Same here, running strong and no structural issues. 800 hours on the engine.

Thank you Heath!!!

Yes it is a virtual club with no fixed address or on the water facilities. We meet at local restaurants in their meeting rooms and have our on the water activities at Marina's and anchorages all over the Gulf and San Juan islands. We do member led cruises all over the place including Desolation Soun...

Boat, sorry if anything I said offended you. The boat I am talking about lives very close to my house and I can see the mast when it is up. The only reason I heard about it is I was driving past their house and stopped in to say hello and they were busy cleaning out the water. They had not noticed t...

Hmm, the club cruise was actually a training type cruise where a certified captain takes out a bunch of new Mac owners to go over safety with them. It is quite possible that they backed down the ramp, which is quite steep, and then sat there teaching for a while before actually pushing off the trail...

We did a club cruise with 5 or 6 adults on board, all in the cockpit or companion way for about 6 hours. The boat was a newish M, 2013 or so I think. At the end of the cruise the boat owners found a lot of water in the bilge. Enough that they pulled eveything out of the inside of the boat to get the...

I have a kicker mount on the transom outside of the rudders which allows for a 9.9 or smaller engine to swing up and down. I know many other boats have the same setup. It makes for a great place to store the dingy motor while underway as well as backup propulsion if the main engine were to fail. Hav...

Have you checked the base of your compression post? I seem to remember some people having problems there. Unlikely but possible.

Darren

Good article on how to steer with a drogue. http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2014/04/14/guide-steering-without-rudder-methods-equipment-tested/ I expect that every boat will behave differently so would not count on it working until having tried it. It would be fun to try. I am thinking about pickin...

Some other items that if included might save you in the long run:
How you plan to use the boat will determine if they add any value for you.

Autopilot
Full Enclosure
Dinghy and Dinghy motor

I have an X so this might not apply to your M but I have found that if the main sail is close hauled it drastically slows down my tacks. When I know tacking is going to be iffy I start the turn, release the main and then play with the genoa to pull the bow around. Once I am around and starting to pi...

Lorna and I will be there as well. Can't wait to see the gang and swap sailing stories to tide us over until spring.

All modern cell phones have GPS and do not require cell to get a position. On android phones you can select how your phone gets your position. GPS, Cell and or network. If you are on the water generally I have found that you have to set it to only use GPS or else it tries to place you on land. There...

Welcome PhysicsTeacher.

If you are in the Vancouver area and want to join a sailing group check out www.mycbc.ca

They won't make you buy pizza
There is actually a club meeting tonight in Surrey where they have a local expert talking about solar panels.

Needing to put it in forward before it will tilt is by design. I spent a lot of time figuring that out. :) It makes sense if you think about it. If motoring forward you want it to kickup if it hits something. If you reverse you don't want it to kickup. If you are going forward and pop it into neutra...