[DrB]

The stuffing box in my boat is dripping a little fast. Stationary, about a drip every 14 to 16 seconds, with the shaft rotating about one every 3 seconds.

I fully dried out the bilge on Saturday after our sail and came back on Sunday measured the water in the bilge as a 16 ounces. It also rained that night and I think a ounce or two was from that (through a small gap in the back locker/deck). Over a week the total amount of water is a around a gallon, nowhere near the amount need to turn on the autobilge switch which I think is around 8 gallons.

I was going to try and tighten it on Sunday to reduce the drip rate because the PO said he last changed it 5 years ago. He said it should be okay as long as your still getting drips when the shaft turns and the water is not excessive when not. However, with my luck, tightening it could make it worse either with no drips or by futzing with it to get the right drip rate, causing it to drip more, which would be a problem as I don't want an emergency haul.

My inclination is to leave it alone as is, although not a total dry bilge, not an excessive amount either and very manageable. A couple of marine mechanics I talked to suggested not doing anything to it yet unless it started to drip in the drop per second range when at rest.

I will be replacing it with a dripless in the fall, so this is just until the season ends.

What's everyone's take?

Thanks.

DrB