I’ve done it using the boom. My pole went missing but I had the winch since I kept them separate. The whole thing was a PITA. 1/10 do not recommended. The oem mastraising system is much more complex than it appears. All the lines and wires are a certain length. Without the pole, I had to replicate a...

I think mine quickly broke too but I was able to fix it. The knob fell off.

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I barrier coated mine first thing.no blisters But she lives in the Florida sun, and it’s taken a toll.

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Unless you want to carry that in your pocket all the time, get a rigging kit that comes with a much more usable spike, a fixed blade knife, and pliers, and sheath that you can hang up somewhere. It’s made by curry in the UK. https://shipcanvas.com/collections/captain-currey-ltd-rigging-knives-and-pa...

Re better gelcoat: FFS I would have gladly paid an xtra 500 for that. Mike Inmon had agreed to make a custom colored hull for me, but I ended up getting a deal demo white boat. The gelcoat is pretty bad. I might have been able to have them use a better grade though, had I gone for the custom colored...

Gel coat them. That’s what I’m going to do.
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Re The CG calcs: cool. My rough guess of 800 was a bit shy. Re why: a certainly legitimate question. The answer would be, to maximize performance under sail. Some will say thats just not too bright because the M will never be a stellar sailboat. But, anything substantially better is a-lot more money...

I bought a little Honda 2 3 outboard and thought I could make a mount on the main engine cowling (out of molded fiberglass) so I could use the main engine steering and tilt in the event of engine problems. (We have a lot a creeks here that are impossible to sail through) when not in use, the smell m...

It’s a decent anchor for sand, muddy sand, and…well. Sand. It works less good in soupy mud, grass, weeds, or rocky bottoms. The size that fits into the M anchor locker is too small in my opinion for anything except day tripping. And, there are few places to store a larger anchor that’s not in the wa...

That gate valve is the sketchiest thing on the boat. I’d love to come up with a replacement. I grease mine with water pump grease.

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I had to get a tetanus shot after stepping on a rusty fish hook at what passes for my ramp. I’m not sure some of these hints can be avoided. But I went to get the shot right away.

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It’s not as nice looking at all as Rogers version. (The contrasting stripes) But why make a copy of a nearly 2 decade old design? Surely they could come up with their own power sailor model with distinctive elements that set it apart, and perhaps above, the Mac. Aside: I wonder why the kids didn’t j...

All good points. I believe the odd shape of the ballast is to accommodate living space. My plan was to have most of the ballast just aft of the dagger boat trunk. That’s where the stub keel is now. It would be through bolted and my feeling is, the hull shell is thick enough there. I could always add...

Maybe they used better gel coat.

I used dyneema lashings.

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