Stuck luff sliders

[davelef]

I have two luff sliders which have become detached from the sail and are now stuck near the top of my mast. Does anyone have any suggestions for releasing them - short of unstepping the mast?
Also any tips for stopping them sticking in future would be welcome.
Thanks.

 

[Twister_Ken]

1. Climb the mast

2. A. Make sure the luff slides are a good fit, not worn so that they can twist and jam. B. Lubricate the luff groove/track using silicon grease. Best applied by towing a greased rag up the groove/track by fixing it between two luff slides, attaching halyard to top one and down haul to bottom one and keeping tension on as it goes up, and comes down. Only needs to be done once a season.

 

[savageseadog]

Does the groove have a sleeve or liner? if so there might be a gap or damage to it.

 

[Lakesailor]

You haven't had the boat on a trailer with the mast secured with bungee straps have you?
The mast profiles seem quite easy to deform and I nipped the groove by enthusiastic tying down when moving the boat. On the other hand it's easy enough to open up again.

 

[lw395]

Would suggest teflon drylube, silicone spray or car wax rather than a grease which will hold dirt.
You might be able to get two new slides and just let the errant ones stay up at the top for this year, or they may fall down if you get some lubricant up there. Depends on detail at top of mast!
a rag wrapped around a smaller slide or some thing similar can be pulled up by the halyard, (with a downhaul!) to apply some wax, but if the problem recurrs you need to get up there and inspect the track for damage.
Hope that helps?

 

[Moonshiners]

moor up near a suitable quay dry out/low water and walk the plank! if you don't want to unstep, small yachts can also tip a fair way with enough weight on one side, and one on the top of a quay if you get your angles right...

 

[DaveS]

I would not disagree with others.

I have had great success using silicone based furniture polish (Tesco's own brand is about 1/3 the price of Mr. Sheen). I use a bit of sponge spliced into the end of a length of 3 strand line which acts as the downhall: soak it in polish, attach to the halyard and wheech it up and down the groove a few times, spraying the sponge with a bit more polish as required. It is important that (a) the connection to the halyard is sound, and (b) the downhaul is long enough since, particularly if it is a wire halyard, as the sponge rises the increasing relative weight of the halyard fall pulls it up increasingly strongly.

 

[davelef]

Thanks to all for very helpful suggestions - have plenty of ideas to work with now.