MacGregorSailors.com

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

I got the 1 1/8" covers, for my . Smaller than that would have been too short, and too tight.

beene wrote: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

[strike]I am definitely missing something. My (admittedly limited) understanding of life lines are of stainless steel with thimbles on each end. The only way to fit them I know of is to cut them, swage a new thimble on, making sure they are exactly the right length to be taut and not slack. i.e. custom fit every single one.

If this is not true, then I may have been unwarranted in putting it off till I have time and money to have someone do them.[/strike]

Oh wait. You guys are talking only about the covers, not the lifelines themselves. Silly me.

I measured and cut to exact length 1/4” translucent poly airline that I keep on hand (handy to have- the odd time it actually gets used as an air line!). Then slit it with a knife, and snapped it over the lifelines. It passes right through the grommet at the stanchions. No joints, perfect fit, no possibility of oxygen deprivation because the slit is not airtight, and you can visually inspect the condition of the cable through the translucent cover. Like you have found, Beene, they are a great improvement, both functionally and in appearance.

A one inch diameter tube is a perfect fit over the sidestay adjusters, I think any smaller would be too tight and not work (unless maybe you wanted to heat and stretch them?), and anything larger would be loose, but would fit. Cutting a “V” notch in the tubes allows them to neatly slide down to contact the deck, preventing the ringdings from catching on anything (like the jib sheets). I might try black instead of white tubes next time because they wouldn't visually “cut” through the lines of the black raccoon stripes the way the white ones do. I leave the tops open so that I can easily blast the insects (spiders) out from above with the hose during a wash down.

- Brian.

Not sure what happened but I posted this on Sat Oh well lets try again
in this pic u can see my covered shrouds , spreader boots , & above the bottom spreaders the two shroud rollers on each side these keep the main from chaffing on them
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 010003.jpg

In this pic u can see my cockpit lifelines
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 010006.jpg

http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 010002.jpg

if u click on these pics u can enlarge them for better veiwing

J

beene wrote: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

Do you have a link to the cover material? I'm not finding it anywhere on their website.

Captain_Kirk wrote:Do you have a link to the cover material? I'm not finding it anywhere on their website.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=50094

RobertB wrote:

Captain_Kirk wrote:Do you have a link to the cover material? I'm not finding it anywhere on their website.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=50094

Thank you. I'm not sure why my searches there came up empty.


I just removed the old vinyl coating from my Venture lifelines which was old, brown, and cracking in many places. Luckily the stainless steel is still in great shape so I'll be buying some of this to cover them back up. Thanks.

It really makes the boat look better

More expensive

More like a serious yacht

Not to mention how much more visible the line become

Very good for safety

G

I have a 1997 26X. What size should I be getting?

beene wrote:It really makes the boat look better

More expensive

More like a serious yacht

Not to mention how much more visible the line become

Very good for safety

G

You can see the new covers from this photo

They are on lifelines and shrouds in mast down trailer config



G

[quote="dlandersson"]I have a 1997 26X. What size should I be getting?

They come in 6' lengths at WM

Just measure out what you need

I used a pair of scissors to cut them down to size

Was a piece of cake

G

beene wrote:You can see the new covers from this photo

They are on lifelines and shrouds in mast down trailer config



G

NIce, looks sharp. Thanks for posting that. So if you use them on shrouds you don't have to worry about the covers if you have to raise and lower the mast for transport? The covers are flexible enough to stay on?

NIce, looks sharp. Thanks for posting that. So if you use them on shrouds you don't have to worry about the covers if you have to raise and lower the mast for transport? The covers are flexible enough to stay on?

You bet

I do not take any of them off

Not even the mast raising system

Which I also do not remove from the boat at any time anymore

When I sit at the helm, sure looks nice seeing 3 sets of white mast stays coming off each side
Uppers, lowers, and mast raising system stays.

G

Having them on actually seems to make raising and lowering easier as the lines do not get caught as much as without them

G

I think the reason for that must be the covers help the stays stay a bit stiff, holding a shape, and as a result do not get tangled around all the sailing hardware as easily

G