Particularly interested in the cutless bearing wearing out: How many miles were they typically sailing in a year ? What was the configuration of the shaft (external strut?).

We had a prop alt. on our last boat and had no troubles with wear; The stern tube was grease filled with plain flax packing at one end and a plain bronze bearing at the prop end. We did four years and a lot of miles (sail & Motor) with this setup (Atlantic circuit+) and had no discernible wear on the bearing and never had to touch the packing.

I'm thinking about adding a shaft alt. on our new boat, the pros are that we have a bigger fixed prop and more room for a bigger pulley on the shaft, but the stern tube is not grease filled; There is a grease filled stuffing box (grease injected between two sets of packing) but the prop end is a conventional cutless bearing.

Any info. or thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers,
John.