Its springtime and the winds-are-a-blowin again and its time to get back on the water!  But before you rush to the beach to rig, have a quick check through your gear to service or replace worn parts.  There’s nothing worse than starting the season off with a long swim or paddle through chilly water (been there, done that!).  Here’s my checklist for prepping my gear for a new season.

1. Replace all worn lines.  The downhaul line is the obvious one to check, but don’t forget the outhaul and the boom clamp lines too.  And if you’re still using a piece of polyester or Marlow downhaul line now is the time to upgrade that to a low-stretch Dyneema Formuline.  Not only do they last longer, but they also make downhauling easier.
2. Check knot ends:  Even if your lines look good for another season, be sure to check the stopper knots on each line as this is a common wear/fail point when the rest of line still looks good.  Streamlined extension users pay attention to this one!
3. Clean and lube all parts that must slide or roll easily:  Lots of details to check here and the marine lubricant of choice is McLube’s dry Teflon SailKote.  The important parts to hit are boom extension tubes, base pulleys, Tuttle fin heads, camber inducer faces and gear bag zippers.  If you’ve got a Streamlined or HPL alloy boom head, spray a little SailKote onto a rag and wipe the outside of the urethane clamp bushings where the webbing slides across to ensure good clamping pressure.  While you have the SailKote and rag out, give your mast a wipe down too – but NOT in the area where you clamp your boom! – so it will slide up the mast sleeve much easier.
4. Fin bolts:  If you get a few days on the water each year you’ll notice that the heads on your fin screws start to get screwdriver worn.  Start the season with some fresh screws and stop poking the screwdriver into the deck of your board (doh!).
5. Harness lines:  Check the webbing attachment loops for wear and tear, as well as the plastic tubing that protects the line.
6. Harness webbing and hook:  Check the main webbing of your harness that goes through the spreader bar.  If you like, as I do, your bar to slide side to side on this webbing so you can turn your hips while in the harness then be aware that the webbing will wear over time.  Aluminum spreader bars need frequent inspection as they age – look for cracks where the hook meets the bar.  Get a stainless spreader bar if it needs replacing.
7. Window panels:  As your sails start to age the monofilm window panels can get more and more scratched up making it hard to see through the window.  While you cannot reverse this micro-damage to the monofilm, you can clean the window with a UV protectant.  I use UV-Tech, a non-silicone plastics rejuvenator, that will helps reduce the opacity that windows scratches.