Ahhoy!

[Jonair222]

Fresh Meat
Name is Braxon
Found this Mac 22 on CL last summer sitting in a junk yard in St Pete full of leaves and dirt. Owner says it was in a marina during Debbie and wasnt tied down right. Rear pulpit rail got jammed under something, ripped up a few bolts, pulled out the cleats on SB side (no backing plate just screwed into the glass ). Took on water yikes!
A lot of bleach, muriatic acid, vacuum, and hard work and she was (i thought) seaworthy.

Trailerd to ramp on its way to a new residential slip in Boca Ciega Bay. Raing mast and wind caught us sideways, scraccck, there goes mast step!
Motored out anyways had to get off trailer (not mine). Got halfway across bay and outboard splutters out---
Thank god I brought an electric trawling motor.
Ended up injecting epoxy into soft spot around step plate, gutting interior supports and wall, refreshed her.
Old Mariner 8, and i mean 1972 old, actually wasnt to blame either. Had a leaky OMC fuel connector and poor thing was sucking air.
After some fresh gear oil and a new connector running like a champ.

So thats just a part of Jonair's story. Many more calamities and fun. Enough for now.
She hangs around here and gets great joy confusing local boaters who arent aware of swing keel sailboats and their go-any-shallow-place ability. Perfect for the sandy flats and islands of Tampa Bay.

As with any boat my zainy project ideas keep building, and I am looking for input from those who know these boats.
For now I just wanted to say hey and share my love of this versatile sailing boat.





Oh and a SHOUT to Johnny on the Nina Marie out there!

[JohnCT]

Welcome

I just finished a complete referb of a 1975 V21

Feel free to ask

[Russ]

Nice looking boat. Especially after the story of where she's been.

[Jonair222]

OK here is one of my more outlandish ideas.
In photos you can see me scraping bottom which looked like a reef.
I sanded and painted hull smooth, but man was that iron keel is a pig of a thing.
Seems the organisms embedded themselves into the the iron the thing is literally alive.
I scraped and chipped of chunks of metal, and dabbed some AF paint for good measure, but the whole keel has swelled up. This has caused the keel to not fully descend. It gets stuck at about 30 degrees down.
I attempted to run a handsaw up and down the pocket near bolt, to knock off any loose rusty metal, but when i started smelling fiberglass dust I decided to stop, rather have a half keel than a sunk boat ya.

So seeing as this pitted, chunky, foul keel is slowing my speed, I have been planning on redoing it.
Now here is my wacky idea. The keel is over 400pds, and I feel like it significantly weighs down what would otherwise be a very quick boat.
What would be the risk of removing this stinky iron keel and fabricating a newer, lighter one made of high density plastic board like used on the M26 centerboard?
I was thinking if necessary I could build a lead weight into the bottom end of the new keel to keep it deep in the water. Would the sideways pressure of a long board be enough to keep the boat upright in semi strong winds?
From what I understand about ballast (which is not much), weight should be to the outside edges of the hull anyways, rather than in the middle. So when the keel is up as it often is these days, it is not really helping me.
So I figured I could add a few extra lead batteries on each side of the bilge, to give her some extra stability.
IDK do you guys think this would make the boat heel to easily on windy days?
If it worked well enough I know it would improve performance in light winds and make the boat faster under power, which is when I use the boat most, although I am patiently waiting for stronger, steady October winds we get here on gulf coast.
I also thought of going as far as shaving new keel down narrower (level with hull bottom) so that when up I could truly access any shallow water location?
What do you guys think?
Are any of the MacGregors hanging around I would love to know what Roger says!
Regards,
Braxon

[J--]

Ahoy!

I have a 22 as well. And as much as you'd like to ditch the weight, you need it.

My old iron keel looks pretty rough as well, and while I may pull it this winter to fair or replace it, you still need ballast down low, not at the sides for your boat to be stable, especially going to weather. All of the water ballasted boats carry their ballast low. The ballast tanks for the 26X's and 26M's are in the very bottom of the boat, not up the sides. Think of your boat as balance scale (I also like Weeble, but most people don't remember toys from the 70's), and the pressure of the wind against the sails is counteracted on by the weight in the keel. Better performance would come from not necessarily a lighter foil, but a deeper one, according to the current design guys. Keep in mind, I'm definitely not an expert on monohull design

The crazy race boats that are out right now, with canting keels and movable water ballast still have a big ball of ballast on the end of the keel, and these keels are REALLY deep, like 15 ft or something crazy like that.

What really will help performance is newer/better sails. As sails get old and soft they don't perform as well as they used to. Also, and we all fall into this category, is what makes the boat perform at its best is the part between the helm and the seat, and what that needs it practice! Especially practice reefing, because almost every boat sails faster when it's not on its side.

[vizwhiz]

Welcome!
If you do a search, you will find that there are quite a few threads in here that are related to keel overhaul on those boats (and the other similar weighted-keel models).

[JohnCT]

I just finished doing my keel on a V21, easier done then it sounds, and a clean painted keel does have less drag.