Ongoing sail care...

[SVRocinante]

Good day all!

Ok, we just spent 3 weeks at anchor in Martha’s Vinyard; a quick hop (motored) and a month at anchor in Nantucket. This is by far the longest we’ve stayed in one spot!

As we started our trip south, I raised sail only to find that they where disgusting!
A bunch of green sections had developed... my best guess is that rain water collected in several of the folds of the flaked sail (we have a stack pack).

For those of you that spend a lot of time in one spot, how do you handle this?

I’m thinking of simply putting up sail at anchor about once a week to make sure they get some air/sun & stay dry, but wanted to get some ideas from those that actually deal with this issue.

Thanks!

[Smokeys Kitchen]

I understand your issues. We live aboard in the PNW and our main is on a stack pack which catches water; roller furling on the stay'sl and jib.

We do what you are suggesting. Periodically (like maybe once a month) raise the sails on a non-wind day and just let them dry out. Our worst one so far has been the spinnaker which we kept in the bag while we lived in Petersburg, AK for a winter. Raising them doesn't necessarily prevent all the lines from occurring, but does help mitigate them.

This winter we need some minor sail repair so we will remove the sails and do the repairs. Then give a cleaning with a mild soap solution.

[SVRocinante]

Thank you Smokeys Kitchen; appreciate the feedback!