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lubing mast track

2K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  celenoglu 
#1 ·
I forgot to lube the mast track when stick was on saw horses this past winter. I don't really want to climb the mast to spray it. Would it work to just stick some parafin wax on a few of the slugs and raise and lower the sail a few times?
 
#4 ·
Just squirt the first 6' or as high as you can reach on the mast track,, hitting the slugs with silicon spray and they'll carry it up the mast for you...
 
#5 ·
For your reading pleasure;
I had some old track slides. I took 2 of them, and connected them with a 1" bar of aluminum. I then fit a piece of the really coarse (red) scotch-brite pad between them. Then, I taped an old hinge to the top of a can of McLube Sailcoat, so that when I pushed the hinge, it activates the sprayer. Finally, I taped the can of McLube to the 1" aluminum bar.

I attach a halyard to the top track slide, and a line to the bottom and feed the whole contraption into the track. I also have another line attached to the hinge, so that I can use the spray can remotely.

I pull the thing up and down the track a few times, so that the scotch brite can do it's thing, then, starting at the top, I pull the whole mess down the track while activating the sprayer.

Works like a champ!
Here are two pics;

From the side, you can see the inventive use of Duct tape.


I connect a halyard and downhaul onto that loop of string, and a piece of fishing line onto the hinge.

From the top;
My two posts edited into one.
 
#8 ·
The main drawback of parafin is that it will catch and hold airborne dust/salt/grit, which is what we're trying to fix in the first place...

The best option is something that will leave a very thin, dry film in place; parafin will leave a relatively thick coating which when warmed becomes a semi-liquid and thus a great place for all those grit particles to find a home.

You could try and cobble something less challenging together, but still using the halyard with a downhaul as your climbing monkey.
 
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