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

[Macboy]

Heading to Lake Havasu next week for the winter where Im excited to start on some projects with my old Mac 26S. Projects are half the fun!

These pictures are all old but I ran across them the other day. I like high aspect foils. You need to keep water moving across them as they stall easier but they are also efficient. You can bring the centerboard up almost all the way and turn it into a very low aspect foil that is much less likely to stall for maneuvering at slow speeds in a marina. The first picture is one I saved off the internet.. dont know who took it. I took the underwater pictures a couple years ago when I moved the centerboard control to the cockpit.

Wow cool. Is that a standard swing keel? I had no idea they were so skinny. And long!

 

[walt]

Yes, standard centerboard on the 26S. Very high aspect like a glider wing. That "could" be weak except that with water ballast, the position of the centerboard has no effect on righting moment so its just free to swing up if it hits something (which I do all the time lake sailing).

Progress on the solar power fridge. Electric fridge is a HUGE step in power. The 20 watt panel is still on the boat and I could get by easily with this panel on week long trips. Fridge is going to require the much larger panel which is the compromise you have to make. The large panel is 59 inch by 26 inch (size for 140 to 160 watt panels, this one is 160 watt) Ive enjoyed this boat for 10 years now partly by doing things like this.. changing things up.

 

[macgregor_sailor]

Unfortunately due to life stuff the season is over for us. MAC-A-TAC is now ready for the long winters nap. I’ve set up a solar cell to run a few fans inside to help with keeping any mold issues away.

 

[RussC]

Our sailing season just has a lot more interruptions during the winter time . The drive through "boat port" for Silent Running has worked out really well. if a day does come along during the "off" season, that's sailable, it's easy to just hook on and go. in fact I have another port ordered to put the newer little day sailer (Aye Pod) in. ~ 1K each, but they last forever without dealing with tarps etc. you can still get in the boat whenever needed, and air circulation/condensation situation is a lot better than when using a tarp.

 

[macgregor_sailor]

Real nice set up Russ.

 

[Solarfry]

-/ hijack thread
a few comments.
Most outboards I know of do have a pee tube. yours is probably clogged. (thin wire to unclog may help). only on little engines have I not seen one.
-also what I do when I know the engine is running well, is pull the cover off and see how long I can touch the head. ie, 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, etc.
Then again when its fully warm. Same thing with the water pump, 'pee water'. how long can I leave my hand under the stream before I need to pull it away...
that gives me a baseline.
often the impellers start to break off before failing completely.
(or, I was at 4 seconds before but now its 2 seconds... time to replace).
The steering cables on the X is a common problem/maintenance item. hydraulic steering is wonderful and almost maintenance free, but not cheap.
heating the cable and the tube at the engine can help (careful!)
usually its the engine tube that locks up... vs the wheel end... unless you force the wheel.
</ hijack thread/>

Harbor Freight sells a temperature gun with laser that works great checking motor temperatures, etc. Sometimes it's on sale for $19.00 bucks. There is also their 20% off coupon.

 

[solodare]

Sanding down interior.

 

[walt]

First picture. Cantilever structures.

Rest of the pictures.. The guts to the electric fridge not here yet but the old two chamber ice chest has now been converted to a single chamber cold box attached (and thermally isolated with about R18) to a compressor box. The compressor box needs to be well ventilated allowing cold air in at the bottom and hot air to exit at the top. The whole back side of that compressor box just has a screen and there is a louvered vent on the front side. The cold box still has a drain so that I can still add ice if needed and also to make it easier to clean.

I also had an area under the fridge that was a hassle to get at and on our last 10 day camping trip wished I had another easy access 18 quart tub so... I couldn't help myself and the saw came out again and I cut another big ol hole. Added a hinged lid that is held in place by both gravity and Velcro until I figure out how to get rid of the Velcro later. The sides of the new cut hole are reinforced with AL angle on the inside so that I dont get any distortion during the hot summers here.

Boat should get put in the water later this week with a working electric fridge stocked full of beer.

 

[justsomeguy]

a working electric fridge stocked full of beer.

But you're making all us other Mac owners appear somewhat lacking.

 

[walt]

Beer certainly helps to justify having the Mondo panel back there.. Im sort of and slowly getting used to it LOL..

 

[BudGates]

I've been rather busy since my retirement and haven't had time to let people know what I've been doing for my Mac. Now that the weather has turned I have a lot of time to get caught up.

Here's what I started with.

Then after cutting a LOT of firewood it's time for some excavation.

The wife has a lot of construction pictures but I can't seem to find them.
.
.
.
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time passes...
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Then as soon as the felt goes on the roof winter hits with no breaks in the foreseeable future...

I tried climbing on the roof to install the shingles anyway but it was so slippery I decided to wait ... maybe untill spring.

I may not have gotten quite finished but at least Miss Behavin' has a cozy place to stay dry.

 

[BudGates]

Beer certainly helps to justify having the Mondo panel back there.. Im sort of and slowly getting used to it LOL..

Beer seems like a reasonable justification to me.

 

[justsomeguy]

I tried climbing on the roof to install the shingles anyway but it was so slippery I decided to wait ... maybe untill spring.

Speaking as a roofer in a past life, this decision was wise.

 

[walt]

Beautiful spot...

Retired south guy is liking Mondo panel.. Turned the electric cooler on this morning and so far it has worked perfectly. The 160 watt panel seems to have a lot of power margin which is overall good. Myself and my dock neighbor tested the beer temp, it was a little too good. I also raised the mast this morning.. no problem.

 

[My Mistress]

BudGates - Nice job!
What is all that white stuff?????

 

[gbrian]

I can offer the latest "frustration". I am still struggling with backing up for instance into my slip. I have no tiller on my motor and when in reverse, the motor wants to go hard over and the tiller, as soon as I let go to grab the motor goes hard over the other way. I have a remote throttle that for all other operation is in a good spot by my right thigh when seated port.

A linkage between the tiller and motor is going to be too much of a pain, not only to make but to connect and disconnect.

I do think that locking the motor straight is the answer. A bar, the width of the motor well at the right spot, with a pin that can be inserted in the hole below the fuel line would do the trick, then it's just a matter of using the tiller. This could easily be removed if for some reason I needed motor movement or when I tile the motor up.

I may take a small section of broom stick (and a saw - "darn! Cut it twice and it's still too short!) with a nail or bolt and see how this might work.

In my current marina, I usually drop of a mate and have them take the boat hook and meet me at the slip. Between me fumbling with motor, tiller, and throttle, I have my hands full and I need help from the dock. What's worse is the finger piers are short and seem unstable to anyone that is not sure of themselves. I end up looking like the amateur that I really am.

 

[gbrian]

If the locking lever does not do the job, look between the motor mount and the motor. It is hard to see and even harder to reach with an open end, six sided wrench that has a tilted end. Tighten that as tight as you can with the motor in the straight position.

 

[gbrian]

Well, I dreamed and studied and read and dreamed, and finally retirned to the states from The middle east and bought my first Macgregor 26X. I got a good deal on it, but didnt get to lake test it with the previous owner. I did not get the chance to learn anything from him. This weekend I realized that mast raising is not as easy as I thought, so I decided to just make sure that the thing does not leak and the motor runs. I backed her into the water at the ramp and dropped the motor. Nissan 50hp. She is a little cold natured, but started with a little coaxing with the choke. Noticed the water does not squirt out the back of the motor like my last boat did. Oh well, the over temp warning did not come on so maybe this motor does not have a visual as good as a nice stream of water squirting out the back like my last boat. ten I went through the boat and checked for leaks. The last owner committed a sin in my mind ad drilled a hole in the hull to mount a speedometer for crying out loud !! And of course there was seepage around the through hull !! Damn! All other areas seemed dry. So I sat here and let the motor charge the batteries for 20 minutes, debated on letting opening te ballast, but decided to do that next time. I momentarily bumped her into forward and reverse to check the gears. I considered taking her for a little spin around the lake, but when I tried to turn te wheel nothing would turn. Everything was locked in middle position. I looked for a latch or knob to turn to release the steering mechanism, but couldnt find anythiing. I had an old yamaha on my last boat that had a lever that locked the motor in a central position, but could not find anything on this Nissan like that.......So I put her back on the trailer and went home. It was a good drill anyway cause I now know that the through hull needs to be repaired and I noticed one of the spreaders were bent. As I sat at the Hard Dock cafe sipping my beer and watching the sunset I reflected back. It's been ten years since I last sailed. I am anxious to get back out there, but I am older and slower and as it turns out, maybe a little dumber !!!

 

[gbrian]

When a motor sits for any period of time, mud dauber wasps find the pee hole and fill it with their nest. When you look up into the pee hole you will see what looks like dry dirt. The wasps line the hole with mud, go and find a spider,inject it with poison to paralyse it, lay an egg and seal the pee hole. When the egg hatches it has a meal to reach maturity in it's life cycle. As suggested by others, as straight wire Wii clean it out. Every time I put my boat on the trailer, I seal the hole with a piece of duct tape with a tag end to pull it off. A piece of tape costs a lot less than a $60.00 an hour service charge at the repair shop. Another hard earned life lesson.

 

[walt]

Working on the solar powered fridge with the solid state relay that shuts the power off to the fridge at night. The solar panel output is the signal used to turn on and off the solid state relay. I took this picture right at the point where the power automatically switched off. The power to the fridge switched back on this morning in about the same light - sun just barely coming up. Helper is making sure there is no trouble from the local ducks.