Installing Cable Covers???

Jun 1, 2016
156
Hunter 28.5 Lake City, MN
The cable covers on the lifelines of my '88 Hunter 28.5 have seen better days, so I ordered some Davis White Cable Covers from this site.

I did manage to get one 8' section installed today, and learned a little:
1. I had to cut the old ones off, using a sharp cutter (I found that I didn't nick the stainless steel cables at all). It's going to be a LONG process. some of the plastic from the original covers remains, but that shouldn't be of any consequence under the new covers.
2. Installing the new ones is also difficult, though I did learn that pressing down on the new one, and wiggling the feed point from side to side would allow some reasonable progress.

It took me about 2 hours to remove and install the first 8' length.

Does anyone have a better method?
I've thought about heating up the old cable covering, but I'm not comfortable using a torch on it, though I may try a heat gun to soften the old covering before cutting it off.

It seems that there should be a tool for installing them, but I haven't found one.

Mike
 
Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
If you have the line straight out in front of you, in place, I used a regular pocket knife (sharp). Lay it pretty sharply/low angle into the covering and pull the knife towards you like a draw knife. You will cut through the cover down to the SS lines, and that makes pulling the rest of the SS line alot easier to peel. I think you'll get replies to leave the SS lines bare. I did, and I'm glad I did.
 

Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
Just a heads up... but a large segment of boat owners today forsake the use of vinyl lifeline covers,
 
Jan 19, 2010
1,169
Catalina 34 Casco Bay
I didn't remove the old covers, I covered then with shroud covers..All joints are inside the stanchions...
very easy, very inexpensive, very clean...
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
While white vinyl coated life lines have a nice marketing appeal, they have fallen out of favor because the vinyl cover hides corrosion and may accelerate corrosion. The problem is crevice corrosion, the vinyl cracks, water gets in and provides the conditions for crevice corrosion to start. This goes unnoticed until someone falls against the lifeline and it fails making for a bad day on the water.

The same goes for standing rigging and the vinyl covers. The covers trap dirt, grit, salt and water inside and cause the rigging to fail. Another bad day on the water.
 
Jun 1, 2016
156
Hunter 28.5 Lake City, MN
Thanks for the replies guy, but I would like to maintain the cable covers. When I remove the old covers, there's a certain amount of white plastic left over between the strands and the cable underneath doesn't look that nice.

I'd really like to replace them. I thought about adding the covers over the old ones (just recently, I wish I had ordered a larger size).

If there isn't a better way to install them, I may struggle through!
You wouldn't bevel how sore my thumb is this morning from working on putting on that one cover!!!

Mike
 
Oct 26, 2010
1,883
Hunter 40.5 Beaufort, SC
If I am not mistaken, vinyl covered lines are prohibited for off shore racing (corrected from sailing in original post). I realize you are probably not racing offshore, but it tells you something about which is preferred from a safety standpoint vis-a-vis ability to inspect your life lines and possible failure mechanisms. When I removed my vinyl covered lines I was surprised about the "rust" in some places on the stainless steel wire and elected to replace with bare stainless steel wire. Your boat, your choice.
 
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Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
If I am not mistaken, vinyl covered lines are prohibited for off shore sailing. I realize you are probably not racing offshore, but it tells you something about which is preferred from a safety standpoint vis-a-vis ability to inspect your life lines and possible failure mechanisms. When I removed my vinyl covered lines I was surprised about the "rust" in some places on the stainless steel wire and elected to replace with bare stainless steel wire. Your boat, your choice.
Coated life lines are not allowed in sanctioned Offshore Racing for the safety reasons already outlined. On your own boat, cruising, you put what ever you want on the lifelines are not have them at all.
 
Oct 26, 2010
1,883
Hunter 40.5 Beaufort, SC
On your own boat, cruising, you put what ever you want on the lifelines are not have them at all.
Agreed. hence "your boat, your choice", including no life lines I guess. Your point is well taken.

I was also citing my own experience and was really surprised by how much corrosion there was on the coated life lines, not asserting that un-coated lines are required for anything other than sanctioned off shore racing. I did not replace my life lines because there was corrosion but because I had had some damage from a boat breaking free in a storm and taking out my stbd lifelines. It was only after I removed the damaged lines, which included damage to the coating that I noticed the corrosion.

The OP has already stated (after I started my post) that they want coated lines so the discussion is now mute except to caution people that if they rely on life lines they need to inspect them, which can be difficult for coated lines - that's all. Even then relying on life lines is probably a bad choice of words since if you get to the life lines with enough force to break them then things have probably gone terribly wrong anyway.
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
A nice compromise around the cockpit area would be bare stainless with lifeline cushions. Handy folks make them from pipe insulation covered with 'canvas'. Easy to inspect...
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,993
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Vinyl covered lifelines were a neat idea until the discovered they let the steel rust beneath the vinyl, then they break, then they are no longer "lifelines".

There are no rules limiting your choice if you are cruising or day sailing.

Some folk even use just line or dyneema. Boat owners choice.
 

ToddS

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Sep 11, 2017
248
Beneteau 373 Cape Cod
So I knew about how/why vinyl lifeline covers have fallen out of favor... my new-to-me boat last year came with them, and I haven't peeled off the vinyl (yet), but am in favor of bare stainless steel there (just lazy/busy and haven't bothered to peel). I certainly wouldn't cover them if they were bare already, or if I took the time to strip the vinyl. That being said, I was not aware that vinyl shroud/rigging covers are also out of favor. While I get that both are cases of "hidden" dangers, I would think the vertical nature of the shroud covers would mean gravity does a better job keeping (oxygenated) water flowing through compared to horizontal (or sagging) lifelines. My old boat had 50+ year-old standing rigging which had vinyl covers for at least half of that time (maybe more... but she wasn't mine then) and never had even a hint of corrosion when I would change out the covers every 5 years or so (due to UV degradation of the vinyl). Maybe the vinyl was also looser too, helping let water through... My covered lifelines on that old boat, however did have cracks in the vinyl, which would seep rust stains, and which I did at one point replace due to corrosion. I kinda like the shrouds covered to protect my roller-furling genoa's sheets. Is that really frowned upon these days too?
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
So I knew about how/why vinyl lifeline covers have fallen out of favor... my new-to-me boat last year came with them, and I haven't peeled off the vinyl (yet), but am in favor of bare stainless steel there (just lazy/busy and haven't bothered to peel). I certainly wouldn't cover them if they were bare already, or if I took the time to strip the vinyl. That being said, I was not aware that vinyl shroud/rigging covers are also out of favor. While I get that both are cases of "hidden" dangers, I would think the vertical nature of the shroud covers would mean gravity does a better job keeping (oxygenated) water flowing through compared to horizontal (or sagging) lifelines. My old boat had 50+ year-old standing rigging which had vinyl covers for at least half of that time (maybe more... but she wasn't mine then) and never had even a hint of corrosion when I would change out the covers every 5 years or so (due to UV degradation of the vinyl). Maybe the vinyl was also looser too, helping let water through... My covered lifelines on that old boat, however did have cracks in the vinyl, which would seep rust stains, and which I did at one point replace due to corrosion. I kinda like the shrouds covered to protect my roller-furling genoa's sheets. Is that really frowned upon these days too?
Years ago I put shroud covers on my boat. They were problematic in several ways. First, if you get them large enough so they actual go on relatively easily they are loose enough so to spin on the shrouds. Grabbing hold of one of them would lead to a surprise as the firm handhold you hoped for, wasn't all that firm.

Over time they would degrade from UV and break into little pieces which were a PITA to remove and pick up. No doubt some of the pieces ended up in the water.

Finally, when I removed some before they had degraded, I found the shrouds to have algae or some green stuff growing in-between the wires.

One of the places standing rigging fails is inside the swaged fitting. Water gets in and crevice corrosion starts. Any thing that might funnel water into the fitting or prevent it from drying out quickly seems to me to be a bad idea.
 

DougM

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Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
For my two cents, if I had a 1988 boat and the coated lifelines had not been replaced, I would have replaced them long ago. The same goes for the standing rigging, coated or not.
 

Ward H

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Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
I thought about life line cushions but I don't like the idea of having to grab a life line only to have what I'm grabbing possibly spin on me.
Can you get a good grab on a life line covered with a cushion?

One of the best tips I learned from @jssailem on our Extreme Cruise was to pull up on the lifeline while moving forward. This helps to plant your feet on the deck and gives you a stable line to grip. Works really well and is something I had not heard or read before.
 
Feb 5, 2009
255
Gloucester 20 Kanawha River, Winfield, WV
For my two cents, if I had a 1988 boat and the coated lifelines had not been replaced, I would have replaced them long ago.
I replaced the lifelines on my 1987 boat last week. They weren't corroded, just ugly. Small boat, fresh water, and other caveats apply…