Lagoon 42 TPI rudder shaft leak

[old pirate]

Apologies if this has been posted, in a “rush” purchase at the sea trial I noticed the rudder shaft leaking when the boat was motoring. Obviously under power the stern sits lower with the top of the shaft at or below the waterline. This does not happen under sail when the stern is “raised” !
Question, can this be repaired in water ? What does it entail ? A description of the seal(s) required with possible size please,as these have to be purchased in Australia. Boat is in New Caledonia. I noticed a grease nipple on the shaft, could is simply be a lack of grease ?

[chris mac]

I am somewhat familiar with this problem. Our 42 tpi leaked from the rudder shaft when we bought it as well.
I tried to deal with it in the water but wasn't successful. Luckily it only leaked in heavy seas or motoring like you said, and not aggressively.
We ended up hauling out, dropping the rudders and a machinist fabricated delron bearings for us. (Pretty sure it was delron)
We basically started from scratch because there was no seals present when we dropped the rudders. So I don't know what was there originally, or if yours have been redone. With the exception of digging holes under them, the rudders do come off pretty easy