"ray lunder" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 20:11:06 GMT, "Roger Long"

wrote:

My boat came with a strange continuous stranded fiberglass line
which
was covered with white plastic. It weighed practically nothing
and had
epoxied/screw-in connections; no bulky swages or clamps. The pvc
failed and cracked after 20 years and I could never find a
continuous,
unsplit run to cover it with again so I got the s.s. stuff. Much
heavier- less cool. One other option if you could find it.
(perhaps
the UK).

Sounds like 'Parafil'. Very light, very low stretch, easy to DIY
at appropriate lengths. See
http://www.linearcomposites.co.uk/prod_parafil.htm
I used it for several years while racing (hmm, err, in 1973 to
1979!) and once, while clipped to it, went for an inadvertent swim
for about 5 minutes at 7kts.

Since then they've developed several different versions using
different cores.

On my last boat the upper lines were plastic coated 9 strand
stainless, lower lines plain 9 strand stainless, both with swaged
eyes at each end. After 16 years the plastic was discolouring
brown due to UV deterioration on the upper side of the plastic.
One section (of four, I had a centre gate) had some rust stain
showing at a single location on a kink. I stripped the coating to
see what was going on and found a crack in one strand. The rest of
the wire was clean.

My assumption is that the plastic coating was sufficiently porous
to oxygen to permit chrome oxide coatings to exist on the wire,
though why that didn't apply where the crack was was not clear.

Replacing the wire was a bore, since the line threaded through the
stanchions, and the swages prevented removal! Bad maintenace
design. So I had to trot down to the rigger's shop with a whole
lot of stanchions etc in my arms.
--
JimB
http://www.jimbaerselman.f2s.com/
Describing some Greek and Spanish cruising areas