No advice on changing the halyard sheave. But have you tried something like SailKote? I had a very, very difficult time getting my genny up this spring until my marina operator sprayed SailKote in the slot. Up it went easy as pie, I was seriously embarrassed. It would come down pretty easy but, I guess with the weight of the sail plus the friction in the slot, it did NOT want to go up.

Domani: Changing out the sheave on top of the mast is not a job with the mast up, Well on a 1990 36 anyway. I have a picture that is a few months old that I can send you if you email me that I took of our mast when it was on our boat while we were in transit on the Erie Canal. It will show you what you see. The top of mast has a cap that has to come off to get the sheaves out as it set in a recess and on a pin. The stock sheave is nylon with a bronze bushing.

Take a look in your owners manual, it should have a good diagram of your mast head. It can be done with the mast in the boat, but I suggest using a cherry picker as I think both the fore and back stays need to be removed to get the mast cap off.

Bill:
Your pictures are on the way. Larry also got them and he will post them on the site for others also.
Randy

Domani,

The mast head sheave is not the problem.

Dirt and gunk in the sail track is!

Try raising the sail with out the sail slugs in the slot, I bet it will go up, no sweat!

You need to clean and lube the sail slug slot.

If you can raise the sail without the slugs in the slot, let me know. I have a simple solution for you to try before you go renting a "cherry picker".

By the way here are a couple pictures of my mast head, It's easy for me to have pictures, I pull the mast every season.

Domani,

I don't want to use our forum for any commercial purpose.

I need your e-mail address and I'll write to you directly.

But, just so you know what I am talking about, I had a problem with a dirty/sticky mast sail slot, it was so bad I couldn't raise the mainsail even with the help of the anchor winch! It thought I had a damaged slot but I could see the slot with my binoculars and it looked fine.

So, in desperation, I built a slot cleaner made from an old nylon web belt. I cut the belt width to fit into the slot and made the belt about 1 foot long. Then with some 1/8 inch nylon line I tied one end to my mainsail halyard and put a messenger line on the bottom end.

You SATURATE this web belt with a cleaner or if you think you just need to lubricate your slot, use some Sailkote. When it's soaked, feed the web belt into the slot and run it up and down your mast several times.

That did the trick, big time! Now I clean and lube my mast slot once each season and that solved the problem.

I have shared this slot cleaner with other boaters I have met who from time to time mention they are having a hard time hoisting the main sail.

I have been making these slot cleaning belts myself and selling them to boaters who need them. Not a large expense but it costs me for materials and shipping.

So, try lifting your main without the slides inserted in the slot, if you have no problem lifting the weight of your main sail, it's probably dirt etc. gumming up your slot. Not a problem with the sheave at the top of your mast.

If you want me to make a slot cleaner for you, send me an e-mail message and we can do our business off this forum.

use [email]sales@mat-tech.net[/email]