sail slug lubrication

Jan 12, 2013
114
Catalina C27 - Tall Rig Door County, Wis
our main drags on the way down a few times slugs are older but not shot yet,I plan to clean the track and then lubricate the track I have heard of spray lubricants,dish soap,bar soap, any one use like wax what we use on dry suit zippers?
any one have a suggestion?
 
May 1, 2011
4,911
Pearson 37 Lusby MD
McLube works great. Roger Long made a few posts on a home-made tool he came up with to lube his mast on Strider top to bottom.
 

hewebb

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Oct 8, 2011
329
Catalina Catalina 25 Joe Pool Lake
I purchased Sail Kote which seems to be nothing but spray silicone lubricant in a can. Works great. I sprayed the slides then raised the sail.
 
Jan 22, 2008
1,483
Hunter 37 C sloop Punta Gorda FL
our main drags on the way down a few times slugs are older but not shot yet,I plan to clean the track and then lubricate the track I have heard of spray lubricants,dish soap,bar soap, any one use like wax what we use on dry suit zippers? any one have a suggestion?
I have used canning wax to. Good effect. Had the mast down.
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
Sailkote and McLube are the same product. It's not a silicone lubricant it's what's called a "dry" lubricant. You don't want to use a silicone based lubricant on most things on sailboats because they are exposed to the elements and can collect grit. The silicone makes a "sticky" surface that dust, sand, debris, etc. can adhere to. Dry lubricants will typically use some kind of hydrophobic coating that will dry and not create a surface that things can adhere to.

For dry suit zippers, and other zippers on your boat, get some zipper wax from dive shops. Works great and doesn't wash away in the water. I also used to use it on my Jeep before we sold it to live on a boat.

Good luck,

Jesse
 
Jan 11, 2014
12,799
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
MacLube and MacKote are basically dried teflon. You can save a ton of money by buying a dry lubricant at a hardware store. The folks that make PB Blaster make a dry lubricant that works well.

Don't use WD 40, it evaporates too fast. Silicone or Lithium spray grease as they keep grit and crud in the sail track.