What to do with wet sails?
- Thread starter Project_Mayhem
- Start date
Either keep sailing or wait until it stops raining … then continue sailing.
Well, stupid to say, but dry them out...
So to elaborate a bit more, it depends upon what the circumstances are surrounding the ability to dry them out. So say I'm out sailing and have my big Genoa up and it starts to pour with the wind coming up such that I have to change fore sails, I don't have much choice but to bag the Genoa wet. Put up the next sail which will also get wet. In these cases, as soon as weather permits, I take the wet sails back out of the bags and let them dry and then re-store them. Bear in mind I still run hank-ons, although I'm working on changing to a roller furler. Since the main sail lives on the boom, I've not worried much about it as it gets lots of wind and has never stayed wet under the cover for any length of time to get me worried. I don't know what would be the case for a roller furler fore sail. But I hope to find out soon!
dj
So to elaborate a bit more, it depends upon what the circumstances are surrounding the ability to dry them out. So say I'm out sailing and have my big Genoa up and it starts to pour with the wind coming up such that I have to change fore sails, I don't have much choice but to bag the Genoa wet. Put up the next sail which will also get wet. In these cases, as soon as weather permits, I take the wet sails back out of the bags and let them dry and then re-store them. Bear in mind I still run hank-ons, although I'm working on changing to a roller furler. Since the main sail lives on the boom, I've not worried much about it as it gets lots of wind and has never stayed wet under the cover for any length of time to get me worried. I don't know what would be the case for a roller furler fore sail. But I hope to find out soon!
dj
Dacron sails? In Wisconsin? Depends on how long it's going to be before you are back out. If you'll be back in a week or so, put them away wet. Loose cover. No harm will come to them. Down south for longer? You'll want to dry them.
For us, since we sail usually pretty much most of the year, we just roll 'em up (RF jibs, main and mizzen) and ignore the wetness. Of course, our sails are dacron not flax, cotton or hemp, which are subject to degradation from wetness, which dacron is not. However, if one has laminated sails, like tape drive, which are subject to mold between the laminate layers and cannot be removed, it is a problem if left wet for a long time.
Take a day off from work, the next beautiful day and go sail the water out. The boss can't seriously expect to get a good days work out of his employees if they're there worrying about their sails, can he? You'd be doing both of you a favor.
Oh look, I got all the versions of "thair" in one sentence.
-Will (Dragonfly)
Oh look, I got all the versions of "thair" in one sentence.
-Will (Dragonfly)
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We usually have water in our stack-pak from rain because the zipper is on top. When I raise the sail several gallons will run out, can't be avoided. So I try to raise it after it rains even if we are just anchored for a week on a little island or in a rare slip having a sip on our favorite ship.
