Hi all. My second attempt to post this. Thanks Ernie for your quick reply to my first unsuccessful attempt. Working from my phone while lounging around at a coffee shop in Victoria … hehe. Does anyone know where to get some of the white rubbery stuff that protects the inside edges of the top end of the wishbone boom? On my NS 22 there is about 3 feet of this stuff on each side of the top end of the boom. It’s looking old-ish. Will make another attempt to post the pics.
You’re talking about the wishbone bumpers that look something like this when new:
The guy who sells the originals is Mike Quill, MQYR.com, from whose website I lifted this picture. Unfortunately, I’m told he’s still snowbirding in Arizona and the website says temporarily out of stock.
However, the reason they look like rubbery white stuff is that they are – white rubber bumpers. I think you can just replace them with rubber or PVC dock or piling bumpers of approximately similar size. They’re just to prevent the metal wishbone from rubbing on the metal mast, so the exact shape isn’t critical. Take yours to any marine store, ask for dock or piling bumpers, and they’ll have something close.
You’re rubber (baby buggy) bumpers are just that - bumpers. Yours look no dirtier and grungier (after decades of use) than mine or those belonging to many others. It doesn’t look like chunks of rubber are missing, etc. They are just plain dirty.
You can clean them up big-time. Try the basic, easy way - warm water and a few Brillo pads then rinse them off. Use a mild amount of elbow grease. Another way is to buy a one litre can of Acetone. Acetone dissolves fibreglass. It dissolves celastic and, probably, many other things. It’s toxic and should be used, with great care, outside. Put on rubber gloves (which won’t get dissolved by acetone). Use an old towel or square of toweling. This stuff feels cold because it dissolves very quickly. Pour some on the towel and immediately wipe the rubber bumpers. A lot of dirt will come off. Only do it a few times as the bumpers will begin to get a bit sticky. Then just do it again - you need to work fast but it should work and it won’t "dissolve " the bumpers. Folks have been known to wipe their fenders with it to remove bad scuffs and stains. If you do this and the bumpers stay slightly syicky, wash them with hot water and soap or a Brillo pad.
Try the Brillo treatment first. No need to buy new bumpers unless yours are really cracked or torn.
The best way to clean them ..run down to the local dollar store and buy some Vim. Its a cream like bathroom cleaner. Not being marine grade it will cost you $2 a bottle .
It will clean theses puppies in a jiify ,use a sink srubby pad. Also cleans the rub rail and any fenders. Works like the bees knees…
I think Thor has the best idea - Do try Vim. Just don’t try it on dirty fibreglass. It is a creamy abrasive and will “abrade” fibreglass. I learned the hard way. Get good old regualr Vim. Cheap. They do make a marine grade in a handsome bottle (with Popeye’s picture on it) but it is the same product as the regular. it costs $36.00 a bottle.
I don’t think they need to soft and ooomfy. Look at our “padded dashboards” in our cars. They are 2% softer than our cheekbones (that may end up crunching into them). These boom bumpers simply need to keep aluminum booms from crashing into aluminum masts. They only need to be flexible enough to follow the slight curve of the forward end of the boom.
I recently replaced my white bumpers on my 33/41 . I found that West Marine sold bumpers for pileing bumpers when compressed with spring clamps it looks and works perfect. I marked on the old ones ,each side and top and bottom then cut the flat sides off were the holes wereoff then spring clamped it to the new one then pre drilled all holes so not to add more holes it was a little tricky but by the time we finished it worked great.the hardest part was finding the stainless rivet’s . But they are out there on the internet. Good luck with
