Repacking the stuffing box.
Ted, By no means would I trust the wax on the outside of the hull with an open stuffing box for six plus hours unless I first absolutely assured myself that it was staunching incoming water by separating the packing cup from the stuffing box and patiently watching to see if water still came into the hull. That said, of course there is already water trapped around the shaft between the wax you crammed in there all the way up to the presently leaking packing material so if it were to leak, it might already be doing so, proving one way or the other it's efficacy. I guess the question you need to ask is, "Did the wax stop the 15 minute cycling of the bilge pump?" If so, you might already have your answer. Why not double up the wax and apply it to the opened stuffing box? I actually owned an E25+ but it was powered with an outboard so I have no experience with cutting an opening in the quarter berth for access to the packing. On the face of it, I'd have to say though that it would need to be a pretty big aperture to get more than one arm into that area because two hands (and arms, think shoulders getting past the opening) are required to get the jam nut loose and then remove and replace the packing. I realize that you can't get to it yourself without cutting a large opening but maybe a smaller family member or friend could wriggle in and out again through the port lazarette. Is there any possibility of getting a small person in over the engine and transmission to gain access to the stuffing box? I know that's how even I can get back there in our boat. Or is there not enough room above your engine to do that? If the trip to West Marine is that far, why not consider buying on line and getting a variety of packing sizes like 1/8", 3/16" or even 1/4" along with the Drip-Less Moldable Packing Kit? That way, you'd have all the materials on hand and could select the right size as soon as you got the old stuffing out. Is your shaft 1" or 3/4"? Even with the original Yanmar 2QM15 that many of the E31's came with, the shaft was 1". I just don't know enough about shaft sizes for diesel engines in the size range of our boats to speak intelligently on the subject. If it turns out that your shaft is 1" then most likely the 3/16" packing should do given that's what works for me. Sorry, I wish I could be more help but I've hit the ceiling of what I know on the subject. Best of luck, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey CA