celebrating 20 years of Mac ownership

[Herschel]

Bill (Befree) came down from Steinhatchie (Florida) on December 7th, and we replaced the Genoa with standard jib and bent on the mainsail. Pretty full day for us senior types especially since the furler track was not terribly happy to accept a new sail. We muscled it up, nonetheless. Tried liquid soap as lubricant, but that didn't seem to help much. The furler is about 24 years old, so just happy it is still working. but I digress. December 7th, despite its much greater significance in USA history, also marked my 20th year of ownership of American Spirit, my 1998 26X. Attached is a pic of me with the original owner in Sterling Heights, MI, my U-Haul truck I used to tow it to Florida, and my first crew for the first outing. Lake Monroe in Sanford, Florida. Also, a pic of Bill and I enjoying a well-earned dinner of fish and chips afterward. Thanks, again, Bill. Your help was invaluable. Still going strong (with help, obviously) at 79. So many great memories over the past 20 years. The admiral and I have cruised the St. Johns from Sanford to Jax and back, several partial trips north through Lake George, a GICW trip from St. Pete to Venice and back, a week on Lake Allatoona near Atlanta, and many, many day sails from our marina in downtown Sanford. Many trips with various family members; we have tried to make the boat a blessing to the whole family.

[dlandersson]

Congrats

[NiceAft]

Yes, congratulations

You give us 74 year old youngsters inspiration.

[Russ]

Awesome!

Congrats on 20 years. Goes to show that these boats are not "starter" boats.

[kmclemore]

Congratulations!

As it happens, I’m coming up on 20 years as well… bought mine somewhere around January 2004, I seem to recall, but I’d have to check the title to be certain.

[Herschel]

Congratulations!

As it happens, I’m coming up on 20 years as well… bought mine somewhere around January 2004, I seem to recall, but I’d have to check the title to be certain.

Sounds like we were thinking alike back then. Congrats to you.

[Herschel]

Now that the topic is out there, and its winter, I thought I would sort of share some stories and pictures from those 20 years. I'll try to add a post ever couple of days to help while away the cold weather for our northern shipmates. All boat stories start with the mistakes we make when we do not know what we are doing. You will notice I rented a U-Haul to bring the Mac from Michigan to Florida in early December 2003. The trip was a hoot. There was snow on the ground in Ohio. While I did some driving in snow in North Carolina and California, I am NOT an experienced driver in those conditions. Fortunately, the roads were scraped, and there were no scary moments. Of course, I could not see the boat behind the truck except when making a rather sharp turn. The admiral and I had debated my driving our Ford Crown Vic up to Michigan for the tow but decided to do the U-Haul instead. If a Ford taurus can tow a Mac 26X surely a Crown Vic can! Ha! The truck choice was fortuitous because it turned out that the Crown Vic needed a 7-inch riser hitch to keep the trailer level and its rear springs need to be hardened with spacers, and even then, it was very slow on the few Florida hills we tried to use that rig on. Of course, it was a heavy Mac 26X with a double-axle trailer. The rig weighs in at about 4,800 lbs. I got stuck in a cul-de-sac motel parking lot once and had to back up and turn the rig around. Had to get out and check things numerous times before I got the rig turned around. Note to self: don't expect motel parking lots to go all the way around the motel! The good news was that I got to stop in Tennessee for my 91-year-old father to see my new treasure. He passed away two years later. It meant a lot to me that the got to see it. What did I carry in the bed of the truck you might ask? One single suitcase!

[Russ]

I love stories like this ^
Makes me feel like I'm not alone in my experiences.

Reminds me of when we bought our Mac. We took a trip to BWY in Seattle in March. I had never towed anything like a Mac before and our old Dodge truck had never made a long journey like this on highways. Some Dodge Ram trucks are notorious for "wobbly" steering at highway speeds and ours was too. Also, there are several large mountain passes with 75mph speeds. BWY was nice enough to wait until March for me to pick up the boat (I bought it in January), but they needed the space and needed the boat out of there.

Before departing Seattle the forecast was for heavy snow. I seriously contemplated dropping the boat someplace on the way home and storing it to come back later when the roads were clear. It was a nail-biter trying to decide what do to.

Fortunately, the weather forecast turned out to be just a scare and roads were clear. We did have to stay at a hotel on the way home and I feared a similar Herschel parking dilemma. Again, I lucked out, it was late when we arrived and I parked the rig in front of the hotel. They said I could leave it there as we were leaving in the morning.

The truck was still dicey with that stiff steering and it struggled to climb mountain passes. I hadn't used the truck like this and worried that much stress on the motor would blow something.

We made it home and the next day got 6" of snow dumped on us and the boat. But we made it without incident. Whew!

[Herschel]

I love stories like this ^
Makes me feel like I'm not alone in my experiences.

Reminds me of when we bought our Mac. We took a trip to BWY in Seattle in March. I had never towed anything like a Mac before and our old Dodge truck had never made a long journey like this on highways. Some Dodge Ram trucks are notorious for "wobbly" steering at highway speeds and ours was too. Also, there are several large mountain passes with 75mph speeds. BWY was nice enough to wait until March for me to pick up the boat (I bought it in January), but they needed the space and needed the boat out of there.

Before departing Seattle the forecast was for heavy snow. I seriously contemplated dropping the boat someplace on the way home and storing it to come back later when the roads were clear. It was a nail-biter trying to decide what do to.

Fortunately, the weather forecast turned out to be just a scare and roads were clear. We did have to stay at a hotel on the way home and I feared a similar Herschel parking dilemma. Again, I lucked out, it was late when we arrived and I parked the rig in front of the hotel. They said I could leave it there as we were leaving in the morning.

The truck was still dicey with that stiff steering and it struggled to climb mountain passes. I hadn't used the truck like this and worried that much stress on the motor would blow something.

We made it home and the next day got 6" of snow dumped on us and the boat. But we made it without incident. Whew!

I can relate somewhat. We took a trip to Seattle in 2018 with our travel trailer and our 2007 Dodge 1500 with the 5.7 Hemi. We had circled up from the San Diego area where we have family, then along the Oregon coast, and into Seattle. The admiral was born there, visited her elementary school, celebrated our anniversary at a nice restaurant on the waterfront, and paid respects to family buried in Everett, then on to visit Yellowstone and the attractions along I-90. Came through the Cascades on I-90 in heavy rain with a ton of traffic. Truck towed all right, just not fun conditions. was happy to get onto state highways and go through some beautiful country on the way into Spokane.

[March]

Ah, memories… I, too, have reached the 20-year threshold with my Mac. Seems like yesterday. I found one in Colorado and drove to pick her up from Iowa, over the spring break. The boat was not ready—fortunately! On the way back, a heavy snow storm blanketed the central states. I doubt I could have made it with the Mac in tow. Even so, I had misgivings about reaching home safely again (a feeling that I had since experienced several times on the Mac, too)

The second attempt—at the end of the spring semester. A different Mac 26X, but still had to drive to Colorado to retrieve her, Since the weather was pretty crappy, I didn’t test her on the water—took the “seller” at his word. After all, he was part of the Mac Community from this site!

Towed her with a Dodge Caravan—my first towing experience, but it went well. Caravan was pretty stable (long base) and the road to Iowa is pretty flat, so the engine was not struggling. Stopped mid-way and slept in a parking lot, luxuriating in the Mac’s cabin, among sails and cockpit cushions and sundry odds and ends. Total bliss.

Took me a whole month to upgrade the electrical system and add a solar panel, and Waeco fridge, to install portholes (picturesque view of the passengers’’ ankles in the cockpit, but they brighten up the black hole of the rear berth) etc. But when we launched her on the local lake with much trepidation (I had zero experience with sailing), having broken a small bottle of Champagne over the pulpit rail, after the proper ritual, it turned out that the water pump was broken and the previous owner never mentioned that—and he was a priest!

Anyway, I ain’t complaining. The boat came with a bimini, a full cockpit enclosure, upgraded interior cushions with stiffer foam and excellent cushion covers, two anchors, radio and depth-finder… I came to fully appreciate them in time and still use some of them to this day. The water-pump was fixed within the next day (the guys at the local marina seemed much prompter in those days, being boaters themselves) and my faithful Mac has provided countless happy hours ever since.

Here’s to many more! Cheers!

[Herschel]

Looks like several of us had somewhat of a "tiger by the tail" experience picking up our Macs and getting them home. Perhaps the most humbling surprise for me was the change in rigging time and effort between my previous Hobie cats (18-fter and 13-ft Wave). I was 59 when I finally got my dream boat, and my three sons were long out of the house. Just the admiral and i usually to rig, launch and recover and derig. We had really expected it to be an easy boat to keep on the trailer and take out for day sails on Central Florida lakes or Tampa/Sarasota bays, maybe coastal gulf. We developed an Excel checklist for the whole process. In Florida heat, the hour or so it took us to package up the boat after a day sail pretty much took the recreational value out of the day. I had a boat loan now, so we were stuck with the Crown Vic as our tow vehicle. Not ideal. So, we started considering the use of marina slip within the first 12-18 months. Depending on our finances that is pretty much what we did when we could. I did keep the boat at a storage facility for about a year, but then we didn't use it that much. Of course, with keeping it in the water full time, we had to have the bottom painted. That was a bit of a shock to see that smooth white bottom go all black!

[NiceAft]

Herschel said :

the hour or so it took us to package up the boat after a day sail pretty much took the recreational value out of the day.

We have only owned our 2005 M for 19 years. When we purchased it, we too had dreams of launching and being on the water for a day. The first time out it took an hour and a half to rig, and anoth hour and a half to de-rig. Three hours out of the day for those processes was too much. We went out and got a slip. After three or four years on the Delaware it was enough; sailing on a narrow river is hard work and boring.

We now keep the boat at our house and take it out once or twice a year for two week cruises.

The mast is much heavier than the . When I purchased the M.R.S., I reduced the rig and de-rig times to one hour each.

A friend used to rig his in a half hour.

[Herschel]

Niceaft said:

After three or four years on the Delaware it was enough; sailing on a narrow river is hard work and boring. We now keep the boat at our house and take it out once or twice a year for two-week cruises.

I think it is interesting how many of have had to adjust our expectations and find new ways to fit our Mac's into our lives. And, in the cases of those of us who have kept and used theirs, actually found new ideas and opportunities as a result. We are fortunate to be on a river system with good size lakes so that we can cruise on the river under power and sail on the lakes. I have really enjoyed my Mac as a motorboat essentially when on the river. I don't know how it is on other rivers, but the St. Johns here in Florida has been able to avoid most of the development and "touristy" look that is so much a part of Central Florida. Years ago, we stopped in a little town along the river, Astor, FL. The marina/bar/grill adjacent to our boat slip had a country band playing on Saturday night. One local showed up in a T-shirt with a picture of the town and the caption: "Astor: a little drinking village with a fishing problem".

[NiceAft]

Sounds nice Herschel, but that’s not the Delaware.

The Marina we were at for a few years is about ten miles north of Philadelphia. Philadelphia is ninety miles north of the Delaware Bay. 100 miles north of the bay, the river gets narrow and shallow, so a 40 foot deep channel was dug. It would be nice if it wasn’t for some huge freighters and tankers doing needed commerce. Sailing outside of the channel is dicey. It gets shallow and dangerous. Hidden objects lie there. When the tide goes out, the depth really lessens. Once we saw a skiff high and dry (three men string in it) with an anchor line going from its bow to its anchor (also high and dry) about forty feet in front of the skiff. They went fishing outside of the channel and didn’t pay attention to the tide. It was quite funny to see. Kind of reminded me of the scene in The Wizzard Of Oz when Dorothy looks out the window when her house was lifted in a tornado and sees two men in a row boat, high in the sky, rowing. I called the Coast Guard, and was told those fellas just have to wait until the tide refloats them. That would be well after sundown.

I’m not even going to describe what comes floating down the river when it rains. . Enough was enough; we left after a few years.

[Herschel]

Niceaft reported:

The Marina we were at for a few years is about ten miles north of Philadelphia. Philadelphia is ninety miles north of the Delaware Bay. 100 miles north of the bay, the river gets narrow and shallow, so a 40-foot-deep channel was dug. It would be nice if it wasn’t for some huge freighters and tankers doing needed commerce.

Yeah, I get the picture. Reminds me of the lower Mississippi between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Took a river cruise between New Orleans and Memphis back in 2015. But big ships everywhere.

But if you ever feel like spending a couple of days on I-95, I think you would find the St. Johns River in Florida a very different experience. Good marina support between Jacksonville and Sanford and 150 plus miles to explore. Even some clear water springs for anchorage.