In article ,
Alan Gomes wrote:
Perhaps the amount of flow varies from boat to boat. I have a Catalina
30 and I have changed the packing in the water with no problem at all.
Even removing all of the packing the flow is not excessive and the bilge
pump keeps up with it easily. But again, maybe this is different on some
other boats.

It does for sure.

I have found that having a couple of dental picks with different points
(i.e., curved and straight) works pretty well for removing the old
packing. I picked a few up at a military surplus store near me for real
cheap. Maybe you could ask your dentist if he is tossing some old ones
for some reason.

One other thing: I really like the Gore-Tex synthetic packing. It can
work in a standard stuffing box but is very durable.

I have heard the same thing.

--
Capt. JG @@
www.sailnow.com