane. Is this too much and liable to cause the extra friction that makes the gland hot ? Funny thing is I only had cause to touch the stern gland, finding it hot, for the first time the other week so consequently started investigating this possible problem. In other words it's possible that this heat has been there for the last 15 years since I have had the boat and I never knew? On the other hand, to muddy the waters even more, so to speak, I had a diver down to scrape the prop the day before, so could this have blocked the cutlass bearing with ground up barnacles? I have read all the threads to this subject on the forum and only one reference to the actual frequency of the greasing is mentioned, " a couple of turns of the greaser after a days run", I think was the quotation. A bit long winded I know, but in a few words, How Much And How Often is the consensus of opinion on the greasing? Cheers, Andrew

Nagh, I think sticks and rags is lightweight at the side of your description of my fellow water people. no bricks here in the bilge but an appreciation of an alternative vision is a refreshing reception, regards, keep on "Boating".

Thanks very much for your assistance, time to get the thing to bits and put some new packing in seems the first step. May try this in the water or be a bit wimpy and wait till out of the water in a cupple of months, (Antifouling) and yes, love the reference to rags and sticks, they were in use. Regards and buy for now. Andrew.

Thanks for the reply. I have an Aquadrive. One test I made was leaving the gearbox in neutral whilst sailing to allow the prop to turn and the packing gland didn't seen to be heating up at all? Any ideas about a manufacturer?

I'm, or at least I seem to be having overheating problems with my packing gland. I gets too hot to touch after about 15 - 20 mins of moderate use. The prop turns by hand when cold, not tried it when hot yet. Advice about the make and model might reveal a further line of enquiry with the manufacturer? Picture attached.