How Do You Lubricate A Stainless Steel Wire Rope?
You can drop a boat’s mast and lubricate the stainless steel wire rope that makes up the stays and shrouds by hand, or you can ride a bosun’s chair (a small seat that is pulled up the height of the mast by one of the shrouds or a dedicated pulley and line) to the top of the mast, then lubricate each wire, one-by-one. The alternative is to leave the mast upright and use your flag rope, a piece of canvas and a disposable diaper to lubricate the wire rope in place. Open the disposable diaper and lay it–absorbent side up–on a piece of scrap canvas that’s about the same size as the diaper. Duct tape the diaper to the canvas. Use your marlinspike (a long, sharply-pointed metal bar used to separate strands of wire rope for splicing) to punch one hole in two opposing corners of the canvas. The holes should be at least an inch away from the edge of the canvas. Lower your flag and unclip the flag from the flag rope. Stow the flag properly, if only for a few moments. Attach one flag rope clip t
