lubrication for halyard sheave

[Fulvio]

I'm restepping my mast tomorrow, and before that I would like to clean and lubricate the masttop halyard sheaves.  (No, I'm not going to replace the standard sheaves with ball-bearing ones this time - too expensive).

I was in a few different marine stores today, and one guy said: "sure, use SailKote McLube, it's good for all sailing gear", and another one said that the SailKote doesn't last very long, so I should use heavy duty grease instead, since I won't have another chance to lubricate those sheaves any time soon.

What are your opinions?

Fulvio Casali
Seattle WA
Soliton
#929 (1989)

[Fulvio]

well, I broke down and delayed the restepping so as to order the sheaves from Garhauer.

woweee!  :cool:  what a difference!

actually, what motivated me was the realization of my mistaken impression that those sheaves cost more than twice the $42 that Garhauer charges.

while I was at it, I also used the extra time to reseat and seal the mast collar at the partners.  that and the excellent Spartite will finally eliminate the waterfalls gushing down the mast every time I catch some big wave  :rolleyes: (not to mention the rain).

Fulvio Casali
Seattle WA
Soliton
#929 (1989)

[John Gardner]

Fulvio,
Let us know how difficult/easy it is to use the Spartite?  Did you have any sealant in the mast track groove to clean out?