Oil feeding the shaft collar

I’ve been making extra checks before my next leg to Cape Verde and decided to take a closer look at the lubricating system for the propeller shaft. I’d noticed since the new engine had been installed that the level of it’s oil reservoir (nothing to do with engine oil), remained suspiciously constant and that there was some whitening in the tube near the nipple attachment (see photo). Obviously some water was getting into the tube but why? Are the seals in need of replacement? If so I’ll need to be lifted and this isn’t really the best time to be thinking of hoisting Eileen out of the water.

Oil resovoir

The other possibility is that as I am heavily loaded, I sit a few inches lower in the water. I noticed that the little plastic bottle was fixed very near the water line so perhaps there was not enough height to gravity feed the system. I’ve moved it higher and am hoping for the best.

I also sent a message to the other members of the the Yarmouth23 Owners Association (my defacto support team) to see if anyone else has had a similar issue.