[Alberg30] Stuffing Box Hose

[J Bergquist]

I ran into this problem last May just after I bought Calliope and went 
to a lot of trouble to replace the VERY old exhaust hose that was on my 
stuffing box. After digging old rotten bedding compound out of the 
stuffing box area for what seemed like forever, I finally discovered 
that there were *0* hose clamps on the outboard end of the stuffing box 
hose. It had simply been buried in polysulfide and forgotten about. Boy 
was I glad I undertook to replace it.

My solution to the problem of different diameters on the stern tube and 
stuffing box was to make a fiberglass shim on the stern tube. Basically, 
my procedure was to properly prep the stern tube (meaning I sanded and 
wire brushed all the corrosion off, to give the epoxy some tooth), then 
take some 2" glass tape and wrap it around the stern tube, wet out with 
epoxy. It took about 3 wraps, I think. I managed to do it within a few 
thousandths of an inch (I measured it with my calipers, and recall 
thinking - doggone I'm good. It was very very close. But that was mostly 
luck, IMHO). The hose slid right on, very smoothly. Anyway, it doesn't 
leak and has performed very well for this season so far. I just used the 
regular 1.5" stuffing box hose. I am much more comfortable with this 
solution than I am with radiator hose. I bought my hose from Viking 
Marine supplies in Annapolis.

Good luck!

J Bergquist
Calliope #287
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