Shouldn't the track be cleaned first before the grease goes
on, or is this a wasted step?

SBV



"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
I found a cheap, simple, (two of my favorite words) way to
lube my
mast track today. It was one of those details that got
lost in the
launching rush and Skip pointed out how sticky my sail was
going up
and down. Oh yes, I think I forgot to mention that I took
Skip and
Lydia sailing while they were in Maine. One regular
contributor to
this group, at least, can testify that my boat isn’t
imaginary. He
actually didn’t comment on how sticky my sail was but
politely
suggested how much smoother it would come down with the
application of
some Teflon grease.

Anyway, I took one of those Scotch Brite pads that doesn’t
have a
sponge on it and cut it in half. I then put in a row of
stitching such
that, when the edges were splayed out, it formed a "T"
shape to fit
the track. Close to the stitching, I punched a piece of
marline
through and tied it into a loop. I did the same on the
other end but
left the marline untied.

Why Scotch Brite? Because it was there and, when all you
have is a
hammer, everything looks like a nail. Actually, it has a
very open
weave that holds a lot of grease.

I greased it up well, working the grease into the weave
and then
inserted it into the mast track with the loop at the top.
The halyard
shackle went into the loop. I had previously tied the free
end of the
halyard into the shackle because I wanted to be damn sure
I got the
halyard back down, whatever might jam.

Next, I put a spare sail slide into the track and tied it
closely to
the Scotch Brite. A previous attempt showed this necessary
to keep it
from popping out. A final blob of grease in the track
ahead of the pad
and I then hoisted it carefully up the mast and pulled it
back down.

Judging by how much easier it was to put the sail slides
back in the
track, it’s going to be a huge improvement.


--

Roger Long

"Scotty" wrote

Shouldn't the track be cleaned first before the grease goes
on, or is this a wasted step?

Sure but I think an advantage of the Scotch Brite pad is that it will
knock off and pick up some stuff as it lubricates. My track was very
bad and worked beautifully yesterday. The main just zipped up and
down yesterday.

I'm interested to hear that paraffin works. (See Rick's reply) I'll
see how much dirt the track picks up this season. That would have to
be applied while the mast is down in my case. I don't trust the
spinnaker halyard (used only for the dinghy at this point) or my kids
enough to go up the mast in a boson's chair.

--

Roger Long