Shaft seal considerations. Penta vs vetus

[thewrenchking]

Prepping for extended cruise next season. Originally equipped with Volvo style shaft seal but Vetus is showing up a lot in web searches. 30-40% better price, triple lip seal to Volvo's double, pressure water feed + built in grease reservoir. Seems like a superior product but many rave about the penta brand seal? Any thoughts for/against?

Also some side notes:

is there typically a bearing at engine end of shaft tube?

4jh3e, no flex coupling between shaft and transmission. Is that typical?

(2000 westerly Oceanlord )
Many thanks!

[shimari]

There’s also the PSS seal https://www.shaftseal.com, and the Tides Marine seal . (The US site is down for maintenance).

Our current boat came with a Tides Marine seal with a spare seal on the shaft.

[Seaweed827]

I would install a Lasdrop Gen 2 seal, dripless and last longer than the PSS. Dont have to deal with rubber bellows.