[Public-List] Stuffing box

[Jonathan Budington]

I was on my boat Friday looking for leaks.  I've been noticing water in the bilge since I put my boat in about a month ago.  The bilge had about 4 inches of water, but I couldn't see any leaks (I had issues with the drain tube around the cockpit seats a few years ago).  I finally got on the floor and saw the problem.  My stuffing box is leaking a steady drip without the engine running.  I didn't have the right size wrenches to try to tighten the packing nut (and I've never done that before).  The A30 site directed me to the A37 repacking notes.  It says the boat should be out of the water.  I read in Good Old Boat that I could re-pack while in the water.  Does anyone have an opinion on this.  Could the packing nut just need tightening?  My J-30 slip neighbor told me if it was leaking while idle, the packing was bad.  

Jon Budington