Lifelines and shrouds (Covers)

[beene]

Anyone else go to West Marine and get a bunch of white life line and shroud covers for their Mac?

I just did, minor cost, $3 per 6' section, big improvement!

They make the boat look a lot better

Feel more substantial when you grab the lines

Make all lines far more visible, which is a huge safety bonus!!

G

[DaveC426913]

Did you have them fitted? Or fit them yourself? Or get standard lengths?
I haven;t done anything about mine because, unless I misunderstand, you're supposed to get them fitted, which costs.

[Crikey]

Picked up a bunch from Dowsar two years ago. I haven't done the stays yet, but I think I will eventually.
One thing - We got a couple of lengths in the batch that must have been either very old or of inferior quality. They cracked and fell apart this spring when I was setting up the boat. Luckily my two spares turned out to be a good decision, and all the remaining ones seem unaffected by UV exposure.
Putting them on is a b**ch though...

R.

[DaveC426913]

Picked up a bunch from Dowsar two years ago. I haven't done the stays yet, but I think I will eventually.
One thing - We got a couple of lengths in the batch that must have been either very old or of inferior quality. They cracked and fell apart this spring when I was setting up the boat. Luckily my two spares turned out to be a good decision, and all the remaining ones seem unaffected by UV exposure.
Putting them on is a b**ch though...

R.

So, these are standard lengths then? Precut to fit the boat?

[Max Entropy]

One thing to beware of when covering stainless steel is to make sure it can 'breathe'. It can rust or corrode under anoxic / anaerobic conditions from a number of causes, including micro-organisms, especially in a saline environment - and the worst part of that is you don't see it because it's covered up. You crack a beer after anchoring, lean against a nice clean white lifeline and ... splash!

Nick

[Crikey]

Picked up a bunch from Dowsar two years ago. I haven't done the stays yet, but I think I will eventually.
One thing - We got a couple of lengths in the batch that must have been either very old or of inferior quality. They cracked and fell apart this spring when I was setting up the boat. Luckily my two spares turned out to be a good decision, and all the remaining ones seem unaffected by UV exposure.
Putting them on is a b**ch though...

R.

So, these are standard lengths then? Precut to fit the boat?

No, they were in bins separated by diameter/line size. About 5ft long I think.

R.

[beene]

Sold in 6' sections from WM

Comes in 5 different dia

Snapped on in a Giff

Trick to it was to pull towards you while sliding plastic downwards over wire

It was like, zip zip zip zip...

Whole boat done in minutes using that technique

4 per side for life lines
2 per side for shrouds
1 per side for baby stay of mast raising system
13 in total

G

[NiceAft]

You are far from being camera shy G, so where are the pctures

Ray

[DaveC426913]

Sold in 6' sections from WM

Comes in 5 different dia

Snapped on in a Giff

Trick to it was to pull towards you while sliding plastic downwards over wire

It was like, zip zip zip zip...

Whole boat done in minutes using that technique

4 per side for life lines
2 per side for shrouds
1 per side for baby stay of mast raising system
13 in total

G

I must be misinformed. I am under the impression that they have to be fitted exactly. Like, measure & cut on-sight.

[beene]

You are far from being camera shy G, so where are the pctures

Ray

Sorry Ray

Put them on late last night

Won't be back to boat til Tues

Will take pics and post when able

John and Leon did it first, I liked it, so did the same as them

John might have some pics of his....

[beene]

Dave...... I must be misinformed. I am under the impression that they have to be fitted exactly. Like, measure & cut on-sight.

Yes

You just buy the 6' sections
Mount them
Will need a pair of scissors
Just mount the ones you can without cutting
And measure off what you need to fill the left over sections of the life lines

In my case, with the M, each side used 3 full sections, and had to cut small pieces to complete the lines between the pelican hook and the end points, both bow and stern.

No cutting needed for the shrouds...
Only installed 6' sections on all of them, as that is the only amount I cared to cover

G

[Johnacuda]

My lifelines were looking fine, but I did get a set of 4 shroud covers to help my genoa sheets slip a bit more. I should order a 1/8 shroud cover for my back stay (aesthetics, and to keep my flag from slipping down).

[RobertB]

In addition to shroud covers, I highly recommend turnbuckle covers to cover the stay adjusters above the chain plates. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... fMzoKx30aM These do more than look good, they prevent kinks in the rigging when raising the mast by keeping the shroud adjusters straight.

[hschumac]

RobertB, what size did you get? One ongoing hassle I would love to solve.

[RobertB]

Not totally sure, but measure the stay adjusters and figure what ID will work. Not sure if the 3/4 inch ID size would fit but positive the 1-1/8 size would.