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So, fun boat facts for you. A boat is never really waterproof, there’s always somewhere water will get in. And sometimes on purpose! If the boat has an inboard engine it will have a shaft and propellor connected to it off the transmission, or gear as it is also called. Where the shaft goes through the hull needs to be sealed, so there is a cutless bearing and a stuffing box. The cutless bearing is a bronze or composite tube with ridged rubber lining the inside. It will be inside a strut on the hull keeping the propellor shaft aligned on powerboats, and where the shaft enters the hull. The stuffing box (which is round) is a bronze tube with a bronze cap that screws on to it. This is connected to the shaft tube with hose. Inside the tube is space for a packing material. That material is called flax packing and is sold on a roll. You cut rings and stuff them in around the shaft and screw the cap on. The reason for all of this is that when the shaft is turning it generates heat. The cutless bearing and stuffing box allow a small amount of seawater in to cool the shaft. It will drip out the end and collect in the bilge (where the water was sloshing around in your friends boat). I found a few pics to show what I’m talking about.

There’s new technology now that has dripless seals and other types of packing. But generally this is whats going on on most boats put there. Sorry for the info dump!

Umm ... https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/iss-leaks-9.7231829

To be fair the ISS is a really shitty boat.

Just like the ISS, it was probably really nice when it was first put together, but time catches up with us all.