Good source for Rigging Supplies

[Jeff S]

I just ordered a new line for my forestay. I ordered 5/32" 1x19 to replace the 1/8" line. I went to both West Marine locations nearby and they were out at both (1 had some, but not enough) and neither had the Loos gauge I was looking for.

I called a local sailmaker who turned me on to Layline, a supply company out of Raleigh, NC. The sold the SS 5/32 at $0.53/ft!!!, WM had it for $1.04!!! The Loos gauge was $39, much better than the WM catalog price. They shipped it the same day I placed the order on the website.

Anyway, in order to help others slow our bleeding at WM and pay reasonable prices here is their website:

http://www.layline.com/home.asp

BTW, an inspection of my forestay showed some of the cables coming out of the swages at both ends (including inside the furling).

Hope this is helpful.

Jeff S

[Frank C]

. . . I called a local sailmaker who turned me on to Layline, a supply company out of Raleigh, NC. The sold the SS 5/32 at $0.53/ft!!!, WM had it for $1.04!!! The Loos gauge was $39, much better than the WM catalog price.

Jeff,
Did you ask them to swage it, or plan to do so yourself?
What total forestay length are you planning on?

[jsserene]

Another great place that is usually lower than West Marine is www.sailnet.com
Jeff

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Wow, with a 1/8 inch cable, there are not a whole lot of strands you can afford to lose! I was looking at mine the other day and wondering what kind of swage there is under the little bolt that threads into the turnbuckle. Seems like a crimp there wouldn't have the necessary strength so I was wondering what it looked like inside..strands attached to little loops or something.

Are you guys changing out the turnbuckle when you are upgrading the forestay to 5/32? I suppose it would be best to put in the biggest turnbuckle that would still fit under the furler drum.

[Jeff S]

Frank-

I plan to swage it myself as I already bought the thimbles and sleeves at WM. WM has a table to cut and swage so I will ask to use theirs. I asked some of our Marines in our Airframes department if they have a swaging tool and they don't- they do very light load swaging (basically just lanyards) and just tap the sleeve with a hammer on an anvil- no thanks. I don't want to buy a swaging tool becuase I don't expect to swage much and I would want a really heavy duty tool, not the cheap one. I am not sure if Layline would have done it for me if I bought all the parts from them.

As for the forestay length I am going to go 3" shorter than the stock forestay. I have to measure it with the new turnbuckle I bought compared to the old one.

Jeff-
I just ordered a vest/harness and safety line from Sailnet at a pretty good price. West Marine is convienient and they have pretty much everything you could need. They are like the Wal Mart of boating supplies for stock yet with the prices of Nieman-Marcus.

Jeff S

[craiglaforce]

Speaking of Walmart, I was always amazed that Walmart does not seem to discount their marine supplies. Looks like the same pricing as West marine on most stuff. Except, recently it seems they offer a good price on the inflatable life vests.