first outing in our new 04 M. A day we will not soon forget.

[Paul S]

After having a less than optimal pre-delivery experience....It was finally time to launch out M for the first time.

Friday started out flawlessly. Boat trailered fine. No issues.

Arrive at Allen Harbor (RI) on time. Set up the mast without issue. Took about 2 hours taking my time.

Launched the boat. No issue.

Stayed overnight quite nice. quiet. slept well.

Saturday morning was quite interesting to say the least. Started motoring out of the harbor. Noticed the red light on the Honda controls. Soon after the buzzer started buzzing. Noticed the engine was not expelling water out the back. Engine smelled bad. It was red hot. Not even 1/4 mile out of harbor. Anchored just outside the channel. Had some lunch...couple hours later..the winds shifted and were very gusty.

Called the dealer. Made arraingments to have his guy pick up the boat at the marina and bring it to the local Honda dealer for service.

After lunch called Towboat US for a tow back to the marina. Talk about timing. Boating for 12 years. Never needed a tow. Ever. Always had the $50 coverage from boatus. When we got the Mac, I increased it to$500. A week later I needed a tow. Timing is everything. Towboat US was great. Quick, professional, gentle on the boat. Very positive experience.

Got back to the marina..time for dinner. Winds were so gusty the grill would not stay lit.

So not a lot of things worked out. At least it was not during a busy day. We are planning on going out of

At least it can only get better from here

Paul

[Sloop John B]

Paul,

You didn't have issues (questions), you had problems. Let us know what the heck happened with this Honda.

[Paul S]

Paul,

You didn't have issues (questions), you had problems. Let us know what the heck happened with this Honda.

It wasn't a total loss, other than not sailing

Got to roll with the what life deals you. I knew something would go wrong..didn't expect it to be the motor! Of all things, the Honda outboard!

Hope they fix/replace the motor quickly. With as bad as the motor smelled and how hot it was, I am hoping they just replace it.

Paul

[Mark Prouty]

Noticed the red light on the Honda controls. Soon after the buzzer started buzzing. Noticed the engine was not expelling water out the back. Engine smelled bad. It was red hot.
Paul

Damn Paul! I know of the predelivery problems you had and I sorry to hear about your Honda problems. I frequently motor on a river with a 75 hp 2 stroke outboard. I occasionally get into shallow spots and a grain of sand gets stuck in the motor's pee hole. I carry along a piece of wire to expel it. My motor has frequently overheated and the alarm sounded. The owner's manual says that the alarm will sound well before damage is done to the motor. From my experience, I think this is true although I haven't experienced a smell or it being red hot.

Good luck with the Honda and hope it turns out to be something minor.

[marc ducharme]

Hi , i am on day ten with my new 04 M, so far not bad all of the hardware works, but hit a boat the second day, cost me a bottle of scotch, no permanent damage, and met someone. Hope your honda ok. Today winds were 20 KM\hr, First mate loved it, that isa goos thing, we also got to tie up with two other boats of a small island for TEA. Sailing you gota love it.

[Sloop John B]

Ducharme

I like the part where you tie up by a small island for tea. For some reason I think it's all in black and white and you wear a good broad tie while sailing. Your mate wears a large lovely hat.

Marc, don't tell me it ain't so!

[Paul S]

Noticed the engine was not expelling water out the back. Engine smelled bad. It was red hot. Not even 1/4 mile out of harbor. Anchored just outside the channel. Had some lunch...

Paul, sorry about your maiden voyage but, you win the prize for coolheaded, selfcontrol.

Admiringly,
David

Getting upset and losing control would not have accomplished anything. This is just the icing on the cake for the whole Macgregor experience.

First day out..getting towed. Never in my life having to be towed in our bottom of the line bargain basement Sunbird powerboat....first day out in the Mac...another story. Got to love it. Just have to laugh.

Paul

[Paul S]

Ducharme

I like the part where you tie up by a small island for tea. For some reason I think it's all in black and white and you wear a good broad tie while sailing. Your mate wears a large lovely hat.

Marc, don't tell me it ain't so!

We both had hats on

Took a bit of a nap...got some sun...had some food...the wind had to change and ruin a good relaxing afternoon

No tea...gatorade and water were on tap

Forgot to mention...soon after we anchored..like 20 minutes later...Tow Boat US stopped by to see if we needed help. Talk about service..we were sitting down below having some lunch..looked out and saw them... I said we did...but not then...that we would call him later! Once it got bad out...we called them, he came back..brought us in...Great service. Very impressed. Can't say how impressed I was.

Just realized you replied to another message..so my message probably seems weird Didn't see the the other reply til I re-read the thread.

Paul

[marc ducharme]

Sorry to burst your bubble there big John, but northern CanadaTea comes in the 100% proof variety, now for the hat here is the kicker the first mate had a neck warmer on and I had a toque. The Tea was great and the air was cold. Sailing ya gota love it.

[TonyHouk]

Hey Marc,
What is a toque? Happy sails, Tony

[Joel]

Paul after reading your adventures I thought I should respond, if for no other reason than to make you feel better.

Week 1: Dealer had a demo sail set up for us with a friend of his, who ended up talking way to much about himself, and only had enough time to show us how to raise and lower main and jib and then he left, leaving us in the parking lot still not knowing how to sail, ehhh we'll figure it out. Just before we left he said he had to check something in the backof the boat. On the way home we decided we still wanted to put our boat in the water, we were too excited to wait for another day. Upon leaving the gas station we found out our instructor had lowered the engine for some reason. Lesson #1 never leave the engine down while travelling...duhhh and check everything. We had a great cruise around a local lake but upon removing the boat, my parking brake on the truck seized up (2000 Chevy) it wouldn't back up, finally got it out. Lesson #2 use parking break occasionaly.

Week2: Decided to take the boat to the coast. Arrived there to find it was the lowest tide in over 15 years, so we had to have lunch in the parking lot and wait until the ramp was useable, we felt rather odd as a crowd gathered to watch us raise the mast (good thing we practiced that in our driveway several times before) that only took us 10 minutes. Finally, down the ramp, slid into the water...perfect...and off we went. Had a wonderful cruise, enjoyed a spectacular evening, even stopped at a quaint village to get a coffee (attracting another group of curious onlookers at the dock) then it was time to head back. It was a beautiful sunset, and there was not a hint of any wind. About 20 minutes from the launch ramp we suddenly realized that we were out of gas. How could we not have checked that ?? Turning the gas tank on it's side we managed to squeeze just enough to power to small dock at a park, we used our cell phone and fortunately we had friends that lived 15 minutes away who were kind enough to bring some fuel. We powered back to the launch ramp, in the dark, and trailered home without any further problems. Many lessons learned that day!!

Since then we had our gas tank stolen from our boat !!! while in the driveway (must have something to do with the high gas prices !?!)
Today I drilled the mast and ran the wires for the VHF and the at anchor light...no problem.

We are heading out in two weeks for a Mac Rendezvous in Bowen Island...wish us luck. Definitely plan to take in a few sailing lessons before we embark on that weekend trip.

[Catigale]

Paul - sorry to hear about your problems with motor...but positive attitudes conquer all such adversities...and you have loads of positive attitude...

Good for laughs...when Barbara and I got Catigale we motored around the Hudson for a month getting used to docking, departing etc..


then for our maiden sailing trip we dumped the kids on Grandma, and off to Lake champlain for a 3 day sailing trip wrapped around our anniversary.

we managed to

Loose our hook the first night and tap rocks on a cliff at midnight
Have to motor in unfamiliar waters at night in 3-4 foot chop looking for a slip
Dock in above (we were helped by a really drunk guy who almost got caught between boat and slip
Next day the adventures continued....

Got the main up, and soon Catigale was whipping around Lake Champlain ..having no feel for sail plans I said the fateful words..lets put the genoa up..

I had rolled the furler backwards, and it was initially not coming out, so I go forward and pull 3 feet of genoa out *read carefully* by hooking my finger in the clew ring....next thing I know I have 150 percent genoa unfurled in 20-25 knot wind, Im on the foredeck with my finer still in the ring, thinking I should jump overboard to avoid losing my finger...I have no idea why I thought this...

...we spent the next couple hours whipping around with about 4x too much sail up,

genoa shroud then wrapped around the prop and we almost hard grounded again...Admiral tacked nicely away to middle of lake where we put motor up and then unwrapped shroud..

we put into westport marina for the afternoon/night....i stopped at the fuel dock (wind still high)...i left the fuel dock for a tight finge slip, and,as an inexperienced skipper, thought Lets go nice and slow....Slow means no flow over rudders, equals no helm...

As I leave the dock a gust of wind comes down, I get turned about 270 degrees and spin down the channel headed for a bunch of boats..Im saved by about 6 boaters who see me and dash from shore onto the boats and fend me off..We use my red face as a nightlight rest of the day...

i made the best bacon and egg breakfast ....during conversation we heard the real sailors saying "only fools out yesterday, yep yep yep...

We bent both spreaders from having rigging too loose, but they were cheap to fix...


3 years later we are a lot better...yesterday I took the kids down to the night fireworks at Catskill NY, then next morning sailed back home in 20 knots with the main and full genny goosewinged!! Made 7 mph over water and 10 mph with tide!!

I did try putting motor in and out again and could maybe see 0,1 mph difference on GPS but could not swear to it...

Stephen

[Harry van der Meer]

Sorry to hear about your problems Paul. I arrived at Allen Harbor yersterday (Sunday 6/13) at around 1 PM for our first launch of the year. I saw your boat sitting on the lot and expected problems. I hope you will get the motor fixed to your satisfaction.

It was pretty wild sailing yesterday with 20 knot winds and 3 ft waves. We had lunch at Potters Cove. On the way back we motered straight into the wind and needless to say got quite wet.

Used the whisker pole for the first time. Nice stable set-up. Due to the waves coming from the back, the Genny would sometimes slack, and then the wind would fill it again causing a violent "bang". With the whisker pole the sail became stable.

[mike]

Paul,

Remembering your initial delivery problems, I was sincerely hopeful that the "we will not soon forget" in the subject line meant the first outing went really well, not really bad. I guess your motor came with a bad water pump or something. Fortunately, these Hondas are equipped with a "self preservation" mode that reduces RPMs (and sounds the buzzer) when overheating is detected or oil pressure drops.

As mentioned before in my post about our first overnight trip, we had some engine problems too, and had to be towed in too. Like you, I was very impressed with how the SeaTow captain handled his craft.

Let me throw in my own "first time out" story... we bought the boat in October, and the following weekend, took her out for the first time. We had a wonderful time sailing out on Lake Pontchartrain, and then motored back up the bayou to the marina at a leisurely pace as evening fell. It was perfect, and I remember thinking to myself how nice it was to have had such a problem-free first day on the new-to-us boat.

I pulled the boat into a slip, and fetched the truck to pull the boat out of the water. My wife and kids stayed aboard as I backed us out of the slip to put the boat onto the trailer. It was dark by now, and I kept the boat in reverse at idle speed until we were about halfway out across the somewhat narrow bayou. I put the boat in forward gear, and applied some throttle to stop our rearward movement and start heading to the trailer. I immediately sensed something was amiss when, instead of slowing and moving forward, our rearward speed increased. It didn't dawn on me immediately, but we were stuck in reverse. I put it in neutral, and tried to put it in forward again... same thing. I put it back in neutral, or so I thought... even with the control in the neutral position, it was still in reverse, with the idle-seed prop pulling us towards the (thankfully undeveloped) bank opposite the marina. Before I had time to react, we somewhat gently plowed into the soft mud, stopping the motor.

We sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do. Using a boathook to push the rear of the boat away from the bank, I started the motor again, and, despite the fact that I had not even had much practice docking the boat with a forward gear available, managed to back it into a slip, where it stayed until the next day when I got it onto the trailer using ropes.

Subsequent inspection revealed that a long adjusting nut that attaches the upper actuating rod to the rod that goes down to the lower unit had come loose, removing the ability of the controller to pull it out of reverse. It was easily fixed.

Looking on the bright side, I am very glad this happened when it did. It was late in the evening, so there wasn't any traffic around, and winds were calm... had it happened during a busy Saturday afternoon, it could have been much worse. But because of this experience, I am now acutely aware that I need to be ready for something like this, especially when pulling into our current marina where our boat is slipped directly across from a huge, shiny, Sea Ray motoryacht. Call me naive, but it just never occurred to me that this kind of failure could occur... now I know, and I'm glad I learned under conditions that didn't result in damage and/or bodily injury.

--Mike

[CFCassidy]

Paul,
Welcome to Narragansett Bay! Sorry to hear about all your problems.

Harry,
I'm surprised we didn't cross paths Sunday. I sailed by the entrance to Allen Harbor about 2 pm going North. Went up over the top of Prudence Island then down the East side past Potter's Cove. Great day on the water-but aren't they all

You can read about my trip and see the GPS track on by blog:
http://sevencsmarine.com/Blog/blog.html