Message to Howard Clark

[Ken Palmer]

I tried sending you a response, and my e-mail bounced. Now the whole world will see the answer. In reference to changing the rudder stuffing if the boat is in the water:I guess in order to answer your question accurately; I would have to see if the top of the rudder is in or out of the water when at dock-side. I think you can see where I'm going with that.I changed mine out of the water, and Liberty was launched yesterday. Last night I checked on the rudder stuffing box, and saw that it was dripping about 1 drop a second or so. I tightened the nut another half turn or so, and I think the dripping stopped. I need to confirm the tightness by the weekend I think.If water can come up the tube that the rudder shaft is inserted into, then you would have to do something to stem the flow of water once you get the nut all the way off the threading. You might be able to do that with tape and/or rags. Getting the old stuffing out and the new flax in was a time consuming process. I am glad that I didn't have the water to worry about. If you have your boat pulled in the winter, then I would wait until then as long as the leak you must have now isn't too bad.Have you tried just tightening the nut with it's present stuffing? You might be surprised what a little turn will do.I hope that answers your question.... and more. Thanks for writing.Ken Palmer, S/V Liberty

 

[Howard Clark]

Thanks

Thanks Ken.The boat is out of the water now, I'll give it a try next week. It's not leaking too much, I could probably go another season.Howard Clarkclarkhr@qix.com

 

[Terry Arnold]

H33 rudder tube and water level

On my 79 H33, the top of the rudder tube is above waterline-----just barely with the boat lightly loaded. When I first got bay horse, one of the first mysterious leaks I ran into was the fact that the rudder shaft packing nut would leak under way but not at the dock. You might also consider temporarily moving weight as far farward as possible to raise the stern a bit while you are working on the packing nut. I would also second Ken's suggestion to try simply tightening the packing nut first. A fairly significant leak on bay horse was stopped easily by tightening the nut a bit. The rudder packing and the packing nut are similar to the propeller shaft packing and nut and since the rudder shaft moves so very little and has such a little submergence as compared to the propeller shaft, the the rudder shaft packing should last a very long time.

 

[Jim Logan]

To Howard Clark

If you look in archives under the Hunter 33, you will see that some of us have had a problem with corrosion of the packing nut on the rudder packing tube, and have had to get a replacement. Mine, even though it was stainless steel, had what looked like crevice corrosion holes in it, and I had to have a new one made as commercial parts won't fit. IF you can't stop the leak by tightening or repacking, you might want to look at this - for somereason it happens on the side you can't see!!