MacGregorSailors.com

Get a pre-feeder for the mainsail. It installs just below the bolt rope feed opening. Only thing that screws up is head snagged in spreader or battens snagging. Calm or into the wind no problem. With slugs, I don't know of shortcuts.

My throttle fails to respond until I have moved it about three or four inches in either direction. My thought is that there is too much slack. Last year I would zoom along at 5500 rpms. This year it is 4900 rpms when I can no longer move the lever forward. I’m going to have to figure out how to take...

26x factory trailer! Don't leave home with it. Went to have the rusting springs checked and learned that axle, where clamp clamps, was rusted through. A square hollow time bomb moments from parting and dumping the boat on the highway. That would have brought tears to my eyes.

]There’s a recurring suggestion on the board: to reef, reef early. It is said to avoid having you topple into the sea. I launch in the early morning, the water is like glass. I drop a rudder and centerboard to be able to maneuver through the moored yachts without banging into one. Ease up the Sakonn...

I had the same problem. Turned out the drain hole on the bottom was not air tight. Take it apart and see how it works. It didn't leak gas, but a sliver opening kept it from building the necessary vacuum.

Anchored out in the Western Gulf in a large fishing boat. Clear blue sky but there's a distant storm to the south, maybe 20 miles. The aluminum framing supporting the "tent" shelter aft lights up fuzzy blue.A moment later, blam! Very loud with flash bulb surround light. Eight people all okay with ri...

Release the backstay on the X. I have a pelican hook on the stay. It fits through a U fitting on the tang. You don't need a backstay; it's just psychological assurance. You have the necessary lever device that fits to the furler drum when you removed them from your lifeline, You can order the exhaus...

Thanks for the advice. Opie said the faucet could be taken apart. Didn't know that. There's a plunger type piston that works up and down. This one was frozen over time. Needed a little sanding and Vaseline and it's good as new.

I have another ding bat question. How do you get the sink faucet to go? The big wiggly water bag is near full of water. There’s an air pocket on the top. The red cap has a “switch” for open and close. It’s open. The plastic faucet doesn't appear to be plugged. The lever swings back and forth 180 deg...

I’m perusing my owner’s manual lately for being in a slip after years of trailering. I come across this: “Don’t allow your motor to run out of gas, this could harm the engine.” I've always been told to pull the fuel line and a let it run out. I have a Yamaha T50 carbureted 4 stroke. Is it different ...

Good grief. What happened to the good raccoon look?

You'll have to send for the missing part from the manufacturer. I'll take a look at mine to see if it's identified. Contact Tatoo (spelling) Boats (Roger's daughter) to see if you can learn where to go.

Sloop

I took the furler apart to check that what I call the sheer pins were intact. All looks fine. I tried to reassemble the thing and the large nail size pin that goes through the plastic cap secured by a ring ding wouldn’t go back through. I dinked with this thing for about 20 minutes, twisting and tur...

I’m trying to get my bottom painted. I’ve gone through the archives but am still a little confused. I took the boat down to O’Connell’s boatyard on the Taunton River a couple weeks ago. It was explained that the hull would have to be first sanded (in order for anything to stick to it), primed and pa...

Don't get mired down with a "schedule" when island hopping. Stay the heck in protected waters. Wind velocity alone lets you know what it's like "out there". I now sail the Elizabethan Islands in New England. It involves the open Atlantic. Many small plane crashes are caused by a stupid deadline. A f...