Removing/cleaning furling jib

[jbousquin]

Hello everyone,

So, I finally got out on the water yesterday, which was beautiful.

When I unfurled my jib, which had been lashed down to the boat over the winter undercover, I noticed a good bit of mildew. I've ready Judy B's comments on sail cleaning, and want to take the jib off to clean it on the ground.

What is the best way to remove the jib and/or furler? Should I just unshackle it where it attaches to the mast, and then roll it out on the ground, still attached to the furler? Or should I remove the sail from the furler itself and do it that way?

If anyone's attempted this or had experience with it, I'd love to hear thoughts.

Thanks!

[Wind Chime]

No need to lower the mast, just remove the sail off the furling while rigged.
If you have a CDI fuller, the directions are on this link on page 11.
http://www.sailcdi.com/sailpdf/FF2%20manual%207_06.pdf

[jbousquin]

Windchime,

Thanks for the link -- I read the directions, but I'm not sure I understand them. Would this work if my jib isn't on a halyard that runs up to the mast? I'd have to go look at the boat again, but I'm pretty sure my jib is attached to the top of the furler with just a short line below where the forestay is mounted to the mast.

I'm not aware of any halyard on my mast that would allow me to lower the jib without taking the mast down. Is there a halyard inside the furler itself? I'm not at the boat, so I'll have to check it out next weekend.

Cheers, Joe

[Wind Chime]

Hi Joe,

There should be a halyard inside the furling extrustion.
Read the manual section for "raising the jib", and you will see that you attach a messenger line to the lower part of the internal halyard (opposite track as the sail), near the drum. Then pull the sail down and untie the knot.

This halyard is also the tool to adjust luff tension for sail tweeking.

[jbousquin]

Wind Chime,

Thanks for the clarification, I can see what you're talking about now. Just a follow up for anyone who's done this -- when you tie the messenger line to the halyard that's inside the furler, how do you keep the knot from getting hung up at the top of the furler, once you pull the sail down?

Cheers, Joe

[Wind Chime]

When you get to your boat, you will notice that the point where you tie the messanger line to the end of the halyard, the halyrad end has a metal clip attached "inside" the furling extrusion.

This clip is what stops the halyard from coming out of the extrusion (like the sail luff bolt rope), and when your messager line gets to the top this clip will stop at the top endcap.

But you will not need to run the halyard messanger line all the way to the top, as you just need to lower the head of the jib to a point where you can untie if from the deck.

[jbousquin]

Wind Chime,

Thanks for the help, I'll let folks know how it goes once I take it down for cleaning next weekend. Now to get my soft brush, laundry detergent and diluted bleach as Judy B recommends!

Cheers,

Joe