Cable Covers ?

[BareFtGrl]

I'd like to put plastic covers on my shroud cables...but I'm not quite sure what I should get because some people say they should snap on tightly...and others say they should spin around the cable so when the jib passes over them...they just roll. What's the right answer here?

[david samuelson]

Stainless steel likes air. It does not like heat or humidity. If you HAVE to cover a shroud make sure air can get in and water can get out.

[BareFtGrl]

I don't h-a-v-e to get them...I was told that I should. Not a good idea even?
Sometimes people offer suggestions in an effort to "help" me out as I am so new to sailing. I thought having those cable covers on were intended to be a feature of maintaining the boat. That's MY big thing (maintainance) so I try to listen and go looking for whatever it is that I was informed I "should" have or do.

Humpf...
Hard to weed through good and bad info for a newbie.

[andreshs1]

Hi
I am also new to sailing, and I was also told to get them as it can prevent the unfortunate damage of the jib.
Everytime I go sailing I put them on and remove afterwards, it is a 5 min job

Cheers
Andres

[skipmac]

I would not put covers on SS rigging, and in fact removed them from my boat when I bought it. Several reasons.

1. Crevice Corrosion. SS needs constant fresh supply oxygen to maintain the chrome oxide coating that makes SS stainless. If SS is allowed to sit in stagnant, wet environment it will rust.

2. Inspection. Covered up you can't easily inspect the wire and fittings.

3. Sail wear. Have never had a serious problem with sail wear or damage on SS wire. On the fittings, especially cotter pins, yes. You can even rip a sail (or an ankle) on the pins and sometimes other parts of the end fittings so some protection there is warranted.

[BareFtGrl]

I wonder why the difference of opinions from sailors? I see so many boats with the covers on and a very experienced captain and instructor told me to get them. So I thought I should listen to his advise but I wanted to ask more people here before doing it. Which leads me to another question...what about turnbuckle covers? Should I get those?

[SailFastTri]

My boat had tight fitting slit-vinyl covers for 10 years, in salt water it's whole life. A rigger recommended removing them because it would foster corrosion. The 316 stainless steel beneath the covers was dirty but there was no rust visible. I power-washed the rigging while it was off the boat on supports, and left it off where the rigging does not routinely contact the sails. But the boat has aft-swept shrouds and full battens on the main, and the main makes contact when running downwind, so I still use covers on the shrouds to minimize chafe. Chafe reduction on expensive sails is a good reason to cover the wire, but other than that why bother if it isn't rubbing anything?

[zeehag]

i never saw any reason to cover shrouds even if sail contacts them. i dont like the way they prevent a good grasping onto the shrouds when a hand hold is necessary. they get brittle in sun and fall apart and turn ugly.

i took them off my ericson when i bought that boat and never put them on any other boat i ever had.

they only look nice when boat is a dock sitter and doesnt go out-- makes the rigging look less "dirty." hope i didnt offend any sensitive souls, but is my opinion of those irrelevant items.

if you like spending money on irrelevant items, is all good. just remember--out of sight, out of mind is not just a saying.....

[BareFtGrl]

Zee, that's the same thing I was thinking! I bought 2 to try out on the front two stays but I didn't like the way it was hard to hold on to. So...like another poster said..I suggested to my hubby that we put them on when we sail...but you know...it's just not worth it. I think I'll take 'em back to west marine and just skip the idea all together.
Thanks everyone for the input!

[perchance]

Are your lifelines bare or plastic coated? Just wondering what the difference would be between the shroud covers versus plastic coated lifelines.

[BareFtGrl]

Our life lines are plastic coated. I'm going to have them replaced as well...why? is there something I should know about those too??

[zeehag]

the coatings on the lifelines do not move when you grab them .. the covers on shrouds DO move, making a security problem when trying to hold a safe handhold.
my ericson came with covers on the coated lifelines also--was not fun.i removed those as well. i dont count on lifelines to savce a life, but if i need to grab something for a reason, i dont want to lose my grasp, which is what happened with the covers on the shrouds and lifelines. just didnt work for me. then i found under the covered lifelines the coating had been gouged and rust was causing the lifelines to fail. i replaced with spectra line in pretty colors.

[perchance]

Originally Posted by BareFtGrl

Our life lines are plastic coated. I'm going to have them replaced as well...why? is there something I should know about those too??

My thoughts are that the vast majority of lifelines are plastic coated and don't seem to suffer any major issues other than the usual degradation of the
covering over time so why would shroud covers be any different? I have to point out that my boat lives in fresh water so I can't realistically comment on salt water boats.

[zeehag]

the coverings on the shrouds/stays is a snap on loose fitted danger-- they slide around and are not conducive to good grasp on the shroud. the coating on the lifelines is part of the lifeline. is a lil different. coverings on the coated lifeline can be slippery slidey also.

just from my humble experience.....

[perchance]

Originally Posted by zeehag

the coverings on the shrouds/stays is a snap on loose fitted danger-- they slide around and are not conducive to good grasp on the shroud. the coating on the lifelines is part of the lifeline. is a lil different. coverings on the coated lifeline can be slippery slidey also.

just from my humble experience.....

I was thinking more along the lines of the corrosion issue.Npi