OK, here's a question for all of you saltwater sailors: Do you rinse your sails with fresh water when you get home, or are you like me and pack them away salty if they're dry? Just wondering what the percentage runs...

Also, if you do rinse them, how do you hang them to dry? I find that leaving them on the grass gets stains on the sail, but stringing them up is a real pain--thus, the typical lazier approach. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

I wash once a year wether I need one or not !

"I'm sailing in the rain" as the song goes.

As someone who has sailed in saltwater far more (and longer) than in freshwater, I have to admit, I do minimal boat washing (once a year unless it gets really dirty). Probably not the best practice, but I haven't noticed any ill effects.

Now, go to a weeklong event on saltwater, with freshwater sailors in tow, and hoses available, and you will see people washing down their boats and sails EVERY DAY...

Mike

I wash my sails if they get wet from saltwater. I also do it every few months or so anyway even if I haven't used them recently. Hang the jib from the clothes line in the backyard and the main from the 2nd story balcony. They are in better shape and cleaner than when I bought them so I guess it's working.

I wash boat, sails and soak the other gear (PFD, gloves, harnesses, lines, etc.) after each trip to saltwater. I only sail in saltwater 5 or 6 times a year though.

Hang the sails up between trees, rinse and let dry.

We only sail in saltwater at our club, but have raced some in mixed water and sweetwater.

We "never" wash our mylar sails, and they last just as long as our competitors. Dacron with a soft finish however I see as a different matter. The same goes for lines on the boat. These benefit from washing regularly when sailing in salt water. We also take care to wash/clean all blocks and travellers with roller or needle bearings. Likewise it is nice to clean the boat and trampoline now and then.

I sail exclusively in the ocean. 'Been doing it for 25 years.

I do not wash my sails except possibly once every year or two. I shoot them with a stream nozzle on a garden hose, while hoisted. I let them drip dry on the rig before I roll them up damp and put them in the sail box. Next time out, they finish drying and get a nice new layer of salt air on them.

If I need to dry a spinnaker, I drape it over a few trash cans in my garage or I hoist it up-side-down on the rig.

I live at the coast where it is humid (by CA standards) and cannot remember ever seeing mold on any of my sails.

I find it nearly impossible to get a piece of fabric with some salt content in it to fully dry. (see: "Hygroscopicity") I also don't have enough time to allow washed sails to fully dry. Therefore, I always put away sails when they are damp. Why fight it?!

GARY

Just for the record, I DO wash down the boat itself after every outing, especially concentraing on anything metal (lines, clips, blocks, etc). It's just the sails that give me grief to rinse and dry. I'd be curious to know what the real world difference would be in sail life depending on whether one rinses or puts away salty.

Now, as for puttin' em away damp, for SHAME, Gary! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Gary, how do you fight mold? In NE Texas, anything put away wet will begin to mold in short order. Any of my outdoor gear, i.e. tents, tarps, PFDs, pop-up camper or other similar type gear stored away will begin to develop mold within 48 hours if not 100% dry. I have not had this happen to sails but did not want to take the chance so, therefore, I let them dry completely as well............but then again, I do not sail in salt water. Is there something different about wet gear and salt water. Perhaps the salt acts as a mold killer.

If I expect to go to a fresh-water regatta after a salt-water event, I usually hose the boat hardware / metal bits off but wait to flip the boat in the fresh water to rinse off the sails.

I like it! That means I'd get to go sailing again...

I sail mostly in salt water. I am lazy about washing the sails. I do try and let them dry rigged before storing. The salt wears on the grommets and anything metal, also seems to break down the finish on dacron sails. My pentex sails are much easier to clean and dry so I do every couple months or so. Salt seems to have little effect on pentex. Life jackets and harnesses are hard to get salt out of, I rinse them every now and then but thats it.

Oh, yeah, that's a good one, you capsize for the good of your sails...they needed a rinsing. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I'm with Steve, "Sailin' in the Rain".

Sometimes I even spill a beer on deck and call that rinsing. For the good of the boat, of course.

I never worried about rolling up sails wet if they have been used in salt water (windsurf, cat, etc.). I believe the salt does act as a mold inhibitor.

Fresh water sailing, on the other hand, does mean that you should dry everything before storing to keep the mold away.

I sail in nasty, green, oily, gunky fresh, (if you can call it that), water. I wash my boat all the time. Where I'm at I also get the treat of having alot of iron in the lakes so you get a brown boat by the end of the season that has to be scrubbed with acid to get it white again. Salt water is hard on metal, Minnesota lakes are just bad for your health.

I work on the idea that salt is good for sails.
I do this so as not to get the black spotting of mold that comes with any dampness from fresh water.

I clean all other gear carfefully with fresh water, esp. the blocks to rid them of clogging salt.

Wallybear,
Gary and other California boys dont really know what humidity is, it just doesnt exist out there as it does in our parts of the world. It makes for an instant sweat here in the summertime, and keeps everything damp and prone to mold and the like, quite bothersome.

Living in New England my whole life, I thought I knew what heat and humidity were. Then, I took a business trip to the Carolinas a few years ago in August... YUCK!!!!!!!!!

Mike

If you put salty sails away, you ARE putting them away damp. (again, see: "Hygroscopicity")