Old Timers

[richandlori]

I still follow this board, even though I sold my Mac over a year ago. I have followed it for ages. I'm always interested in whats going on here. I am now sailing a Catalina 30, and I miss my Mac26S a lot.

Rob,

Next week I'm scheduled to take a sea trial in a Pearson 365 up in the San Fran bay. My wife and I were talking almost all of last night about all the things we will "give up" if/when we sell our 2004M in exchange for the Pearson 365. There is a big list of things we will gain with a blue water 36ft sailboat, but damn I'm sure going to miss zipping out to the Channel Islands at 15knts when the Pearson's max motor speed it 7nkts!

I hope we aren't looking at each other and saying....much as Capt Kirk asked Bones on the Genesis planet as they were watching the Enterprise burn up on re-entry...."My god...what Have I done?"

(ok for you Star Trek Trivia fans out there...Bones' response to Kirt was "..you did what you had to do...what you always do...you turned death into a fighting chance to live")

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Well, I may have only been around here for about 3 years....but I did invent the Internet!

Seriously though, I have been involved with networking since the early 80's and set up my first web site on NSFnet back in 1991 when you could still describe all the interesting sites on the web in one reasonably sized html document. My first email address was on BITNET, the "Because It's Time NETwork" which my University was part of.

Rich, you know the old saying...its the voyage that counts, not the destination. If you get a sweet 36 footer (or larger), then I think you won't be so concerned with not being able to do 15kn any longer. Plus, it takes a lot of gasoline to propel a Mac at those speeds.

[Captain Steve]

You know you are an oldtimer if:

You remember Frank M

You traded postings with Frank M

You actually met Frank M

You got a PM from GreatLooper Dave

[Scott]

Cap't Steve wrote

You know you are an oldtimer if:

You remember Frank M

You traded postings with Frank M

You actually met Frank M

You got a PM from GreatLooper Dave

Guilty on all counts

[CaptEd]

I followed this board for years before I got my own 2000x on April 1st 2000.
I retired in May 2004 at the young age of 56(two weeks before my 57th birthday). I still have my 26x and still love sailing in Lake Michigan and powering in the St. Joseph river and other small lakes. I remember the 'old timers' quite well and will be forever grateful for all the input they provided to help me decide to buy my boat. I am still around and hope to be for many years to come.

As you can see, I don't post very often, I have simple tastes and a lot to learn.

[ken smith]

I started sailing on a windsurfer, then had kids and bought a mac 22 1972 model when I got divorced, then in 1998 I saw the mac 26x and had to have one. I bought new up in Canada and sailed on the Niagara River until I couldn't take the long winters and decided to move to Fort Myers Fl and sail all year round. Like tomorrow 78 degrees and 5-10 mph winds I'll be out there. So I've been on this web site since 98 and I plan on sailing until I'm dead. ken

[Rob (1992 26S)]

Rich - Going from a 26 to a 36 - wow - quite a jump! Come on up here to rainy Vancouver, and I'll take you out on the Cat 30. I'll show you what is required just to keep it floating. There is so much more involved in the upkeep of a larger boat its almost unbelieveable. I think back to the days of the Mac and dream about all the sailing I did. There were no through hulls to maintain, no fuel filters to change, no macerators to muck with, no bilge pumps to re-plumb, no drips to reseal, etc... - we just sailed. All those Mac owners that are thinking of moving up - think twice!
Here's my website. Click on the projects to see what I've been working on.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/robnyethephy ... /index.htm
Cheers,
Rob

[CFCassidy]

Actually, you're an old timer if you came here from the Sailnet mail list before this board existed

[Captain Steve]

you know you are an oldtimer if:

you got at least one 3" binder filled with printouts of modifications and threads on future projects...that still are not done!

[Scott]

I know Im an old timer 'cause my hip hurts!!

[Night Sailor]

Researched everything I could find on the web and elsewhere before buying my X in October of '97 and joining in several forums, some of which died, migrated or evolved. I've joined this and every other possibly related cruising or sailing board many different times. Changing names each time with changes in email addresses or providers. I'm getting old in the joints, but always young at heart. Might keep this moniker on all the boards for awhile as I've settled on just one provider to house all the forum traffic, and security is no longer an issue.

Truth is, I've beensailing more than 50 years, without injury or disaster; but always think of myself as a beginner. There's always something new to learn from sailing, or a fellow sailor.

[mike]

You know you are an oldtimer if:

You got a PM from GreatLooper Dave

Hey, I guess I qualify! I've "only" been around for a little over 2 years (my god, has it been that long?).

--Mike

[RobertKing]

Dimitri wrote

Well, I may have only been around here for about 3 years....but I did invent the Internet!

In the 60,s I hooked up Pan Am at 48K baud with modems you had to manually equalize every week. They were about the size of the older VCR,s. On the net.

[mike]

Next week I'm scheduled to take a sea trial in a Pearson 365 up in the San Fran bay. My wife and I were talking almost all of last night about all the things we will "give up" if/when we sell our 2004M in exchange for the Pearson 365. There is a big list of things we will gain with a blue water 36ft sailboat, but damn I'm sure going to miss zipping out to the Channel Islands at 15knts when the Pearson's max motor speed it 7nkts!

We've often dreamed of a bigger boat. On our last trip, we spent one of our nights at the Gulfport marina, and got to go aboard a couple of brand new 30-something ft. Hunters. Way out of our league, but it was nice to look. While (ahem) the private staterooms would be VERY nice to have, as would the additional space all around, I just don't know if I could ever give up the shallow draft, considering the nature of how we use the boat... being able to anchor in 1.5-2ft. just a few steps from the beach is priceless.

Of course, our marina and cruising grounds were decimated by Katrina, so our 26X now sits unused next to the driveway. In the past few weeks, there have been several GREAT sailing days, and it's painful to, for the first time in over 2 years, not have the boat in the water. We really miss boating, and are hopeful that MAYBE this summer we might be able to get back on the water (gotta redo the bottom paint first though!).

--Mike

[Frank C]

... got to go aboard a couple of brand new 30-something ft. Hunters. Way out of our league, but it was nice to look. While (ahem) the private staterooms would be VERY nice to have, as would the additional space all around, I just don't know if I could ever give up the shallow draft, considering the nature of how we use the boat... being able to anchor in 1.5-2ft. just a few steps from the beach is priceless.

Exactly true!
If I was to look for a bigger boat, it would be same as another mac owner did recently ... Gemini catamaran. Shallow draft, 3 double staterooms, big central salon, speed under sail and pretty fair speed when motoring too. And, it doesn't heel!