Tom says he tugs on the hoses... and lubricates the valves each spring... and mentions "disassembling them to grease(which is very simple)." This is the part I don't get... there is nothing "very simple" about reaching into narrow spaces, pulling off hose clamps and moving stiff hoses about while trying to grease a valve... and unless the boat is out of the water... I just don't see how packing grease into a closed valve is going to do much good.

I tried this... I went and got the good waterproof teflon grease, I pulled off the hose clamps, cutting my hand on the clamps in the process in the tight space, then struggled to remove the hose which was very tight on the valve and didn't want to bend... I finally got the hose off... packed in the expensive grease... and put it all together, using my blood as a lubricant on the valve where the hose went on. Then I put on new hose clamps.

Now 8 months later, the valve still feels stiff... and I wonder if the whole process yielded anything.

Seems like the only way this will do anything is if the boat is out of the water.