Yacht

Stuffing boxes 101:
Story: Bill Prince
Like Opinions, Everybody Has One
Illustrations by Charlie Wing,
author of “How Boat Things Work”
courtesy McGraw-Hill
Like opinions and elbows, everybody
has one. Or two. Anyone with an
inboard-powered sailboat, runabout,
motor yacht or amphibious Wienermobile
likely has one of two types of
propeller shaft seals, a stuffing box or
a more modern (and occasionally
temperamental) dripless shaft seal.
The tried and true stuffing box has
been around forever and provides the
(mostly) watertight seal around this
most common through-hull penetration.
Designed to hold flax packing
(see sidebar) or braided roving
impregnated with Teflon in a
compressed state, traditional stuffing
boxes rely on a large packing nut
about twice the diameter of the shaft
Note that while perforated hose clamps are shown in the illustrations, it is best to
use non-perforated stainless hose clamps for stuffing box duty.
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