BJ 29 leaking

[off2sleep]

I'm a new owner of a BJ 29 and it is leaking quite a bit. The hull is intact with no cracks. Yes, the plug is in. I tape the top hatch and still water. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[BHChieftain]

Do the bathtub test to try to identify where the leak is coming from. If you don't see any obvious leaking from the seams or transom hardware holes, then the water is coming in from the stuffing tube.

Make sure you are using enough flex shaft grease (I grease mine every 4 runs), and check the gap between the drive dog and the strut (but better too much space there than not enough! Be sure you have a 3mm gap). Another common water entry point on the stuffing tube is where the tube meets the strut-- be sure that is perfectly flush and no angle (sometimes if you raise or lower the strut you can get a small angle here-- you need to GENTLY bend the stuffing tube by hand to match the strut position), You could also add some JB weld or other sealant there and sand it down to shape.

Chief

[Fluid]

Placing a seal on the inboard end of the stuffing tube can help if that is the water entry point. Relying on thick grease is not a sound engineering solution. I use silicon fuel tubing stretched over the brass stuffing tube, with just enough hanging off the end to touch the flex cable. This will pretty much stop water entry, but don't have too much contact with the cable or it can cause excessive drag. The photo is of a wire drive with too much tubing hanging off the end, but it illustrates the concept.

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[off2sleep]

Thank you for the great advice. Yes, I recently change the strut height and had much more water in the boat after that. I will do some modification for sure.