celebrating 20 years of Mac ownership

[Herschel]

I promised a story of new Mac ownership ever so often. Had a great Christmas yesterday, house mostly put back in proper order. Grandkids a great help with that. One of the first adjustments the admiral and I had when we got our Mac home and settled down was the learning curve that went with owning a more complicated sailboat and our first motorboat at the same time. Admiral had some experience sailing offshore in this sized keel boat, but her ex was the technical guy behind everything. I was mostly a dinghy and catamaran sailor with distant experience sailing yawls on the Chesapeake and in one Bermuda race. but I had been the "foredeck" man on those boats concerned with changing headsails and setting spinnakers. With the Mac I had to come up to speed on an electric head with holding tank, a freshwater tank and pump system, electric masthead wind indictor/gauges, interior and running lights, battery maintenance/charging (dual batteries at that), a carbureted outboard engine and gas tanks, a wheeled steering system, winches, mast raising gear, chart plotter, depth gauge, 12-volt breaker switches, and a trailer with surge brakes. I have moved on to a fuel injected outboard which is good, but it took a few years and a few mistakes to feel competent at all those systems, then plan and implement some upgrades, and now be totally at home in our Mac. sound familiar to any one?

[NiceAft]

Herschel,

I never had any experience with any boat powered by a motor, and bigger than 14’ (4.26m). I bought my Phantom in 1979.*




When I bought my in 2004, I had a steeeep learning curve. One of the first things I did was sign up for a Coast Guard Auxiliary sailing and safety course.

Probably the hardest adjustment I had was the heeling on the . On the Phantom, by hiking out far over the water, using my body weight along with controlling the main sheet, I could keep a somewhat level boat. On the Mac, my body weight meant nothing.

*45 years later we still enjoy that Phantom.

[pitchpolehobie]

I promised a story of new Mac ownership ever so often. Had a great Christmas yesterday, house mostly put back in proper order. Grandkids a great help with that. One of the first adjustments the admiral and I had when we got our Mac home and settled down was the learning curve that went with owning a more complicated sailboat and our first motorboat at the same time. Admiral had some experience sailing offshore in this sized keel boat, but her ex was the technical guy behind everything. I was mostly a dinghy and catamaran sailor with distant experience sailing yawls on the Chesapeake and in one Bermuda race. but I had been the "foredeck" man on those boats concerned with changing headsails and setting spinnakers. With the Mac I had to come up to speed on an electric head with holding tank, a freshwater tank and pump system, electric masthead wind indictor/gauges, interior and running lights, battery maintenance/charging (dual batteries at that), a carbureted outboard engine and gas tanks, a wheeled steering system, winches, mast raising gear, chart plotter, depth gauge, 12-volt breaker switches, and a trailer with surge brakes. I have moved on to a fuel injected outboard which is good, but it took a few years and a few mistakes to feel competent at all those systems, then plan and implement some upgrades, and now be totally at home in our Mac. sound familiar to any one?

All too familiar...
Some of the most enjoyable parts of boat ownership has been trouble shooting problems, fixing them, and seeing the fruits of your labor. On my boat I hold all my repairs to the standard that a life may be dependent on the fix holding at the most inoppurtune time - so I take the time to plan how to proceed many diff ways before I implement a repair or modification. Ive had a tendency not to trust any of the POs mods until I picked them apart bit by bit and have redone some to verify integrity. Theres probably a life lesson somewhere in there...

[Herschel]

pitchpolehobie replied:

Some of the most enjoyable parts of boat ownership has been trouble shooting problems, fixing them, and seeing the fruits of your labor. On my boat I hold all my repairs to the standard that a life may be dependent on the fix holding at the most inopportune time - so I take the time to plan how to proceed many diff ways before I implement a repair or modification. I've had a tendency not to trust any of the PO's mods until I picked them apart bit by bit and have redone some to verify integrity. There's probably a life lesson somewhere in there...

Sounds like many on the forum, you have a good skill set for those kinds of repairs and mods. That is enviable. I have certainly expanded my skill set with my Mac, but I still rely on a seasoned tech at my marina and my Yamaha dealer to deal with major repairs and mods. My PO was very knowledgeable about many mods and did a good job of installing the freshwater tanks and the toilet and holding tank, but he did not use the correct marine grade wiring for much of the electric mods. I have finally gotten all that corrected. The most comical issue arose when the macerator for the holding tank stopped working. It took my tech many hours of experimenting to determine the problem was in the quality of wiring. The PO had used extension cord wiring for the macerator. After I paid my bill, which approached four figures, we started dividing the number of flushes into the bill. We'd tell the unsuspecting guest that that flushed cost us upwards of $500, but that slowly came down to the current level of about $10 per flush.

[dlandersson]

Have to admit, 20 years is impressive.

[OverEasy]

Hi Herschel!

So 20 years! Congratulations to you and the Admiral!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!!

Loving your taking the time to start sharing your stories and all the additional ones other members are contributing!
They give us inspiration as relative "Newbies" having only acquired our 2001 Mac26X in the Fall of 2020... Just 3 years....We have a long way to go

I'm impressed by the similarities of the experiences by also how very unique they are.

Having a boat like the Mac26X and Mac26M with its capability to have more than just one operational life is wonderful.
A Sailboat, a Motor Boat, a Cruiser, a Camper, a Hobbiest canvas... ... all at the same time!

The Admiral is already planning the next 17+ years ... The St Johns River is definitely on the list!

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[socalmacer]

Nice job on the 20 years!

I myself am coming up on 27 years. My story is I purchased my 26X in Southern CA through a local broker. I had the opportunity to see these boats being made at the factory. I remember test driving the boat in Newport Harbor where we picked up the boat from Roger's home slip. This was 1996 and I still enjoy taking the boat out for a sail or cruise in the Pacific. It has made for great family memories! I've had to replace the trailer once, other than that it has been a fantastic boat all these years!

[Herschel]

Nice job on the 20 years!

I myself am coming up on 27 years. My story is I purchased my 26X in Southern CA through a local broker. I had the opportunity to see these boats being made at the factory. I remember test driving the boat in Newport Harbor where we picked up the boat from Roger's home slip. This was 1996 and I still enjoy taking the boat out for a sail or cruise in the Pacific. It has made for great family memories! I've had to replace the trailer once, other than that it has been a fantastic boat all these years!

That is amazing! Congratulations on 27 years! I have family in Escondido, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Foothill Ranch, so somewhat familiar with your area. The only relatively recent sailing I have done in that area is Mission Bay in San Diego with my son's 14-ft Catalina and my own inflatable dinghy in Lake Hodges. Decades ago, I had a Lightning and two Sabots but sailed them mostly in Mission Bay even back then. Not sure if I'll get to 27 with my Mac. Turned 79 in September. Taking things a year at a time.

[dlandersson]

Kudos to you.

I myself am coming up on 27 years.

[Herschel]

Our early cruises were north on the St. Johns to destinations like Hontoon State Park marina, Astor, FL, Silver Glen Springs Run, Georgetown marina, and Walaka, Fl. We really enjoyed camping on the boat, journeying along miles and miles of beatifical river, getting bridges to open for us, and just taking in natural Florida at a nice 6-8 knot pace. Crossing 15-mile-long Lake George was a hoot. One, it was a huge body of water for an inland lake giving us an opportunity to actually steer a compass course even though the channel is well marked. Two, there is/was a Navy practice torpedo launching run for nearby NAS Jax P-3 Orion's in the east side of the lake. It always gave us a thrill when you turned around and saw a P-3 just a few feet above the water coming up your stern. Ton of good memories over several northward journeys out of Sanford, FL over the early years.

[OverEasy]

If I had a ship, I’d sail away……….
Each time I hear this song I can’t help but smile….

[Russ]

This is an unusual photo

There must be a story about how you get in there.

[pitchpolehobie]

This is an unusual photo

There must be a story about how you get in there.

I bet its a 3 letter word...starts with R, ends with M and has a U in the middle.

[Herschel]

russ remarked

There must be an interesting story behind this picture

It was taken near the mouth of the Ocklawaha River where it empties into the St. Johns north of Lake George. There are so many areas on both rivers that have lagoons full of lily pads yet still enough depth to float our boats. I just anchored near the side of the channel and the wind rotated us into the pads. I boarded my dinghy and paddled around to check out the area. Sadly, no rum involved.

[OverEasy]