The thread on anti-siphon valves remined me that three boats in Puerto
Vallarta had a PYI prop shaft seal slip forward and create a huge leak
in the last year or so. Two of them had extensive damage and nearly
sank at the dock before anyone noticed the problem. The third was
caught quickly.

Apparently the set screws that hold the assembly to the shaft either
worked loose or were not properly installed in the first place.

The solution is to put a hose clamp on the prop shaft just forward of
the seal so it the screws slip, the seal can't move far.

Is anyone aware of other occurances?

Dick Locke wrote in
:

Two of them had extensive damage and nearly
sank at the dock before anyone noticed the problem.

It is SO easy to install a REALLY LOUD Radio Shack alarm siren (plastic
horn up on the mast) running off a bilge pump float switch 6" higher than
the one that runs the bilge pump that should NEVER float unless we're
losing the battle with the leak......to make sure NOONE in the marina
sleeps until your boat is PUMPED OUT or you're notified.

Lionheart's 'il WAKE THE DEAD!

The only way to cut ours off is to take out the fuse at the house battery
terminal....(c; No, you can't disconnect it and go back to bed as the boat
sinks! Notice the big strobe light UNDER the siren horn to help you get
their faster.

The horn is also connected to the FIRE ALARM sensors (3), too!

Does YOUR boat have a flooding/fire alarm installed?.....

Yes it does. Added benefit... folks think I have a burglar alarm
installed! Be sure to hook this to a different battery than the regular
bilge pumps run off of. Mine is hooked to the starting battery. If the
others exhaust their 12V supply, this one will kick in and pump, and
scream like heck. Here's what I use:
http://www.norcoalarms.com/ezStore12...?productID=401

On Oct 21, 5:41 pm, Larry wrote:


Does YOUR boat have a flooding/fire alarm installed?.....

"Keith" wrote in news:1161516136.883237.153570
@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Yes it does.

Excellent! Put yourself in the top 3% of ANY marina....



--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

When I was in Castine, Maine this summer a 51' Hinckley Sou'wester came into
Eaton's Boatyard dock about 4" lower in the water than when they started at
Southwest Harbor. My first question to the owner was "Do you have a shaft
seal or a stuffing box?" He had a shaft seal. When we pulled the cover off
the engine and transmission you could see the tear in the boot and the water
coming in. The folks at Eaton stopped the leak and The Maine Maritime
Acadamy hauled him the next morning. Hinckley sent a guy over from
Southwest Harbor to replace the seal.

I have a 2003 Beneteau 473 and unfortuneately I also have a shaft seal.
However, I religiously burp it if I think it is possible that air got in it.
I also grease it every 100 engine hours. I have a max-prop so my shaft
doesn't turn under sail.

Regards,

Cap'n Ric

On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 23:52:09 GMT, "Cap'n Ric"
wrote:

When I was in Castine, Maine this summer a 51' Hinckley Sou'wester came into
Eaton's Boatyard dock about 4" lower in the water than when they started at
Southwest Harbor. My first question to the owner was "Do you have a shaft
seal or a stuffing box?" He had a shaft seal. When we pulled the cover off
the engine and transmission you could see the tear in the boot and the water
coming in. The folks at Eaton stopped the leak and The Maine Maritime
Acadamy hauled him the next morning. Hinckley sent a guy over from
Southwest Harbor to replace the seal.

I have a 2003 Beneteau 473 and unfortuneately I also have a shaft seal.
However, I religiously burp it if I think it is possible that air got in it.
I also grease it every 100 engine hours. I have a max-prop so my shaft
doesn't turn under sail.

Regards,

Cap'n Ric

I'm glad I don't have one.. The rip is really scary. You can fix the
seal that slides forward if you catch it early but there's no stopping
a ripped seal...I thought. How did Eaton do it?

Good idea from someone else about a siren and light. I wonder why very
few people do that....

They sealed the cutlass bearing/shaft and the raw water line input.

"Dick Locke" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 23:52:09 GMT, "Cap'n Ric"
wrote:

When I was in Castine, Maine this summer a 51' Hinckley Sou'wester came
into
Eaton's Boatyard dock about 4" lower in the water than when they started
at
Southwest Harbor. My first question to the owner was "Do you have a shaft
seal or a stuffing box?" He had a shaft seal. When we pulled the cover
off
the engine and transmission you could see the tear in the boot and the
water
coming in. The folks at Eaton stopped the leak and The Maine Maritime
Acadamy hauled him the next morning. Hinckley sent a guy over from
Southwest Harbor to replace the seal.

I have a 2003 Beneteau 473 and unfortuneately I also have a shaft seal.
However, I religiously burp it if I think it is possible that air got in
it.
I also grease it every 100 engine hours. I have a max-prop so my shaft
doesn't turn under sail.

Regards,

Cap'n Ric

I'm glad I don't have one.. The rip is really scary. You can fix the
seal that slides forward if you catch it early but there's no stopping
a ripped seal...I thought. How did Eaton do it?

Good idea from someone else about a siren and light. I wonder why very
few people do that....

"Cap'n Ric" wrote in
news:JGx%g.3786$PA3.2095@trndny04:

I have a 2003 Beneteau 473 and unfortuneately I also have a shaft
seal. However, I religiously burp it if I think it is possible that
air got in it. I also grease it every 100 engine hours. I have a
max-prop so my shaft doesn't turn under sail.


Geoffrey's Amel Sharki 41 had a pressurizing grease seal on its shaft when
he got it. You took a couple of turns on the permanently-attached
greasegun that took regular grease cartridges every so often. The boatyard
told him that was illegal in American waters, probably scared a drop of
grease from a ketch would compete with the thousands of gallons of slimy
bilgewater the tankers pump overboard into the harbor with their ballast
and load of European mussels. He replaced the grease packing I thought was
a damned great idea with a dripless approved one the idiots at the same
boatyard forgot to put a loop and anti-siphon on its water charging
hose...which backed up from the bearing into the Perkins 4-108 flooding 3
cylinders off Florida and hydrolocking the Perkins at Ponce Inlet, which is
great fun to sail up in a 41' ketch with the tide ripping through it so
Towboat US can get to tow you to Daytona Beach hours away.

Is your grease seal really legal on the Beneteau? I don't have any hard
evidence, one way or the other, just what I was told.



--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

Dick Locke wrote in
:

Good idea from someone else about a siren and light. I wonder why very
few people do that....


That was me. It's too much trouble to install in about an hour. Of
course, there's always the "It Can't Happen To Me" syndrome opposing "Worse
Case Scenario".

Hope you have one or have one soon....(c;

Larry

On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 22:54:16 -0400, Larry wrote:

Dick Locke wrote in
:

Good idea from someone else about a siren and light. I wonder why very
few people do that....


That was me. It's too much trouble to install in about an hour. Of
course, there's always the "It Can't Happen To Me" syndrome opposing "Worse
Case Scenario".

Hope you have one or have one soon....(c;

Larry


Do you happen to know the amp draw on your alarm? I already have an
LED cockpit pilot light on my "deep do do" bilge pump and could
possibly parallel this alarm to it.