I took a look at the tough rubber hose that connects the stern tube to the stuffing box and decided it needed replacement. The problem was that one end of the hose had essentially been buried in glass and resin. I have now liberated the hose and removed it, but in the course of doing so, I managed to grind a small hole in the stern tube itself. I have now patched the hole, and I am ready to replace the hose and reinstall the propeller and stuffing box. It occurs to me that maybe the hose was intentionally stuck in this resin/glass soup. Is that possible? Has anyone else removed and replaced the hose, and if so, did they encounter what I did? I would like to enclose pictures, but this forum does not allow anything over 1.9 MB!

Shoreless

I managed to make one of my pictures smaller. Here is what I have been up to.

The hose should not have been permanently glassed in. More likely over time the rubber and glass formed a chemical bond. You can clean up the external area and fair with thickened epoxy. Put wax paper around the tube before you do it so you may easily peel it off. Once cured, sand and you're ready for the new shaft seal hose.