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

[Doc_holiday]

My bigger jib is probably 100%. Since none of my sails are stock Mac sails, I may have to sit down and do my geometry calcs to figure out square feet. The larger jib, wen pulled in tight puts the clew right at the lower shroud. This week I will run the sheets outside to see how it does. No, I don't have cars.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Yesterday I installed my new fuel tank and fuel line. I sold the old fuel tank and line with the 2-stroke Tohatsu, and decided to go all new with the new-to-me 4-stroke Merc.

 

[Doc_holiday]

What a pain. Monday I went out which was ok but the batteries were low and the chart plotter shut down. That in and of itself is not bad, I know the channels. I didn't have a extension cord to plug the charger in so I went back yesterday and this is where it all went wrong...

I had to make a call so I put my bluetooth in as I left the house. I knew the call would be at least an hour long. The drive to the boat is about and hour and a half. I got the call going and hit the road. When I completed the call, I realized I was on "auto pilot". I had driven the wrong way, now I am an hour and half from home and now 2 hours from the boat!

Finally I make it, I run the cord and open up the cover in the v-berth and there are both batteries laying on their sides. I forgot to strap them in! I took them out and one was low on water, about 1/3 of the way down, the other is just at the top of the plates. I clean them up and top them off. So I modified the placement and screwed the battery boxes down and placed the batteries in. I rewired them and hooked up my charger.

I have an electronic charger and selected fast charge to give them a kick. I lowered the amperage and continued to work. I added a battery monitor. When I was ready to go, I disconnected the charger and put the tender on.

I had hoped to so some other work but that didn't happen.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Yesterday I started the job of replacing both batteries. Pulled the old ones out, repaired/cleaned up misc. wiring, and fixed the wooden battery box. Figured while I had them out I would test the sink drain, and you guessed it, it leaks. I didn't feel like tackling that project, so I changed the engine and lower unit oil in the outboard.

 

[crpdm]

Dear Mr. or Ms. Sock Puppet,
If there were an award for best post of the year, I would nominate yours. I have suffered 25 years with a flooded cockpit because I was too lazy to do what you did. I just ordered those hoses from Amazon. Thank You!

Regards,
Karl Heinze

 

[hero4theday]

Permanently mounted my new to 9.9hp Johnson motor. Moved the battery to the v-berth. Also replaced all factory wire and panel.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Dear Mr. or Ms. Sock Puppet,
If there were an award for best post of the year, I would nominate yours. I have suffered 25 years with a flooded cockpit because I was too lazy to do what you did. I just ordered those hoses from Amazon. Thank You!

Regards,
Karl Heinze

My pleasure, glad it helped you out! I searched for such a post, but never found one, so I thought I would add mine. I'm not saying it's the best solution ever, but I thought it worked pretty well!

 

[Sock Puppet]

Permanently mounted my new to 9.9hp Johnson motor. Moved the battery to the v-berth. Also replaced all factory wire and panel.

That is no small project, and is on my list. Which panel did you use? Pics?

 

[hero4theday]

I used the west marine panel with 3 swithes and 2 DC outlets. This took about 3 weekends and few spare week nights that I had. Sorry no pics of the wiring or battery.

 

[Sock Puppet]

The day is done!

Repaired the link on the sink.
Installed rubber weatherstripping on the front hatch to seal out dust and dirt.
Installed (2) new deep cycle batteries, went through the wiring, and fixed the WM battery charger.
Cleaned/lubed both Lewmar winches.
Misc. small things.
And I finally installed the new Rudder Craft tiller:

 

[finding41]

I put a fuel valve on the Elgin 2 I have. I just don't trust the gas cap air valve fuel stop.
By the way.. I still don't know much about this motor. It says Elgin ss 2 on it.
But it looks like an Eska 3. (Eska used Clinton bottom ends and put Tecumseh motors on the top. Since the 60's)
I have started a thread about trying to figure this OB out. Here; http://forums.macgregor.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=163555
If you can pass on any info about this Eskalgin 2/3Hp that would greatly help.
Oh yea. No model #. Just a serial #.
It runs great!

 

[justsomeguy]

Today, I started a bit of work on my old kick-up rudder. The fiberglass around the pivot bolt bushings was getting pretty wallowed out, so I bored out the pivot area to an inch and an eighth, and filled it with epoxy.

Plus, filled all the dents and dings from various groundings and whatnot. It's now curing at about 100 degrees F.

 

[finding41]

I put my Elgin 2 or Eska 3 or Clinton...?) in a tank and ran it for half an hour. I'm happy with how well it runs! I let it idol for the 30 min I was running it. This was the first tank test for it. It has allot of power for it's size.

 

[Justin_NSA]

I put my Elgin 2 or Eska 3 or Clinton...?) in a tank and ran it for half an hour. I'm happy with how well it runs! I let it idol for the 30 min I was running it. This was the first tank test for it. It has allot of power for it's size.

I like the nostalgic looks of your motor. Do you get any comments on it?

 

[Sock Puppet]

New main halyard is on (no great feat, I know), but it's something. I bought this one long enough to run to the cockpit, so I'd like your advice on the right block(s), organizer, and clutch to go with. I looked at Sumner's posts so I have an idea, but if anyone can share specifics and/or pics I'd appreciate it. As always, quality is preferred but the boat budget has been stretched so a good value would be nice.

 

[finding41]

I like the nostalgic looks of your motor. Do you get any comments on it?

I haven't had it out yet. Hopefully this weekend.
I think it's a pretty cool looking motor too.
I'm sewing the main sail for the Siren. I am almost done but now my tension on the Singer isn't cooperating... It's giving me big loops underneath.
I've got to rip a bunch of what I've done out and redo it... Again!
I've got 2 rows of Zig Zag on each seam. I would have been done except for the few loose rows of stitching.
(Come on YouTube... Fix my sewing machine! YouTube is great. Some really drunk guy taught me how to set the needle/bobbin timing.)
I wear safety glasses when I sew. I only broke 2 #16 needles tonight!

 

[justsomeguy]

That Singer's gettin' a workout, I'm sure.

 

[finding41]

Who knew there was a second thread tensioner on a Singer...? There is one on the bobbin holder. That was the problem. Thanks YouTube!
I finished sewing the main for the Siren. Changed the halyards and raised the "new" sail in the driveway.
This sail had bag built in to it so I kept it. I think It's actually supposed to be a loose footed sail. (It's from a Shark.) It has a big slug on the clew end...? I fed the bolt rope in the boom to see what it looked like anyway. I think it sits too high on the clew end. I didn't bother trying to do it loose footed. Next time.
I installed the battens I craftily made form old longer battens.
I also installed a removable mast holder on the bow pulpit. I didn't like the way the support I made fit into the mast plate. Too wiggly. I used a rubber thing that goes on the trailer ware the bow fits into. I just drilled a 7/8" hole in it and cut a slit in the bottom to fit it over the rail.
I also installed a PVC anchor holder on the Siren. I'm not convinced of it yet. I think I need to move it to the side a bit but I don't want it to hit the genoa... Got more thinking to do on that design.
The top of the day was someone backing into my SAAB! These cars must be targets for people backing into them. The other SAAB has been hit 3 times in the last year. I was going to put wood on the sides of this one too...
I made a trip to the collision reporting center... It will be interesting to see what her insurance company says... (The car looks rough. Its an 04. I just rebuilt the engine 5000km ago. 4cyl 2.3L T= 230 HP! It's really a nice car! It goes like stink too!)

 

[Yosi]

Installed lazy jack from Nautus and took her out for a spin on SF Bay. Much easier to single hand with the lazy jack.

 

[Doc_holiday]

I made some up this winter and love the Lazy Jacks. I should have gone a little further out on the boom though, but they do the job.