[Public-List] Stuffing box in earlier Albergs

[Glenn]

Hi Michael,

Actually I built mine up from scratch with fiberglass and foam core, fish hatch style with a raised 2" lip molded into the cockpit sole.  however I do know that Bomar and Freeman Marine Equipment both make several flush deck aluminum hatches with water tight dogs that would fit into the area.  I couldnt use them as my riser is to tall - comes right up to the cockpit floor.  They need a couple of inches of clearance for the latch mechanism underneath.  Several  years ago or so two  different people on the list had actually installed these and posted a link to some photos.  Maybe they can come back with the photos and/or some infor about installation.  

 the prefab hatches dont leak and very strong.  They are made for commercial marine service. Easy to install also. They come with an aluminum frame that you bolt through the deck.

Best
Glenn
Dolce 318

Sent from my iPad

On Oct 18, 2013, at 5:01 PM, Michael Connolly <crufone at comcast.net> wrote:

> 
> Glenn, 
> Could you send to me the reference for the hatch which you purchased and installed into the cockpit sole?  Where you able to locate one which is flush with the sole.  My concern is water tightness. With an opening 20" x 22" thru the sole into the bilge if it were to fail while getting pooped on this might present a sinking hazard. 
> Michael 
> ----- Original Message -----
> 
> From: "Glenn" <brooks.glenn at comcast.net> 
> To: "Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all" <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> 
> Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2013 10:34:59 AM 
> Subject: Re: [Public-List] Stuffing box in earlier Albergs 
> 
> Michael, 
> 
> My boat had the same set up you describe.  I found the deck plate was useless so put in a hatch (22"x20") to service all the stuff in the rear of the engine - exhaust,,riser, shift cable, xmission etc (and also remount my batteries under the cockpit out of the bilge).  There is a huge amount of space  going to waste under the cockpit! 
> 
> originally, stuffing box wrenches were actually made with flat bar material, maybe 1/4" thick, with looong   Flat handles - up to 36" with some older wrenches.  So, if you can find two of these you could,  theoretically, put them both through the inspection plate to loosen or tighten the packing nut. Still doesnt solve how to change out the packing material... Plus its hard to impossible to find actual packing nut wrenches anymore. Nobody stocks them, or even makes them in the size I needed for Dolce.   so I made mine out of a piece of 1/4" x 4" mild steel flat bar I had lying around.  They work great, whereas I couldnt get a monkey wrench to even fit in the space around my rudder packing nut.   
> 
> Glenn 
> Dolce #318 
> 
> Sent from my iPad 
> 
> On Oct 17, 2013, at 4:37 PM, Michael Connolly <crufone at comcast.net> wrote: 
> 
>> Arthur, 
>> My boat #133 has a bronze deck plate mounted in the cockpit sole just aft of the bridge deck. I understood that was for access to adjust the shaft stuffing box.  Big problem I see is that there is only room enough to use a single wrench thru the deck plate.  So how does one use this access to adjust the stuffing box employing two wrenches? It seems to me that the original thought of using this deck plate for access is impractical. What have others discovered? 
>> Micha

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