The Official "What Did You Do To Your Mac Today" Thread!

May 17, 2011
56
Argo Navis Mac 22 Key Largo
Hey Stock Puppet,

That sounds great. Congrats on the 26, I remember the feeling. I bought a 26X but it didn't work out for us and we sold it and kept the 22. I feel a 26S would have been a better fit for usso perhaps in the future well move up to an ''S''. If you're doing weekend trips, have typical usage and have a group 24 or larger battery you should be fine. Worst case just add another battery in parallel. I have a group 27 battery with two solar panels 10W each without regulator, granted my outboard does charge however I don't run it very long, and I don't rib out of power. I'm not too conservitivewith power and so far I haven't had aproblem staying out for 2 or 3 nights.
Have a good time with the project.

Regards,

Fernando
 

Kestle

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Jun 12, 2011
702
MacGregor 25 San Pedro
The sailing today off Catalina was better than...almost anything. We had Santa Ana winds, 80 degrees, and it was all I could do to come back. Consistent 5 knots SOG into current, no swells, man I was blessed!
 

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Dec 26, 2012
359
MacGregor 25 San Diego
I was out sailing today as well, and it was fantastic, though the journey to get there wasn't so great. The plan was to leave the house around noon on friday and spend the whole weekend on the boat, anchoring in Coronado. I made it to the gas station, filled up and didn't quite make it to the freeway before the passenger side spring on the trailer gave up with a bang and a screech. Dropped the tire into the fenderwell and locked it up. I managed to limp into a nearby church parking lot and unhitched, then ran back home for a jack, some wood blocks and ratchet straps. Got it lifted up and blocked the axle away from the frame so it would roll again.

At this point I was angry and determined. I've been working on the boat like crazy and wasn't about to give up on my weekend plans. I stopped by the local trailer shop on my way home, picked up 2 new springs, new u-bolts and shackle bolts. Came home and busted out the grinder to cut off all the old rusty junk. Ended up just doing the one side, as the whole trailer suspension is rusted beyond repair, and the axle is bent as well. I'll be cutting off all the old brackets, replacing them and building a new axle before the next time out.

 
Dec 26, 2012
359
MacGregor 25 San Diego
I ended up getting to the water about 5 hours behind schedule, but the weather this weekend made it all worth it. Spent 2 nights on the boat with my dog and woke up every morning to the most beautiful quiet still waters. The dog was happy cause she got to run and play on her favorite beach, and I was happy cause I go to go sailing and relax. It was a great weekend.

Oh, and all the stuff I did to the boat worked great! All the new electrical stuff worked, I can now charge my battery off the outboard, and best of all the tiller pilot works great! Even just tooling around the bay it was awesome to be able to just set a course and sit back talking with friends and not be tied to the rudder. Made flying the spinnaker with an inexperienced crew easy as well.







 
Dec 26, 2012
359
MacGregor 25 San Diego
Speaking of projects, I took this picture today. Pretty normal sight around here, but still amazes me that you can just lift something that big out of the water. Kinda makes all our little issues with moving our boats around seem silly.

 
Nov 19, 2011
1,489
MacGregor 26S Hampton, VA
That is cool. I believe in that application (floating dry dock), they flood the dry dock and the wall chambers to sink it. They then Pull the boat in and then pump the walls and dock out and the whole thing floats up till the boat is completely out of the water. I'd love to be there to watch one day although maybe it takes several days.

I imagine they build the cradles and carefully float into and over them and make minor adjustments as they drain it.
 
Dec 26, 2012
359
MacGregor 25 San Diego
That is exactly how they do it. Pretty simple tech really, but on an impressive scale.
 
Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
Hey Walt; I don't know what exactly happened with the guy at our club when he tipped his Siren17. (I imagine the keel wasn't locked down. Does it lock down...? )
I'm sure with the way I sail it's going over at some point. Thats if I get the one I'm after. I still haven't heard back from the storage place as to who may own it. Or not own it.
I'm hoping for a call tomorrow.... If it doesn't come I'll call them on Monday.
I've been busy with the new business and I'm in Quebec on a tobogganing vacation. We head for home on Sat. But tomorrow is busy with Stuffed moose photographs (Yea. Stuffed moose.), a couple hours highway travel, art gallery visits and visiting the cousins in Montreal.
Picture is Moosey. He is visiting us from the saabworld.net forum. (That moose gets around!)
Oh for the people down south... The large white patch behind Moosey is a frozen lake.
 

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walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,532
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
The Siren 17 only has 130 pounds of ballast - which is probably why I read that its a fairly fast boat - probably gets up on a plane somewhat (keep it light weight especially at the transom). I would think that if the keel were down, that would really start to stiffen the boat up and it would be fairly difficult to heel it way over. But if the centerboard were up.. its very stable at a low heel angles but at high angles, that ballast mass is just moving sideways so not hard at all to go the way over.

I sail my little boat on a small Denver lake that has a lot of racing going on (so lots of fast boats). Im the only goofball out there with a mast float - looks kind of like training wheels.. but Im OK with that as with the float a knock down is no big deal, with out the float and on my boat, you end up needing a rescue. So.. I really like having the float. I did end up putting the description of what I did in one place - its here http://analogengineering.com/sail/c15/float.html
 
Aug 14, 2013
308
MacGregor 26S High Desert
I ordered a new tiller from Rudder Craft today. Mine really needed to be replaced. I thought about making my own, but reality set in and I simply don't have the time to do everything. Yep...I took the easy way out!
 
Mar 30, 2013
700
Allied Seawind MK II 32' Oologah Lake, Oklahoma
Towed mine to the marina this afternoon and stepped the mast and rigged the sails. All ready to launch tomorrow.
I was able to go from 0 to ready to launch in just under 2 hours by myself. Would have been a bit faster but I had to let the mast back down when the halyard on my CDI furler slipped the knot in the messenger line. (DOH!)that and I spent 15-20 minutes visiting with the guy I bought my Cal 2-27 from.
Wind and weather permitting I'm back in the water tomorrow.
 
Dec 28, 2009
397
Macgregor M25 trailer
I ordered a 25lb Mantus anchor from SBO today, for a primary anchor. I had been waffleing back and forth between the Mantus and the Manson Supreme, SBO's free shipping tipped the balance.
 
Feb 20, 2011
8,029
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
I ordered a 25lb Mantus anchor from SBO today, for a primary anchor. I had been waffleing back and forth between the Mantus and the Manson Supreme, SBO's free shipping tipped the balance.
Yer gonna sleep so well...
 
Apr 29, 2010
209
MacGregor m25 Erieau, Ontario, Canada
Just a question for all you folks that have a Mac 25. Where have you placed the batteries?

When I got mine, she was stripped inside, no walls, electrical or even the carpeted ceiling. I would like to run a masthead tri-colour and an anchor light as well as some inside electrics. I was thinking about inside the cabin but there's the whole "hydrogen gas when charging" thing and the area under the cockpit is open to the cabin as well.

Any ideas? Is the boom factor of charging the batteries something I should really be worried about?

Thanks,

Frank
 

Kestle

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Jun 12, 2011
702
MacGregor 25 San Pedro
Put one in the same compartment as the locking keel bolt. Mount against the bulkhead wall. Put the other under the opposite bench seat (on starboard.)

If you add a water tank in port, where it fits well under the galley box, the boat will balance well. It also keeps the weight near the center to reduce hobby-horsing.

Jeff
 
Apr 29, 2010
209
MacGregor m25 Erieau, Ontario, Canada
Thanks Jeff,

Are the normal batteries group 24? There doesn't seem to be a lot of room height-wise in those compartments.

Thanks,

Frank
 
Dec 26, 2012
359
MacGregor 25 San Diego
Just a question for all you folks that have a Mac 25. Where have you placed the batteries?

When I got mine, she was stripped inside, no walls, electrical or even the carpeted ceiling.
Someone did you a favor by pulling that carpet for you. Find my "what an awful job" thread to see why.

My boat had all the wiring and a bracket mounted in the compartment under the forward "dinette" seat. Right next to the keel pivot/lock area. I only run a single battery, but if I were to add a second it'd be on the opposite side as mentioned already. I wouldn't worry about the charging issues. A lot of cars mount the battery under the back seat, and they have a much smaller and better sealed air space.
 

Kestle

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Jun 12, 2011
702
MacGregor 25 San Pedro
Thanks Jeff, Are the normal batteries group 24? There doesn't seem to be a lot of room height-wise in those compartments. Thanks, Frank
Don't laugh...they're wet cells that I can't recall the last time I looked at them. Guess I should soon. With solar, I haven't had any issues.

Jeff