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

[walt]

MM, thanks for posting the picture. Makes me feel comfortable that my CB is not rotting and de-laminating inside. I did add somewhere between 5 to 10 pounds to the lowest part of my CB - the reason was to get it to drop easier. It makes it harder to pull up. We had a thread on this earlier and cant remember if you already have 2:1 leverage on the CB pull up but that helps a lot of you add some weight.

Also good comment about the water fully draining from the CB when its raised. If you store the boat in a cold climate, trapped water in there would not be a good thing when it started to freeze..

 

[walt]

This is a project started in January.. that is taking a long time. Its a "boat port" that has supports on one side only (cantilevered) because of the limited space from property line setbacks. Had to have survey, engineering study, city permits ect. Hopefully next week the top structure is brought in by a crane and welded on.. Big relief if I can ever get this done.. First picture is where the old Mac has sat every summer baking in the sun.

Picture below - two I beam (6"x10") in place. I had to notch the roof (YIKES!!). The beams will be cut to length then the top arc welded in place. The beams are in 30 inch diameter tubes filled with concrete nearly 10 feet deep. This wont be perfect.. I just didn't have the room but I figure I well get about 80% reduction in the sun I used to and its mainly early morning sun I will get.

 

[RussC]

Wow. that's some hard core construction there Walt. the boat will thank you however.
Are you burying that power line wile your at it?

 

[BudGates]

Wow. that's some hard core construction there Walt. the boat will thank you however.
Are you burying that power line wile your at it?

I wish I had buried the power line when I put in our boat and RV parking. As it is I have to make sure the boat is parked in the back or I can't raise the mast. But then it doesn't look like he can raise his mast while it's parked there anyhow so why bother?

 

[walt]

That dang power line (the one from the pole to the house)!!! The top of the car port can not be above or below the power line and it also must be at least three feet away. I wanted the canopy to be where the power line is and looked into going underground.. The new underground wire would have had to go the pole in the background farther away. That was going to cost about $8K just to move the power line (plus an enormous hassle dealing with a bunch of contractors plus the power company). So I went for plan B and moved the whole car port forward and moved the front fence. This actually used the shade of the house a little better and is going to allow for a little shed behind the boat so Im mostly happy.

FYI, the underside of the ceiling will be 13 foot at the house side. This allows RV's that are about 12.5 foot to fit under it. I dont have an RV myself but tried to consider this in case I ever sell. The big motor homes are I think over 13 foot high so wont fit..

 

[Greengas]

Well, not quite as big a project as what Walt is working on, but I did replace the keel bolt. After the work, my son and I put the boat in the water and after a bit more tightening up on the bolts, the leak stopped! So, scratch that one off the list of projects to do this year.

 

[BudGates]

Well, not quite as big a project as what Walt is working on, but I did replace the keel bolt. After the work, my son and I put the boat in the water and after a bit more tightening up on the bolts, the leak stopped! So, scratch that one off the list of projects to do this year.

I love being able to scratch line-items off the to-do list. After the first sail on our V-222 I started a list. The list hung on our refrigerator for a couple of years. It seemed that for every item I crossed off I'd have to add 2 more. At one point the list grew to over 3 pages. Finally once the last item was crossed off we had a "list burning" ceremony. My wife said "Considering all the work we've done to this boat I don't think I'd ever want to sell it." 2 weeks later I talked her into going with me to look at a 26D. As soon as we got home she put the V-222 on Craig's List and it started all over again. It's been a busy few years but three weeks ago I finally finished the to-do list for our 26D. Then last weekend we took the dinghy camping and guess what... Yep, Now I have a to-do list for the dinghy not nearly as long as either of the Mac lists but a list just the same.

 

[My Mistress]

Mistress, I wouldn't not plug the hole because trapping air in the centerboard will hold it up when you try to drop it. Is there a hole lower on the centerboard where water can escape while the boat is on the trailer?

There are two holes in the old CB, just below where I cut it off at. The new CB doesn't have any type of drainage holes.

 

[My Mistress]

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/outside-30.html

... what I used for the boarding ladder on the boat. More expensive but would probably last forever,

Sumner

Another great idea! Thanks!

 

[walt]

The top of the coamings on my boat were getting pretty beat up (PO had glued carpet in one area that finally disinterested this winter and Ive done my share of "things" to also beat up that area.. ) so I painted that top side with Interlux brightside. Also painted some area up near the mast that had been painted previously and was beat up. Im backyard sailing now.. but I can see a lake..LOL..

 

[walt]

Pretty much done. It sort of looks like there should be gas pumps instead of a sailboat under the shade.

 

[justsomeguy]

Pretty much done.

Me being a roofer, how did you flash the roof penetrations? Or is that still in the future?

 

[walt]

Its all built.. the only thing left is the building inspection. I dont know enough to answer your question.. the main supports are I beams with the horizontal beam welded to the ground vertical beam. The lengthwise cross beams are some sort of steel "C" channel and then there is I assume painted corrugated galvanized steel on the top that is screwed down. It will move a little bit in one direction (the weaker side of the main support I beams) and tomorrow its supposed to be windy so Ill see if it moves much in the wind. Seems very strong however.

 

[justsomeguy]

I suspect that the beams are far enough from the roof surface to obviate the need for a "bucket of tar"?
At least, I hope so.
Looks great! Looking forward to a good report on the movement of the structure.

 

[walt]

Ah.. now I know what you are talking about.. I had to cut the notches in the roof with a sawsall so the beams can be close to the house (more room to park the boat). Once the main horizonal beams were in concrete, I trimmed the notches to allow for some movement and then did add flashing under the tiles plus some special flashing goo. That part is not perfect but I dont think it will leak or the tiles get blown off. That goo better have a high temperature rating (Lake Havasu during the summer on the roof - HOT).

 

[justsomeguy]

special flashing goo.

Yah, there is no such thing as "special" goo.
If I have to come out there...

 

[RussC]

A two and a half day project actually. I just finished building a pop top tent today. repurposed from an unused 7x7 dome tent. a snip here and there and stitched back together it almost looks like the real thing.

It's held down and sealed to the cabin top by the weight of a small gauge chain, inside a polar fleece tube, that's sewed into the bottom of the sides.


The screen door can be rolled down and held by a couple patches of velcro:

Or the privacy door can be rolled down as needed. both doors roll up and secure over the doorway when not in use.

The best part is that it takes about 30 seconds to "install" (throw it over the raised pop top) the tent, and it packs down into a bag about 6"x12". weighs ~5 lb with the chain.
I haven't decided yet if there will be any screen windows on the front or sides. I'm thinking perhaps a porthole on each side, but that can be decided later. the door should provide plenty of ventilation along with the planned construction of a screen for the deck hatch……..
We're hopeful for some better weather next week so we can do some actual sailing .

 

[walt]

Nice to use a tent for the cover! Pop tops are great for camping..

FYI, the top of my new canopy was moving maybe up to 1/8 of an inch max in 10-20 mph winds. I was watching the sun on the boat yesterday as the 20 watt panel in the picture below has to keep the batteries charged for the next six months or so when we are not here and some very hot temperatures - like mid 120's F. I think it will be OK even with less sun helped by the Genasun charge controller which has very low power consumption at night, MPPT and a few other things that at least on paper look good for high temp operation. Hope to come back and find the batteries all nicely topped off. I had a 10 watt panel in the past to keep the batteries charged.. mostly worked but not much margin for little errors like leaving some small load on. I get a little too much sun on the jib in the afternoon (left it and the furler tied to the mast) so it will still need an additional cover but the UV cover on the sail will have to do for now.

View attachment 123006

 

[My Mistress]

I just finished building a pop top tent today, repurposed from an unused 7x7 dome tent.

If that isn't innovative, I don't know what is!

- James

 

[RussC]

Aw shucks James . thanks .

Today I made a little bench to tidy up the fuel tank area and give a bit more useful storage space. I think I'll paint it to match the surrounding fiberglass also.


I also ran across a neat little stanchion mounted fairlead. I've always had the jib (105) shrouds routed back here before, but now they don't have to drag over the cabin top to do that