Lubricating sail slugs and mast tracks
- Thread starter jviss
- Start date
I think they usually are! Maybe yours are different enough to be immune. I've had some terrible staining from it on Aluminum pans, 'though they are still useable, just not pretty.
I don't use anything so harsh. I take a handi-wipe aka wet wipe and attach that to my track cleaner (with staples!). After cleaning, it's dry and I soak it with SailKote. The handi-wipe is more durable than paper towels and it lasts long enough for one cleaning.
Hey, don't get off track here (see what I did there?). You have just "invented" slug track cleaner (come to think of it, it might also eliminate unsightly slug tracks, right?). Just get a few 55 gallon drums of carb cleaner, some 8-oz metal cans and some label stock for your printer, market it as specially formulated slug track cleaner, and watch the bucks roll in! Please don't forget to invite me out to your palatial estate once you hit the big time.
If you have sand or gunk in the track spay will not remove it.
Here is some info that I posted back in 2019. Still relevant.
May 6, 2019
Do you have bolt rope or slugs?
If slugs, check then all for attachment and damage.
Do you have an internal mast track or an external mast rail?
If it is internal it could be restricted at the choke point by salt, sand or some other build up.
To both clean and check the condition of an internal track I highly recommend the
AMAZING DOCTOR GARY'S FREE TRACK CLEANER.
You need about a foot of rough cleaning rope that fits the track pretty snugly.
Parallel to the rope you whip on a piece of lighter line that is 2 or 3 inches longer at each end (See Pic 1).
There should be an eye in each end of the lighter line.
The whipping will make the diameter of the rough cleaning rope even snugger in the track.
Connect the main halyard to one eye and feed cleaning rope into track. (See Pic 2)
Connect a light down haul line to the bottom eye.(See Pic 3)
Haul up a yard or so and haul down a few times then repeat as you raise the line up the track.
Pay attention to the spot where you think the sail is binding.
When you have cleaned the whole track haul the cleaning rope
down , spray it with track lubricant and repeat the haul up/down to lube the complete track.
Will take 30 minutes to make the cleaner and 30 minutes to clean and lube the track. I do it once a year as a part of maintenance.
Good luck
Gary
Here is some info that I posted back in 2019. Still relevant.
May 6, 2019
Do you have bolt rope or slugs?
If slugs, check then all for attachment and damage.
Do you have an internal mast track or an external mast rail?
If it is internal it could be restricted at the choke point by salt, sand or some other build up.
To both clean and check the condition of an internal track I highly recommend the
AMAZING DOCTOR GARY'S FREE TRACK CLEANER.
You need about a foot of rough cleaning rope that fits the track pretty snugly.
Parallel to the rope you whip on a piece of lighter line that is 2 or 3 inches longer at each end (See Pic 1).
There should be an eye in each end of the lighter line.
The whipping will make the diameter of the rough cleaning rope even snugger in the track.
Connect the main halyard to one eye and feed cleaning rope into track. (See Pic 2)
Connect a light down haul line to the bottom eye.(See Pic 3)
Haul up a yard or so and haul down a few times then repeat as you raise the line up the track.
Pay attention to the spot where you think the sail is binding.
When you have cleaned the whole track haul the cleaning rope
down , spray it with track lubricant and repeat the haul up/down to lube the complete track.
Will take 30 minutes to make the cleaner and 30 minutes to clean and lube the track. I do it once a year as a part of maintenance.
Good luck
Gary
Great post and pics, thanks Gary. I would have to fabricate some different kind of cleaning swab, as the 'track' is rectangular in section, but the same idea will work.If you have sand or gunk in the track spay will not remove it.
Here is some info that I posted back in 2019. Still relevant.
May 6, 2019
Do you have bolt rope or slugs?
If slugs, check then all for attachment and damage.
Do you have an internal mast track or an external mast rail?
If it is internal it could be restricted at the choke point by salt, sand or some other build up.
To both clean and check the condition of an internal track I highly recommend the
AMAZING DOCTOR GARY'S FREE TRACK CLEANER.
You need about a foot of rough cleaning rope that fits the track pretty snugly.
Parallel to the rope you whip on a piece of lighter line that is 2 or 3 inches longer at each end (See Pic 1).
There should be an eye in each end of the lighter line.
The whipping will make the diameter of the rough cleaning rope even snugger in the track.
Connect the main halyard to one eye and feed cleaning rope into track. (See Pic 2)
Connect a light down haul line to the bottom eye.(See Pic 3)
Haul up a yard or so and haul down a few times then repeat as you raise the line up the track.
Pay attention to the spot where you think the sail is binding.
When you have cleaned the whole track haul the cleaning rope
down , spray it with track lubricant and repeat the haul up/down to lube the complete track.
Will take 30 minutes to make the cleaner and 30 minutes to clean and lube the track. I do it once a year as a part of maintenance.
Good luck
Gary
jv
My mast is 30 some odd feet. I use a track cleaner like the one in the Practical Sailor article.
On the topic of marine lubricants, I just had a rigger down to my boat yesterday to retrieve my mainsail swivel, which was stuck at top of mast (there's a thread on that...).
Anyway, as we were chatting about various care & maintenance issues, he volunteered that he swears by Fluid Film as the best lubricant. He was quite enthusiastic about it.
www.fluid-film.com
Anyway, as we were chatting about various care & maintenance issues, he volunteered that he swears by Fluid Film as the best lubricant. He was quite enthusiastic about it.
FLUID FILM | Powerful Corrosion Protection & Lubrication
FLUID FILM® is Eureka’s own unique lanolin-based brand of corrosion preventive and lubricant, used worldwide in a multitude of industries and applications.
www.fluid-film.com
I've had great results from McLube and off the shelf dry teflon lubes but I do believe a clean track and slugs is more important. I find black gunk built up on the slugs at the end of the season. It takes about 40 minutes to clean them but the mast track took longer and was far less fun. This year I discovered that a melamine (magic eraser) sponge significantly speeds up the mast cleaning
I clean my track at least annually. Super easy once you get a track cleaner.
As for what to soak it in ... it depends.
- First time, to remove mud dauber nests and crud, and hard surface cleaner soap is fine. Something aluminum-safe. Rinse with hose jet stream. If you keep the mast on an annual program, sail frequently, and don't sail in city, this is probably a one-time task.
- After that, to remove built-up silicone and McLube, xylene is a good choice. Carb cleaner dries too fast and does not cut wax and silicone as well (because it dries too fast). Acetone dries to fast and does not cut wax well. Mineral spirits does not cut silicone and wax well enough. That has been my experience.
What type of track cleaner do you have. My mast gate is just above the gooseneck so putting anything in that way requires removing all of the sail slugs.
My sail slugs are the 7/8" flat type and I have not found a good way to clean them with anything. The groove is too small for anything to fit inside.
Anyone with this type of slug have any good methods of cleaning and lubing the groove?
Anyone with this type of slug have any good methods of cleaning and lubing the groove?
Attachments
I made my own track cleaner with a few inches of Bolt rope sewn into some spare canvas.
I too have to remove the slugs. I don't remove the sail though, I just slide out the slugs and the sail stays tied to the boom.
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Jasper and Bailey Sailmakers make cleaners for that track. I've tested them.
I have the same style. See my quoted post below for cleaning techniques. I believe I used automotive pressure washer cleaning solution to clean the slugs since that's what was on hand
That sounds very easy if you pull your mast at the end of the season. My mast has been down twice in the 25-years I have owned Papillon and given that I am 65 and 250 I need a better reason that cleaning my sail track to go up the mast.