Re: Blue Water Mods?
Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 3:06 pm
While this isn't something I'd ever do in a Mac, I thought I'd add my two cents.
The most important criteria in my opinion are:
0) Upgrade the boat to withstand ocean forces on critical components.
1) Ability to relieve wind forces immediately in a blow
2) Ability to right the boat if it turtles
3) Ability to helm the boat from the inside under power
All of my recommendations are for the M.
--Add an 8 or 9.9 hp kicker. I wouldn't remove my existing ETEC because it's pretty good ballast when its low and it forms a good third rudder. But kicker powerful enough to keep you at hull speed efficiently is an important source of redundancy.
--Build a custom dagger, and carry an extra set of rudders.
--Upgrade the steering to hydraulic, and add an extra wheel actuator inside the boat at daggerboard trunk so you can helm from inside the boat. You can set it up on a valve to line-out the cockpit helm.
--Replace the sliding hatch and companionway with a custom-made fiberglass and lexan pilothouse that will allow you to see 360 around the boat from the inside. You can go up about 10" from the deck. I'd build it as a single-piece of fiberglass that requires the sliding hatch rails to be removed to install it and then are used to bolt it back down. Bed it with Butyl tape, which is waterproof but easy to remove so you can go back to stock later. This would then have a smaller gasketed hatch installed where the companionway hatch is. It could be removed when you're back in coastal areas and need to be trailerable.
--Install an inboard hydraulic autohelm to keep exhaustion at bay.
Pack the cable through-way at the stern with sealing putty.
--Put a chart-plotter on the helm and inside the cabin on an NMEA 2000 bus.
--Get a wind instrument, an I-band radar, and a mast-mounted VHF with AIS.
--Get two EPIRBs.
--I would upgrade all the portholes to 3/8 Lexan and make certain they're correctly bedded.
--Seal the ballast port vent hole with a compression fitting once the ballast tank is full. You don't want the ballast tank draining if you turtle.
--Get a roller reefing main. Ability to reef easily, drop the main and jib immediately, and reef to exacting wind conditions is far more important than performance.
--Put flexible freshwater tanks in long tubes in the bilge. Make sure they're longer than the openings in the bilge so they'll stay inside the liner if the boat is upside down.
--Tow an inflatable dinghy with it's own 3.5hp, and make certain it's fastened to the boat securely.
--Have both a large Fortress and a Rocna-style anchor on 20' of chain each. Keep the Rocna and it's chain under the v-berth however to keep weight low in the boat.
--Strap an extra 10 gallons of fuel off the port and starboard stern in twin 5 gallon tanks.
--Setup to bed down on the sole of the cabin floor. This will keep you from falling off of anything at night and will keep your body weight as low in the boat as possible.
--Use the "aft head" whenever possible, and keep your pot empty and dry whenever possible. In the open ocean, by far the best thing to do with human waste is dump it overboard immediately, so the stock port-a-potty will do just fine.
--Get a good asymmetrical spinnaker. You'll be going directly downwind a lot and you'll want to take full advantage of the trade winds.
And yeah, after you've done all this, you'll find you could have gotten a used 45 footer setup to go for less money. None of the power-sailor or trailerable characteristics of a Mac do you any good in the open ocean.
The most important criteria in my opinion are:
0) Upgrade the boat to withstand ocean forces on critical components.
1) Ability to relieve wind forces immediately in a blow
2) Ability to right the boat if it turtles
3) Ability to helm the boat from the inside under power
All of my recommendations are for the M.
--Add an 8 or 9.9 hp kicker. I wouldn't remove my existing ETEC because it's pretty good ballast when its low and it forms a good third rudder. But kicker powerful enough to keep you at hull speed efficiently is an important source of redundancy.
--Build a custom dagger, and carry an extra set of rudders.
--Upgrade the steering to hydraulic, and add an extra wheel actuator inside the boat at daggerboard trunk so you can helm from inside the boat. You can set it up on a valve to line-out the cockpit helm.
--Replace the sliding hatch and companionway with a custom-made fiberglass and lexan pilothouse that will allow you to see 360 around the boat from the inside. You can go up about 10" from the deck. I'd build it as a single-piece of fiberglass that requires the sliding hatch rails to be removed to install it and then are used to bolt it back down. Bed it with Butyl tape, which is waterproof but easy to remove so you can go back to stock later. This would then have a smaller gasketed hatch installed where the companionway hatch is. It could be removed when you're back in coastal areas and need to be trailerable.
--Install an inboard hydraulic autohelm to keep exhaustion at bay.
Pack the cable through-way at the stern with sealing putty.
--Put a chart-plotter on the helm and inside the cabin on an NMEA 2000 bus.
--Get a wind instrument, an I-band radar, and a mast-mounted VHF with AIS.
--Get two EPIRBs.
--I would upgrade all the portholes to 3/8 Lexan and make certain they're correctly bedded.
--Seal the ballast port vent hole with a compression fitting once the ballast tank is full. You don't want the ballast tank draining if you turtle.
--Get a roller reefing main. Ability to reef easily, drop the main and jib immediately, and reef to exacting wind conditions is far more important than performance.
--Put flexible freshwater tanks in long tubes in the bilge. Make sure they're longer than the openings in the bilge so they'll stay inside the liner if the boat is upside down.
--Tow an inflatable dinghy with it's own 3.5hp, and make certain it's fastened to the boat securely.
--Have both a large Fortress and a Rocna-style anchor on 20' of chain each. Keep the Rocna and it's chain under the v-berth however to keep weight low in the boat.
--Strap an extra 10 gallons of fuel off the port and starboard stern in twin 5 gallon tanks.
--Setup to bed down on the sole of the cabin floor. This will keep you from falling off of anything at night and will keep your body weight as low in the boat as possible.
--Use the "aft head" whenever possible, and keep your pot empty and dry whenever possible. In the open ocean, by far the best thing to do with human waste is dump it overboard immediately, so the stock port-a-potty will do just fine.
--Get a good asymmetrical spinnaker. You'll be going directly downwind a lot and you'll want to take full advantage of the trade winds.
And yeah, after you've done all this, you'll find you could have gotten a used 45 footer setup to go for less money. None of the power-sailor or trailerable characteristics of a Mac do you any good in the open ocean.
and if my BFA didnt phase it I think they are fine. Dam yankee's lol
rudders will snap like carrots if you make a simple helm mistake ......
