If you look in the destinations and clubs forum, there is a google earth find a mac app thingy you can use, I don't think it is advertised enough, but is very useful, particularly if everyone gets on it

In your crazy society where tipping is required for minimum wage earners to get over the poverty line, I do not believe a well paid sailing instructor qualifies for a tip after course you have just spent hundreds of dollers on. It would be like tipping your sports teams coach... or a car dealer.

Thankyou all for your advice, The girly decided not to come out again, I still went with the rest of the crew. In hindsight I was too ambitious taking out a 36'er with myself as the only trained crew, and the rest having less experience than the admiral. If I had been knocked out, there was no way a...

Hi all, So I'm spending a long weekend sailing with the admiral, her first time on a yacht, before we commit to buying a mac, and we have discovered she has panic attacks as soon as the boat heals at all. She knows the logic and physics preventing capsize, but her "illogical" female side d...

Well just got back from a week of sailing in Jervis Bay on the Navy's Swarbrick 36' down there, now I can hang my shiny new inshore skippers certificate on the wall......now I just need a boat.......hmmmmmm

Woohoo!!!!! Roger is working on releasing the 70 as a production model!!!! my life dream of sailing around the world is one step closer

Love a ketch me

Big thanks to Peter and Pat who gave Clare and I a very comprehensive look over of their beloved vessel. Am thoroughly impressed with all aspects of the Mac, and has made the uncontrollable urge to get my hands on one that much more, uhh, uncontrollable. It was very enlightening to hear what you can...

"So you were 5 miles off the coast, minding your own business, when your boat was runover. by a tank?......."

"uh, yes, I can show you the track marks if you like"

Let me clarify what I meant by the term license, sorry for the confusion. I did not mean the equivilant of a drivers license which the state wants you to fork over cash for every year. I was refering to the tiered system of qualifications that the governing body of yachting in your country (Yachting...

The issue with buying new in the states is that the Mac website clearly states that the warranty is void unless you purchase from an in country dealer. Not as clear about second hand boats, but less worried about warranty then, plus they are still alot cheaper than new. Maybe someone should drop rog...

oops, sorry forgot to mention, Im from Australia, where we have a national yacht training scheme, which is alligning with the royal yachting association at the moment. Our powerboat regs are that if it goes over 10kts, you need a licence. I am not sure about our exact enforcement of buying a yacht a...

Was going to post this as a reply to iredrider1177's post, but thouth it best to be a separate topic. Good to hear iredrider1177 and the admiral is still keen after what sounds like a testing first day. This raises an issue that I have been noticing lately whilst doing my research into buying a boat...

What is really annoying is for the same set up down here in aus, for a brand new M, your looking at over $70,000AUD. with the doller so strong at the moment, its daylight robbery. Even the bare basic boat is $52,000AUD. second hand Ms are no cheaper thatn $40,000AUD, and thats for early 04s. The onl...

In the navy, we have switch to an electronic nav system that is commercial off the shelf. it gets feeds from the Gps, gyro, compass Eco sounder and radar. its display shows heading AND course over ground. We use both readings to navigate. chart plotters, if networked with everything, should do the s...

I think the term "dangerous" is used more figuratively in the sense that the difference between the direction the boat is heading and its course made good needs to be recognized. The compass (with Autohelm) will simply maintain the boat on a set heading, which might not end up taking you ...