Guys (& Gals),
Thanks very much for turning me on to this site! I just had a chance to review all the comments on the referenced threads regarding sailing to Hawaii. Almost makes me wish I had not been out sailing all these years and missed my chance to follow this live & in person from my couch (just kidding).
Actually, my favorate was something like "Is sailing to Hawaii possible or insane in a Mac". My answer is; Thank God it's both!! If it wasn't insane it would not be fun! If it wasn't possible it would not be much fun thinking of how FUN & Insane it is going to be (of course, you have to remember that comes from someone who thought living in a snow cave 7800 Meters up the North side of Everest for 12 days in a 60 knot blow was 'fun'), guess we all have our own points of view on such things.
On the serious side, there were some well thought out and good points presented on why the MAC is not a Hawaii boat. You may be suprised to learn I agree with most all of them. The MAC is not intended to be an off-shore boat. However, that said there are many things that do well in areas for which they were not initially intended. I didn't start out saying "Gosh, I'm going to take my boat to Hawaii because that would be very cool". I started with baby steps, a few little bigger steps and so on. Then I said "That was fun, but hammering for days into the trades is getting a little old; How bout we go downwind for a change. For those of you who have not had the joy of a 400+ mile up-wind slog, trust me a 2250 mile 28 or so day sled ride starts looking good. The end result of all this is that if I did not think my equipment had been well tested for such a crossing & my skill sets on this specific boat in most conditions tuned, I would not try it. There is a reason (besides blind luck, for which I'm greatful for the abundent share I've been allowed) I've managed to do the things I have done and I'm still here to talk (bother you people?) about. Final thought, 1000 heads are better than one, so if ol' Maddmike is going to do it anyway, lets all put our heads together and see if we can help him out with anything he missed. Cheers, Maddmike
Zeno's Arrow
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Dimitri-2000X-Tampa
- Admiral
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- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Tampa, Florida 2000 Mercury BigFoot 50HP 4-Stroke on 26X hull# 3575.B000
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aya16
- Admiral
- Posts: 1362
- Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2005 6:29 am
- Location: LONG BEACH CALIF Mac M 04 WHITE
Maybe you can get one of those GPS tracking things so we can go with you On the web. And it better not be going 900 miles an hour. Good luck, when is the start day?
One thing I would have with me was a pet so you have someone to talk to. Small one of course. Not gold fish. Maybe a small pig or rabbit then if you get tired of fish.............
How about a watertight Plexiglas bubble over the cockpit? Or sneak a long line to a freighter late at night thats going that way. Make it clear mono in 25000 lb. test so the freighter guys will be amazed at how you can keep up with them.
Maybe the Mac can be made water tight and submersible to avoid heavy storms.
The mast can be made to collapse like a car antenna when the wind really blows or in a heavy storm.
Make the inside of the Mac round and put rollers on everything so youre always upright.
Sorry I couldnt help myself. I crack myself up. No offence
Really though if youre going to do this, the GPS thing might be fun for the rest of us.
One thing I would have with me was a pet so you have someone to talk to. Small one of course. Not gold fish. Maybe a small pig or rabbit then if you get tired of fish.............
How about a watertight Plexiglas bubble over the cockpit? Or sneak a long line to a freighter late at night thats going that way. Make it clear mono in 25000 lb. test so the freighter guys will be amazed at how you can keep up with them.
Maybe the Mac can be made water tight and submersible to avoid heavy storms.
The mast can be made to collapse like a car antenna when the wind really blows or in a heavy storm.
Make the inside of the Mac round and put rollers on everything so youre always upright.
Sorry I couldnt help myself. I crack myself up. No offence
Really though if youre going to do this, the GPS thing might be fun for the rest of us.
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Gerald Gordon
- First Officer
- Posts: 284
- Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2004 9:58 pm
- Location: O'ahu, Hawai'i
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waternwaves
- Admiral
- Posts: 1499
- Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:18 pm
- Location: X less in North Puget Sound -have to sail other boats for a while
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Gerald Gordon
- First Officer
- Posts: 284
- Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2004 9:58 pm
- Location: O'ahu, Hawai'i
Pets for food????
Pig as a pet, Hummmm?, Sounds interesting, wondered why those Polor Explorer types always started out with about 22 dogs and got back with only 2.
I of course, usually opt for starting out double handed and in a pinch coming in single-handed (little trick I learned with the Yanamani on the Amazon, yum, yum; just kidding). Thanks for all the 'sound' advise. No official start date yet, have to wait until I get back to the states to finalize things. If I can't scrape up a tracking device, I'll phone in to somebody by Iridium with position reports if folks would like me to do so. Maddmike
I of course, usually opt for starting out double handed and in a pinch coming in single-handed (little trick I learned with the Yanamani on the Amazon, yum, yum; just kidding). Thanks for all the 'sound' advise. No official start date yet, have to wait until I get back to the states to finalize things. If I can't scrape up a tracking device, I'll phone in to somebody by Iridium with position reports if folks would like me to do so. Maddmike
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waternwaves
- Admiral
- Posts: 1499
- Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:18 pm
- Location: X less in North Puget Sound -have to sail other boats for a while
Gerald,,,,,,,
yeah, heading eastward would probably be more comfortable.....
Tho.
I did start to calculate how much fuel it would take to motor that far.
Figuring 3500 miles (direct more or less with current)
super efficient etec or 4stroke
hull speed.........
600 gals.......
at 6.6 lbs a gal......almost 2 tons of fuel.
damn........I guess I'll just have to sail part of the way.......lol
yeah, heading eastward would probably be more comfortable.....
Tho.
I did start to calculate how much fuel it would take to motor that far.
Figuring 3500 miles (direct more or less with current)
super efficient etec or 4stroke
hull speed.........
600 gals.......
at 6.6 lbs a gal......almost 2 tons of fuel.
damn........I guess I'll just have to sail part of the way.......lol
Lomg Distance Motoring?
This might be some kind of (dumb) MAC motoring record, or on second thought it was likely just dumb; but,
Another Maddmike NSTIWS (No S**T There I was story)
Getting back from the San Blas Islands to Maricabo and really, really, not wanting to anchor in the boonies off the coast of Columbia I motored about 480 miles in 160 hrs., running one or the other of the 6 hp. engines (usually ran one for 12 hrs., then the other for 12 hrs. & back again), almost always at about 1/2 power & 3 knots as that was about all the boat could take against the trades (which were very strong during the days & light at night). I stayed tight in against the coast in the day where things were not so bad, then after dark shut of my Nav. lights and took a 30 degree angle out for a couple of hrs. (figured any bad guys would not have radar & be looking for me on my initial heading at nightfall, just something to be a little safer & also any offical drug patrols who spotted me would hopefully try to contact me via radio before starting to shoot).
I burned 44 gal. of gas (little over 1 qt. per hr.). Using this figure, Hawaii would take about 220 ga. (100 gal. on the boat & 1 55 gal. plastic drum strapped to each outrigger. Not anything I intend to do, but it is an interesting concept for a long, long river trip where fuel is unavailable (lots of those types of rivers in northern Russia). Any takers?
Another Maddmike NSTIWS (No S**T There I was story)
Getting back from the San Blas Islands to Maricabo and really, really, not wanting to anchor in the boonies off the coast of Columbia I motored about 480 miles in 160 hrs., running one or the other of the 6 hp. engines (usually ran one for 12 hrs., then the other for 12 hrs. & back again), almost always at about 1/2 power & 3 knots as that was about all the boat could take against the trades (which were very strong during the days & light at night). I stayed tight in against the coast in the day where things were not so bad, then after dark shut of my Nav. lights and took a 30 degree angle out for a couple of hrs. (figured any bad guys would not have radar & be looking for me on my initial heading at nightfall, just something to be a little safer & also any offical drug patrols who spotted me would hopefully try to contact me via radio before starting to shoot).
I burned 44 gal. of gas (little over 1 qt. per hr.). Using this figure, Hawaii would take about 220 ga. (100 gal. on the boat & 1 55 gal. plastic drum strapped to each outrigger. Not anything I intend to do, but it is an interesting concept for a long, long river trip where fuel is unavailable (lots of those types of rivers in northern Russia). Any takers?
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waternwaves
- Admiral
- Posts: 1499
- Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:18 pm
- Location: X less in North Puget Sound -have to sail other boats for a while
brent, checking my seasonal currents guide.......
it looks like a decent amount of current to fight on a hawaii trek from the coast.
sounds like you might have had a bit of the "equitorial counter" helping with the onshore trades........
sailing only up here........ I have absolutely no firsthand knowledge of what happens around california but it looks like i would not want to go south of 28 degs of lattitude or so during that time of year .......or there will be cross current for the first 400 miiles and too little wind after.......
any thoughts.......??
maybe I should stick to my december sailing up here in the northwest....
it looks like a decent amount of current to fight on a hawaii trek from the coast.
sounds like you might have had a bit of the "equitorial counter" helping with the onshore trades........
sailing only up here........ I have absolutely no firsthand knowledge of what happens around california but it looks like i would not want to go south of 28 degs of lattitude or so during that time of year .......or there will be cross current for the first 400 miiles and too little wind after.......
any thoughts.......??
maybe I should stick to my december sailing up here in the northwest....
I haven't looked at any charts regarding the winds and currents, but Bill Teplow sailed his Potter 19 to Hawaii from CA in Aug. It took 24 days and sounded like he was sailing with the trade winds not fighting them.
A description of his trip can be found here.
http://www.wingo.com/billsvoyage/technotes.html
A description of his trip can be found here.
http://www.wingo.com/billsvoyage/technotes.html
Reinforced Centerboard Slot
Eric,
When I removed the stock board there was a lot of wear from the centerboard rubbing and banging around in the channel. I re-glassed this, then added a light weight horseshoe shaped aluminum protective 'sleeve' that had a hole drilled where the new stainless (w/ a zink) 'U' support was thur-bolted. Quick & dirty, but effective.
I will be off until Monday. Going to go over the Mackenzie trip next week. For those interested it might not be a bad idea to Google the Mackenzie River, the Slave River, and portage rapids.
When I removed the stock board there was a lot of wear from the centerboard rubbing and banging around in the channel. I re-glassed this, then added a light weight horseshoe shaped aluminum protective 'sleeve' that had a hole drilled where the new stainless (w/ a zink) 'U' support was thur-bolted. Quick & dirty, but effective.
I will be off until Monday. Going to go over the Mackenzie trip next week. For those interested it might not be a bad idea to Google the Mackenzie River, the Slave River, and portage rapids.
Maybe not so crazy. Here's an article from a fellow that paddled a kayak without support from California to Hawaii...
http://www.oceanplanet.com.au/gilletarticle.htm
German doctor, Hannes Lindemann, paddles and sails a 17 foot folding kayak across the Atlantic:
http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/mag/41/aloneatsea.html
Actually, Lindemann crossed the Atlantic three times, once in the folding kayak and twice in dugout canoes:
http://hannes-lindemann.ask.dyndns.dk/
(Lindemann on the cover of Life Magazine, 1957)
These two events are legendary among sea kayakers.
More "Small vessels, big seas"
http://www.theoceans.net/news.php?id=834
and "The Circumnavigators" (includes descriptions of several ocean crossings in small vessels):
http://www.mcallen.lib.tx.us/books/circumna/ci_39b.htm
Jackie M
http://www.oceanplanet.com.au/gilletarticle.htm
German doctor, Hannes Lindemann, paddles and sails a 17 foot folding kayak across the Atlantic:
http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/mag/41/aloneatsea.html
Actually, Lindemann crossed the Atlantic three times, once in the folding kayak and twice in dugout canoes:
http://hannes-lindemann.ask.dyndns.dk/
(Lindemann on the cover of Life Magazine, 1957)
These two events are legendary among sea kayakers.
More "Small vessels, big seas"
http://www.theoceans.net/news.php?id=834
and "The Circumnavigators" (includes descriptions of several ocean crossings in small vessels):
http://www.mcallen.lib.tx.us/books/circumna/ci_39b.htm
Jackie M
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LOUIS B HOLUB
- Admiral
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- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:40 am
- Location: 1999 Mac-X, Nissan 50 HP, Kemah, TX, "Holub Boat"
