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Winterizing furling jib

10K views 35 replies 20 participants last post by  Tanski 
#1 ·
I have a furling jib and in-mast furling main on my Beneteau 343. I am in the process of winterizing the boat. What is the best practice to winterize furling jib and main? Thank you. Paul
 
#3 ·
If you truly don't plan to sail for the season, remove them and store below.
 
#8 ·
.....it is a good idea to lube the bearings of your furler unit(s)...
I was under the impression that Harken recommends fresh water flushing rather than lube..:confused: Do I have that wrong?
 
#10 ·
My Furlex 100S came with a tube of lube grease and the manual recommends annual lubing of upper & lower units.
I am a little surprised if Harken uses no kind of lubrication at all.
It would not be the first time I have made a general statement that was false in some specific instance.
 
#14 ·
No, you won't have to disconnect the forestay.

You are only removing the sail from the foiler extrusion. It is really no different than lowering a conventional hank-on sail.

Of course, you must unfurl the sail first. It's best to do this when the boat is still in the water, or on a very calm day if already hauled. After unfurling the jib, you then simply lower the sail by releasing the jib halyard and easing it down.

Nothing to worry about here -- it's a very easy process.
 
#17 ·
.... And in-mast furling main should be fine for the winter, right? Thanks
I've never had in-mast main furling, but I'd surely be tempted to remove that sail too and get it out of the weather for the little time it takes. If you're not using the boat storing a folded main (easy to do since it's battenless) on a berth somewhere shouldn't be a problem. - or better still in your garage at home.
 
#16 · (Edited)
There should be a groove in the furling extrusions as JRP points out. The sail has a luff tape that has an enclosed line in it that fits into the groove.
Simply unfurl the jib on a light day, loosen the halyard, pull the sail down a little, unclip the bottom of the sail from the furling unit, bring entire sail down and clip the halyard to the mast.
Rolling the sail up rather then folding it is not a bad idea if you have a place to store it indoors or a garage. Folding can create permanent wrinkles.
Again, sails are expensive. More expensive then batteries but I take those off too during the winter too and keep them trickle charged.
BTW, cushions will mildew if left in the cabin as well.
Cushions are expensive too.
Take all paper off the boat as well.
You will figure it out.

Regarding the in-mast furled main sail, if it were mine I would take it off as well and store it indoors or a dry garage. You really want to be sure that this in-mast furling unit is working well as if it quits working or jams on you when you need it most you will be sorry you didn't inspect it when you did your spring commissioning.
I don't have in mast main sail furling but I hear from folks who have it that they love it and would never go back. I just believe in that old Irishman Murphy's Laws and anything I can't see or inspect is a possible failure point. How would you know that a control line for this is chafing and you need to replace a grommet if you did not take the sail off? How is the sail going to like getting soaked in freezing rain and adding weight to your boat aloft while on the hard?
If it was me, I would take the main sail off and thoroughly inspect the mechanism and the sail itself. You never know what you might find.
I know that this sounds like a bit of work but it is work that should give you peace of mind when you set out again next spring.
 
#18 ·
I pull both sails befoe haulout. If you are on jackstands, only pull the sails when it is dead calm.

You might also consider getting some small line that you can send up to replace your halyards over the winter. UV is hard on lines and like everything else, halyards are expensive too. Make sure you attach the temporary line well to the end of the halyard. Then pull the halyard down, feeding the temp line up in its place. Take the halyards home and give them a GENTILE wash.
 
#20 ·
I pull both sails befoe haulout. If you are on jackstands, only pull the sails when it is dead calm.

You might also consider getting some small line that you can send up to replace your halyards over the winter. UV is hard on lines and like everything else, halyards are expensive too. Make sure you attach the temporary line well to the end of the halyard. Then pull the halyard down, feeding the temp line up in its place. Take the halyards home and give them a GENTILE wash.
I ought to know what a Gentile wash is, since we had to go to church every week growing up. :)

I left a hat on board last fall and it was mildew encrusted by spring. After our fall sail, DavidPM said to take everything off the boat. Thank goodness the hat was one of only a few things remaining.

Now I'm wondering if I can use our old dehumidifier on winter visits and leave the sails on board. That and the newly towel-dryed bilges shouldn't be putting as much humidity in the cabin. It's tempting.
 
#23 ·
You might want to put in dry air crystals...they sell them for RVs and boats...like the Dri-Z-Air brand or the DampRid brand to keep you boat dry in the winter
 
#24 ·
Big OOPs when removing roller furling jib

I have swapped out jibs on my Hood roller furler on my Catalina 27 TR, but I have never removed the sail for the winter before. So I am happy to get it down and stowed, and my casual thought was to attach the halyard shackle to the drum shackle, but they do not get close enough to connect.

What to do? With out thinking much I just raised the halyard back up the forestay and locked it down. Yea, then on the way home it hit me, how will I get that halyard down in the spring. I have not tried it yet, but I doubt that releasing the halyard line will permit it to slide down. Am I screwed? Will it slide down or is there some old trick to grab it and bring it down?

Everything went well in winterizing, but I have a hanging halyard about 34 feet above the deck. Any help appreciated.
 
#26 ·
I have swapped out jibs on my Hood roller furler on my Catalina 27 TR, but I have never removed the sail for the winter before. So I am happy to get it down and stowed, and my casual thought was to attach the halyard shackle to the drum shackle, but they do not get close enough to connect.

What to do? With out thinking much I just raised the halyard back up the forestay and locked it down. Yea, then on the way home it hit me, how will I get that halyard down in the spring. I have not tried it yet, but I doubt that releasing the halyard line will permit it to slide down. Am I screwed? Will it slide down or is there some old trick to grab it and bring it down?

Everything went well in winterizing, but I have a hanging halyard about 34 feet above the deck. Any help appreciated.
Find someone who is really good with a bow and arrow? Tie a string onto the arrow.

Attack a coat hanger to another halyard (part way up the halyard so you don't lose that one too) with a hook at the top of the coat hanger. Then try to raise the hanger and hook the other halyard.

Go up the mast.

Regards,
Brad

By the way, although tempted on an earlier post, our sails are now folded up and stored in our furnace room. They are store off the concrete floor, so no potential moisture from below can get to them It's warm and VERY dry down there.

Here's looking forward to spring!!
 
#27 ·
I got the message.

Instead of climbing though, I have some cherry picker work to do this winter anyway: replace a shroud boot, install LED bulbs on the anchor and steaming lights, replace the deck light bulb, and now pull down the halyard.

Your help is appreciated.
 
#28 ·
Don't feel bad.
We lost our main halyard up the mast three weeks ago while trying to raise our main sail for the 2nd time in a long motoring trip up the Hudson on a windy day. The shackle at the end of our halyard decided to let go and needs to be replaced.
We got lucky when a friend of a boat owner we knew volunteered his 14 year old to haul up the mast the next day. We used the mast crane on our dock to haul this nice kid up most of the way and our spin halyard to get him to the top to grab the main sail shackle and bring him back down. Quite a few rounds are now owed to the father of the young lad who helped us out.
Spit happens. Even though I was not personally hauling on the halyard I am also accountable for the oversight.
What about pulling the mast for the winter and fixing that problem while on the hard?
 
#29 ·
winterizing furling jib

When we went to take down our furling jib, we undid the halyard, but when the jib got about 3 ft down, it seemed to get stuck on something. We have a 39 CC Pearson, and I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but want to give all the info. When we looked up, it seemed a round, small baskety, softball size thing at the top of the jib, left half of itself behind, and with the bottom half of it still attached, seemingly, it could not come all the way down. We think something must have broken, and cannot tell without going up in a bosun's chair. We are in CT, and it is getting windy and cold. If someone has some thoughts on what we are doing wrong, or doing nothing wrong, but someone has to go up, please let me know. Thank you for your help. Hoping we are doing something wrong, and someone out there just tells us what, and everything will work. Maureen O'Donnell, Bridgeport, CT
 
#30 ·
When we went to take down our furling jib, we undid the halyard, but when the jib got about 3 ft down, it seemed to get stuck on something. We have a 39 CC Pearson, and I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but want to give all the info. When we looked up, it seemed a round, small baskety, softball size thing at the top of the jib, left half of itself behind, and with the bottom half of it still attached, seemingly, it could not come all the way down. We think something must have broken, and cannot tell without going up in a bosun's chair. We are in CT, and it is getting windy and cold. If someone has some thoughts on what we are doing wrong, or doing nothing wrong, but someone has to go up, please let me know. Thank you for your help. Hoping we are doing something wrong, and someone out there just tells us what, and everything will work. Maureen O'Donnell, Bridgeport, CT
Hi Maureen,

I hope you've solved your problem by now. If not, it sounds to me like you might have some halyard wrap up near the top of your headstay.

The jib/genoa halyard can get wrapped around the headstay/foiler extrusion up near the top. Sometimes with luck you can unwind it by spinning the furled headsail around the extrusion, or even shaking enough slack into the halyard to allow you to drop the sail, then unwind the halyard from the headstay. If you're less lucky, you may have to send someone up the mast to unwind the halyard,

That "round, small baskety, softball size thing at the top of the jib, left half of itself behind, " is actually part of the furling hardware. As you know, there is a furling drum down near the tack of the sail. Attached to the head of the sail, there is a furling "swivel". That swivel unit slides up the foiler extrusion when you hoist the sail up with the halyard. When it gets to full height, the swivel nests into a fixed top terminal, which is probably the component that you described as "left behind."

The best way to prevent halyard wrap in the future, is to install a halyard restrainer, which holds the halyard away from the swivel and headstay at a correct angle for hoisting. These get installed on the mast a few inches below where the halyard exits the upper sheave, and are well worth the investment.
 
#31 ·
I would not ever consider leaving sails up for winter or for any period exceeding the time for which I could predict there to be no violent storms. Go to YouTube and search for marina and boat storm damage following hurricanes. Most heavy boat and marina damage happens where people left sails on the jib furlers. They become at least partially unfurled and cause the ruin of the docks, anchorage, other boats. Our Camper & Nicholson 58 was acquired following exactly such an event at the previous owner's private dock in Ft Lauderdale. Before the two roler furled jibs exploded, the load on the dock lines tore the ears from the metal cleats on the dock. The boat T-Boned a sea wall and careened down the canal taking out docks and pilings.

All good advice above: remove sails from the boat. Store in a clean dry place (not inside the boat). Removing the halyards is good but if you don't want to go that far just fasten runners to the shackles and hoist the shackle to the mast head. Cover the halyerd coil away from the sun.

This is the first winter we are storing with the mast up (keel stepped). We also added a proper winter cover. Water has a way of finding our halyard slots and the openings at the mast head. It runs down the inside of the mast and to the bilge. A major three-day rain may result in 15 to 20 gallons in the bilge. Many of my yard mates remove mast head instruments (also a good idea) and cover the mast head with a heavy duty trash bag to minimize water entry. Once the winter cover was on, I have noticed a large amount of condensation on the upper surfaces inside of the cabin so I took steps to let the cabin breathe. The new cover is above the bimini so we left the main hatch open and cracked open several of the hatches. Most floor boards are propped up. This seems to have dropped the RH inside so that it is not wet. We are stored in a reasonably safe yard so I'm not too worried. Also, we remove anything with an LCD on it so all electronics winter in the basement.
 
#33 ·
Removing the halyards is good but if you don't want to go that far just fasten runners to the shackles and hoist the shackle to the mast head. Cover the halyerd coil away from the sun.
Is the idea here to just keep as much of the halyard out of the elements as possible?
 
#32 ·
Thank you. We did what you said, and shook it to death. When we raised the jib the following spring, we noticed the furling hardware would separate, and the jib would get stuck. We waited until the wind blew the jib to the opposite side, which was port, and then pulled it up as fast as we could to the next connection of the furling hardware.
 
#36 ·
No in mast furling but do have jib furling. All sails come off the boat for the winter.
They get washed and gone over for any damage that happened during the summer so I have no surprises next season.
At the end of the season you really should wash the sails, the dirt is abrasive and will reduce the life of the sails. Plus it's nice to look up at clean sails with no spider or bird droppings or whatever.
I'm lucky that I have the room but almost everything comes off my boat right down to the toilet paper, all electronics, rudder etc comes home. Cockpit and cabin cushions all canvas gets washed for next year.
All interior lockers and hatches stay open for the winter so I get some airflow.
I drop my mast, halyards come off, stays come off and get coiled and labeled. Boom comes home..
Even all my running rigging gets washed at a laundrymat in a front loading washer with Woolite.
I wash my sails in a 45 gallon plastic barrell with Oxy-Clean. Peroxide based non detergent cleaner. There is an actual sail cleaning product out there that costs twice as much but has the same ingredients, same suggested wash proceure. Wet job that always entertains the neighbourhood kids.....
I just hauled out yesterday so all the fun began yesterday.
Oh ya I keep the furler on deck for the winter under the tarps, comes off in one piece when I remove the forestay.
 
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