redpath wrote: > > Louis B. Brydon > > >GFO is a square braided graphite flax > >replacement impregnated with teflon. Gore says GFO is mil-spec certified > >by the USN as the only replacement for conventional flax packing. > > Graphite will (or definitely should) play hell with the shaft. > Nigel Calder says the same thing - don't use graphite-impregnated flax. He recommends the flax containing teflon (no graphite in sight), as does the boatyard where I'm having the stuffing replaced on Sanderling. -- Bob McLeran rmcleran@ix.netcom.com M/V "Sanderling" Docked at Point Patience Marina Hailing port: Wianno MA Solomons, MD Hampton 35 Trawler