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Thanks KM, BEENE, ETC for all the encouraging comments, Re keeping boat.I am thinking hard about not being able to sail & now have the idea its easier to power boat. Perhaps someone will take me out to learn a bit more. The wife wont go on the boat till I can sail it.Maybe I will find a competent sailor near me in Cleveland,Ohio area to help me, I wont give up this year and will put the bloody sails up in the back yard and sleep on it if I have to. Thanks once again. ALBION.

I did a 5 day delivery sail from Loraine OH to Buffalo NY - Erie is one of the best cruising lakes in the country in my experience...stick it out and I dont think there will be regrets. The trailer ability of the Mac also lets you easily shoot up to Wilson NY and the day sail to Toronto...great trip!!

Learning to sail is easy, learning to sail well takes a lifetime.

Put it in the water and hoist away. You'll be surprised how easy it is to keep the boat moving just using the simple instructions in the Mac manual. Don't sweat actually getting somewhere under sail, just learn what moves the boat and what doesn't and when you really need to get somewhere turn on the engine.

Hey Albion, have you looked around for any economy sailing schools? I got a months worth of weekends learning to sail through the YMCA Thunderbird Sailing School back in the mid seventies for $100.00 on a 26' Thunderbird keelboat. It was 28 years later before I got my own sailboat, an '03M. Just get out there and do it with someone, anyone who wants to try, you don't know what you are missing, I had to wait 28 years and I didn't forget anything, it's a blast. Start in light winds and go from there. I still remenber our instructor telling us that when you hear Small Craft Warning in the forecast it means time to get the sailboats out there, always made me wonder what the definition of small craft was since a 26' Thundrbird was not my idea of a big craft. Anyway it is money and time well spent and I can't take it with me so I'm spending it.

Gas is already poping $4 in CA.
Stick with what you got!

Sleepy wrote:Gas is already poping $4 in CA.
Stick with what you got!

Indeed.

Take your mast and sails each time you go out...one day there will be very little wind...very few boats around....then hoist just the jib and see what it does....if you keep the jib sheet in your hand you can release it in a split second and dump the air out...We have a friend who had a Chrysler 26 and he sailed with just the jib most of the time when he was single handed....of course he was usually sailing with us and we were beginners....dont be afraid to try it....just pick the right time...wear your life jacket....have your wife go with you....or a friend...

..

I learned to sail when I was 12. Spent the summer with a friend playing in a 12 ft Kingfisher on the county lake in Oak Bowery Alabama. It was a little bigger than a dinghy. It had a rudder, a mast that two kids could pick up and stick in the hole, a sail and a rope. About a simple as it gets. It's the only time and the only thing I ever sailed before I bought my Mac this year, and that was 38 years ago. I went out by myself in light winds the second week I had the Mac, raised the mainsail, and started sailing. No problem. If you can fill the ballast, put the boards down, and raise the sail, you can sail. That's the hardest part. Once the sail is up, just point the boat anywhere except into the wind and and you will find yourself sailing like magic my friend. It's as simple as that!

I'm a very new learner Albion.
Over here we have Sailing clubs.
Joining one is the best thing me and my kid did. Yes we started on those 'little' boats, and the guy giving lessons must have been all of 18. Everyone is really friendly and helpful, and they all want to see a 'Mac'.
The club owns maybe 6 boats and anyone that wants to sail is welcome.
Some of the guys with racing rigs get their partners from the members, in fact when I watched them one day, they sort of paired-off before the races.
There is a bit of a social scene there too.
Early in the piece, one guy told me yachts are like wheels, "they are all round, just different sizes and colours".
Ever considered joinging a club.....your problem may become one of not having enough time to sail as much as you wish.
On the flip side, strip the boat and use it as a cruirser.
Good luck.
Cheers

Albion

I'm just a novice sailor myself you would'nt believe the stuff I go out in but I'm a thrillseeker once you get bitten you'll be too
once you get the hang of it you can also pull people along 'TUBING" OR SURFING WHILE SAILING , lots of fun time to enjoy

John

If I were you I would look up the local power squadrun and take the longer of their two intro to safe boating courses, you would learn a thing or two - at least how to tie a knot - and you would meet people like yourself who could give you advice on how and where to go for more experience - and you can get your boat inspected so that when the Coast Guard boards you your flares and PDFs will be up to date. I might also go by a local marina and put up a small card saying will crew on day sailors for experience. If it is laid back you might get a call or two, just do not offer to crew for a race yet.
US Sailing has a small boat course, I took it reciently and it has very little to do with sailing a Mac, it is more about not failing overboard and how to get back in the boat when you do. They have a keel boat corse that might fit but it wasn't offered. Just beware of places that ask you your wet suit size.

If you're having difficulties, you might want to try taking a sailing class. They have a very good one at Harbor North in Vermillion. They have classes for beginners, through multi-day live aboard classes. There are others from Sandusky to Ashtabula as well, including the Cleveland Sailing Club. Give it a chance, and remember the the Mac without a sail is a nice power boat.

Oh my! Reminds me of us starting out sailing before we got our 26x. We had a Catalina C-22. Great boat. The winds on mountain lakes can be flaky. One minute it's light and variable, the next it's 40knts. Without sailing experience and knowing what to expect from a sailboat we'd pull the sails down at first sign of wind! We were certain it would tip over while heeling, and the water was right there! After a season of this a local fellow with great skills offered to take us out on our boat and tune the rigging for us. The biggest comfort was knowing it would turn into the wind if overpowered.

Never have we seen our boat go that fast under sail. Nor did we feel so secure.

These boats are fairly easy to sail IMHO. Being able to power to a destination if the winds aren't cooperating is priceless. The M is like that...

Albion,

Don't give up yet! Maybe take it out and just sail with a reefed main and jib so that things don't get out of control. If you have a jib furler you can dump that quick if you need to.

Daniel