While pulling prop shaft on my '77 25 footer O'day w a Vire 7 2 stroker, to replace cutlass bearing and bottom prep., I noticed a gap around the strut. Being new to sailboat maint./repairs, tho I am learning, I pulled and probed and a large chip of what I thought was some kind of putty came off arond the neck of the strut where it begins to form the mounting plate and is bolted to and thru the hull. I wanted to see if the gap could have been where water would seep into the hull but as I peeled a little more off, I saw the square shaped mounting for the strut which appeared tight and secure to the bottom. Me and the yard mechanic concluded that I had just broken off some of the fiberglas shell of the bottom where O'day molded it around the top of the strut. ( This had to be after the strut was installed! ). I'm glad I saw how it was constructed but now I am faced w the repair. Can I just get some high quality marine putty or ??? whatever is best suited for this job and reseal, sand, and repaint w bottom paint ? Also, I'm told thru these posts, that there is only one cutlass bearing inches from the prop. Is there another bearing of a similar type at the other end at or near the stuffing box? And last, does anyone have the EXACT specs for the cutlass bearing? The shaft, w/o a micrometer, appears to be 7/8's inch but there are 2 sizes in the West catalog. One has a 1 1/2 " O.D. and the other is 1 3/8's O.D. Which is it? I need to know now as I have one lined up but it is the 1 3/8 size tho I suppose I could have it machined down an 1/8" . Thanks for any help u can provide and please note brands for the materials I'll need. RUSH!!!