I just couldnt do it!!!

[bartmac]

We went on our Mac for 12 glorious days from Xmas day on wards...but employee problems means having to be at work 5 days aweek...so the next scheduled usage of our mac will be next Xmas...and we figure to much work for day/weekend trips....not enough usage but won't sell...just building a lean to on our farm shed so she (read Mac "Quacker")lives under cover...she fully tarped except for her solar panels at the moment

[Berber Boy]

There are some things in life that don't make economic sense Paul but the value add they give to our lives keeps us going. Glad you made the call you did. When I see the joy on my kids and grandkids faces when we get together 3-4 times a year to enjoy WindSong on the Gippsland Lakes I realise that every moment we are together is a precious privilege for the Admiral and I that we cannot count on forever. However I go through this kind of cost-benefit anaysis every time the insurance and registration renewals come not to mention my monthly storage costs! But the family factor and the de-stressing impact of wind, water on my health and wellbeing is priceless.

Dave

[Mac26Mpaul]

what a supportive bunch you lot are Some of those comments make a lot of sense.

yeah Dave, that cost benifit analysis thing comes up for me too, usually when I'm pouring another bucket of money into her for something thats broken LOL, or when that $1000 a year of boat rego, trailer rego and insurance comes up. But still, as I said on here once before, it only takes one short trip of say three to five days, to pay for that. Go to Tangalooma Island resort for 5 days and it will cost ya 5 grand or so - We went there for 5 days and spent $300 including beer, food and fuel, as per the photos below. You only need a few enjoyable trips a year away and your boat is well worth the cost of ownership, not to mention the joy of ownership that you get from it, which includes showing off to friends and neigbours, playing with it etc. And if you are lucky enough to keep yours in the your backyard like I do, it is one hull of a more comfortable place to spend a night in than the dog house




Will catch up for a cold one Dennis. Thats a great shame to hear the missus is not taking to the boat. You really need to plan some calm water trips to get her used to the whole thing. Give the sailing a miss when she is onboard for a while, or maybe just throw one sail up in real light winds. My wife really didnt understand the concept of pleasure boating when I bought the last trailer sailer. She put up with it for a bit but then refused to go out because the boat was just too small, uncomfortable and too noisy (6hp outboard screaming away to get the Careel 18 to hull speed). Buying the Mac changed the whole thing. Still we had some bad times out (still do occasionally), but mostly things improved dramatically over time and she began to understand that the whole thing can be a very pleasent experience. To cut a long story short, it gets much better with time, so you have to ease her into it and make sure she doesnt give up on it.. You wont need stay at Marinas for that trip. I havnt stayed at any marina in the bay or Gold Coast ever. I would not look at that trip as a coupla days to get to the Gold Coast and a Coupla days back. I would look at it as a week down and a week back. You only need a day or three in the broadwater. The joy will be in the journey and the anchorages you will visit, not spending a week in the broadwater, (which in school holiday time, attracts every moron who can find a way onto the water, including gangs of marauding PWCs , tinnies with twin 200s tearing it up in 6 knot zones etc, bloody nightmare). It would not be fun trying to motor/sail that distance in a coupla days..

Clay, ahh, mad yank parents, yeah my parents are nutty poms, so I sort of know how ya feel Do you have duel citiizenship US/OZ then? I dont think the US does that deal do they.

[Hammer24]

Just chiming in to say that your youtube vid was the final straw that made the Admiral and me pull the trigger on a
Glad to see you kept her!

[Tomfoolery]

Just chiming in to say that your youtube vid was the final straw that made the Admiral and me pull the trigger on a
Glad to see you kept her!

Between those gorgeous pics (That water! Wow!), and the great video, the OP is doing more to sell the Mac Experience than the MacGregor company did themselves.





This is the glop that I sail on. Dig that pollution plume.



Paul: I think you've made the right decision, though that's easy for me to say, of course. But given your sailing area, I think I'd be living out there in the summer. Wow - just WOW!

Someone hand me my sunglasses and Tilley.

[Baerkanu]

Clay, ahh, mad yank parents, yeah my parents are nutty poms, so I sort of know how ya feel Do you have duel citiizenship US/OZ then? I dont think the US does that deal do they.

I think the US disallowed dual citizenship for awhile, up until sometime before '63 when I was born - but I first got an Aussie passport in '80, never had an issue. I think it's allowed now - my sister's husband is Canadian, and all her kids have dual US/Canadian citizenship.

It's great having the option - when I get fed up with US politics and/or culture, I can just go to Oz - until I get fed up with Oz politics and/or culture, and come back here. Come to think of it, it's not US/Oz issues, apparently I need to learn tolerance....

- Clay

[Tomfoolery]

Oh, and I just realized where you are specifically. My youngest son, the one who learned to wakeboard off my boat, will be at UQ in Brisbane for a semester starting about a month from now or so. Maybe he'll send me some pics, too.

I'll be here, splashing about in my mud puddle. Don't mind me.

[Mac26Mpaul]

Its odd, I pulled the For Sale adds down and have had three offers in two days including an offer yesterday for the 40K I wanted (thats a good price here by the way). Needness to say, I have turned it down

Welcome aboard Hammer24, I'm happy to know that my vid helped some nice people on the other side of the world, see the light Here is the pictures I had up for my For sale add:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96256274@N02/ (will get rid of the that For Sale sign shortly)

Clay, duel citizenship would be great. Oz and US culture is very similar, Only differences are, you guys havnt realized yet that a good meat pie craps all over a hot dog at the footy, Oh, and the beers better here of course And you make better Tv shows, Gilligans Island and Mash crap all over Neigbours and Home and Away any day! oh, and you have funny accents of course

I'm sure there are some nice spots to sail around in that mud puddle Tkanzler

[Berber Boy]

They do allow it and I have UK/USA PP's but you have to agree to always enter the US on their PP and fight for them in time of war! At 71 I am not to fussed about that!

Clay, ahh, mad yank parents, yeah my parents are nutty poms, so I sort of know how ya feel Do you have duel citiizenship US/OZ then? I dont think the US does that deal do they.

I think the US disallowed dual citizenship for awhile, up until sometime before '63 when I was born - but I first got an Aussie passport in '80, never had an issue. I think it's allowed now - my sister's husband is Canadian, and all her kids have dual US/Canadian citizenship.

It's great having the option - when I get fed up with US politics and/or culture, I can just go to Oz - until I get fed up with Oz politics and/or culture, and come back here. Come to think of it, it's not US/Oz issues, apparently I need to learn tolerance....

- Clay

[Baerkanu]

Clay, duel citizenship would be great. Oz and US culture is very similar, Only differences are, you guys havnt realized yet that a good meat pie craps all over a hot dog at the footy, Oh, and the beers better here of course

You're not kidding - meat pies are unknown here (except for crappy frozen ones) and now you've got me drooling over memories of Manning's pies with peas, at the little shack just outside Cairns. DAMNNN....and I never much liked hot dogs.

What's that place near Sydney Harbor that sells the best pies out of a caravan?? I went there once about 14 years ago, it was old then, but was an institution -

I'm not going to get into a beer discussion - VB's about the only beer I've every liked, maybe Carlton Draught too. Comparing them to Yank beer isn't even fair.

[Crikey]

Boy that's goin back!

Stuff the Peter's Pies....

[Mac26Mpaul]

Promise to fight for em! We been fighing for em (under US General's command) or next to em in every bloody war for over a hundred years. You'd think that would be enough Anyway, I'm sure you are going to look very smart in a US Marine uniform

Thats Harry's Pies your talking about matey, down near Garden Island Naval dockyard. I ended up there many drunken nights back in my Navy days. Nothing beats a good gourmet maggot bag from a good bakery though. I heard an Oz Maggot bag (meat pie) bakery has opened in NY city and there are lines going out the door

Some of the new Oz beers are better I reckon. I'm a big fan of Calton dry, dont mind "Great Northern" either.

Geezus,, is that you ya hansome devil

[sunshinecoasting]

I hear what you say about the Broadwater Paul, I may not even go that far if I am enjoying my trip south, I may get way layed at Tangalooma wrecks for a week and not even make it in to main channel, who knows? I dont have a strict plan.

As for the wife, she wont even get on board at a Marina now, she really hates it, so I have given up hope and sure am not man enough to suggest it one more time to her. That's OK, it's my hobby not hers, I would love to have shared all the future fun stuff with her but it isnt to be, my 14 year old daughter enjoys it but gets real bored real quick with it, typical 14 year old.

I am going to use Entropy over the next couple of months whale watching now that the season is just about upon me, you dont happen to know how far off shore the whales are typically found off our coast do you? (I dont have an epirb yet so am limited to 2 Nm).

Cheers, Dennis.

[Champguy]

Great video! I think you saved yourself some sleepless nights by not selling.