[Donald Crighton]

I would like to remove the shaft from my Vancouver 27 and replace the stuffing box with a dripless shaft seal. My question is, can the shaft be withdrawn out the back? I have taken some rough measurements, it looks like the shaft is 18″ long but there is only 16″ between the aft end of the shaft and the rudder post.

Thanks, Don

Topic

[PaulK]

Some boats have to have the rudder removed before the propeller shaft can come out. This is one of the reasons that Sabre built many of their designs with offset shafts. Their rudders don’t have to come out. It may be possible to install the new seal on your boat without taking the shaft out all the way, but going over the whole thing with your mechanic to explore all the options would probably be a good idea.

[Author]

Replies