Rudders and center board up while cruising at 5 kts, my X wants to zig-zag. Steering a straight course is a physical challenge. Rudders down and center board down about one foot, the boat tracks in a straight line at 5 kts and it suddenly becomes a relaxing pleasure. With my :macx: above 7knots, it...

Rudders and center board up while cruising at 5 kts, my X wants to zig-zag. Steering a straight course is a physical challenge. Rudders down and center board down about one foot, the boat tracks in a straight line at 5 kts and it suddenly becomes a relaxing pleasure. Same configuration when docking ...

Life jackets are too often thought of as ominous, as if they were parachutes. Putting them on as if a boat was in real jeopardy or like an airplane ready to go down. Life jackets should be worn most of the time especially in weather. In sailing, a person could be whacked unconscious by a boom and kn...

There was an empty ballast X on Narragansett Bay which went on its side and it couldn't be righted. According to the story, there were several people assisting. It was finally towed while on its side.

wasp18 you have to be careful on those small vacs cause some do not suck up much. We tried 4 different ones at lowes and the depot and just took a chance on the Shop Vac brand from Amazon. Hopefully yours will really suck :D . My wife likes it cause it is so light. You need ear plugs with ours as i...

Love this forum!

I just purchased a new shop vac after reading how it's used for pumping out a bilge. I've been using portable pumps and they really need lots of water to work properly. I just bought an "ArmorAll" AA255 2.5 gallon shop vac for $38.79 on Amazon.

Do you have portable bilge pumps? How do you plan to deal with bilge water? Also, do you have solar panels to replenish the batteries? Your interior looks brilliant! Congratulations, and I hope your once-in-a-lifetime journey is the very best. I'll be looking forward to your trip commentary or blog.

I use bleach tablets and when I empty the ballast on the ramp, the water rushing out looks very clear. Here's a brief article about bleach. http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-clorox-and-vs-bleach/ While a Marketing major in college, I studied many such examples. For example, using ...

I use bleach tablets and when I empty the ballast on the ramp, the water rushing out looks very clear. Here's a brief article about bleach.
http://www.differencebetween.com/differ ... vs-bleach/

Check out the reviews and details on this 12v lithium jump start pack. I was impressed when I read about it starting large V8's and diesel engines. I bought one from Costco and it just arrived. Neat little package and lightweight. http://www.costco.com/Lithium-Jump-Starter-and-Portable-Power-Bank.pr...

Lead weighs 707 lbs per square foot according to a chart I found on the Web . If it were possible to install 3 or 4" (diameter) dowel shaped lead weights into the water chamber of our Macs, what do you think that would add to stability? We would then add water to stabilize the weights as ballas...

TAR in today's US Navy means "Training and Administration of Reservists". The TAR Program represents full-time active duty naval reservists who maintain small reserve bases and who are committed to train weekend warriors, TAR's will often spend twenty years in this program and then retire....

What kind of sealer (brand name) did you use?

I love your comment WASP "I came to the realization that these boats leak and I don't know where and I gave up looking"...lol. I am so with you on that one. You could spend hours and hours looking but its probably alot easier to just pump it out and get rid of it. Your comment should go u...

What 3M product did you use as a sealant for the screws? I plan on mounting a fish finder on the top of my pedestal. Also, the screws on the side of my binnacle (pedestal) are always loose and I'd like to screw them in with something that will hold them in and withstand both screwing-in and removal ...