Hoisting the main sail
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- Rank: Lubber
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Posted: Sep 22, 2008 - 11:07 AM
My main sal is tight in the track while I'm hoisting it. Where I sail my boat someone suggested that I put turtle wax on the sail and now it's almost impossible to raise the sail. Does anyone have any suggestions of something else I could put on it to make it easier to go up? -
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Posted: Sep 22, 2008 - 11:49 AM
Shabbat Candles. A friend of mine swears by them. I tried them and my sail scampers right up my 31' mast. That and a new less stretchy hailyard have made set up and take down a breeze. I used to have the same issue.
Clean the T Wax off, take a Shabbat Cadle and rub/work the wax into the entire length of the leading edge. Its a soft wax but seems to last.
Don't know who would suggest a car wax and anyone who has tried to buff baked on car wax on a hot sunny day knows the stuff sets up like concrete! You may have to clean the track as well.
Good luck
edited by: lawrencer2003, Sep 22, 2008 - 10:50 AM -
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Posted: Sep 22, 2008 - 12:06 PM
I would clean your track as best you can. Get that wax out!!!
Clean off the bolt rope section of your sail too... I don?t know how to suggest you clean that... perhaps jump in a pool with it and work the bolt rope section with a sponge (the chlorine in the pool will help i think).
I don?t know about the Shabbat Candles... but at least your boat will be "Kosher".... (Kidding)
What I do to lube my track is I wrap a small dowel (a piece of pencil will work too) with a clean white rag and soak it in silicone. Then I work the rag up and down the track (the dowel acts as a slug). This will clean and lube the track in the right spots (as it does no good to spray silicone inside the track... it will only hit the back of the track where the sail doesn?t touch. I also spray down my bolt rope on my sail a little).
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Posted: Sep 22, 2008 - 12:54 PM
charles 13, what andrew scott means is that you should use a silicone lubricant and not silicone sealer, I only mention that in case you're a newbie and still learning,LOL
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Posted: Sep 22, 2008 - 01:27 PM
Thanks Robert... -
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Posted: Sep 22, 2008 - 03:29 PM
So all kidding aside. The candle wax works better than silicon, which has always helped short term but wears away quickly. I was fixing to hose my mast & sail down with the stuff when my pal told me about the candle trick. As he's a long time Hobie sailor, I tried it. It has lasted all season and is still working. The Shabbat candle seems like a softer wax than a normal candle and hey, as it is blessed by Rabbinical authority, us sailors can use all the help we can get! (Even this Unitarian!) Andrew I like your cleaning technique. I'll use that next season.
Cheers -
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Posted: Dec 22, 2008 - 04:12 PM
Gentlemen:
Wax, or paraffin, ultimately holds sand, dirt, & grit and has to be cleaned often. Silicone based lubricants stain Dacron, especially colored cloths, and also can become a dirt magnet.
After cleaning the mast groove and sail?s bolt rope, apply a dry Teflon lubricant like McLube's Sailkote on both. The sail should slide so easy that you will need to take care to hold on to the halyard while hoisting or dropping the sail to prevent it from dropping on your or your crew?s head. You will need to re-apply only a couple of times each season and only routine sail cleaning is necessary.
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Posted: Dec 31, 2008 - 07:18 AM
Check your batten tension..They may be to tight...
