There is nothing under the hose other than your prop shaft. (and a hose coupling on either end). The sole purpose is just to hold the stuffing box in place and seal the gap between stuffing box and cutlass bearing.
You'd only need to remove the hose if the hose to change it out if its looking a bit dodgy. (soft or cracked). You can change the length of the hose if space allows, to allow the shaft packing to seal on a smoother part of the shaft. I recently added about 6" just to make the adjustment nut more accessible.
I am surprised you only found one layer of shaft packing. 3-4 layers is normal.
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