but I should point out that the sailing on Sheepscot Bay (mid-coast Maine) was absolutely wonderful today . . .
Temperature was in the low 60s, winds 10-20 kts from the east, seas 1-2 foot swells. Bright and sunny . . . I had a blast.
Stay safe!
Here comes Frances
-
Jeff Drumm
- Chief Steward
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2004 5:39 am
- Location: 43 54' 03" N 69 59' 47" W 2002 26X "Wasabe"
I don't want to in any way minimize the hardships you folks in Florida may be facing, and you're all in my thoughts . . .
but I should point out that the sailing on Sheepscot Bay (mid-coast Maine) was absolutely wonderful today . . .
Temperature was in the low 60s, winds 10-20 kts from the east, seas 1-2 foot swells. Bright and sunny . . . I had a blast.
Stay safe!
but I should point out that the sailing on Sheepscot Bay (mid-coast Maine) was absolutely wonderful today . . .
Temperature was in the low 60s, winds 10-20 kts from the east, seas 1-2 foot swells. Bright and sunny . . . I had a blast.
Stay safe!
-
Dimitri-2000X-Tampa
- Admiral
- Posts: 2043
- Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 5:36 am
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Tampa, Florida 2000 Mercury BigFoot 50HP 4-Stroke on 26X hull# 3575.B000
Sounds like Florida winter weather Jeff! I'll have to give you a report in a few months 
Storm is finally leaving Tampa. Even with our overhead powerlines, we managed not to lose power (one of the lucky ones as almost 200K in the county lost power). It was flickering so bad a few times, I had to shut down things for a while. Lost cable/broadband during the worst 20 hours of the storm..I've always wondered why that is so much less reliable than electric and phone service. At the very worst part of the backside of the storm this morning, my upstairs roof started leaking in a few places....drywall got wet but didn't come through so I figure it is the stupid ridge vents and some other small things in the design that can not stand 50mph wind blown rain. The roof is less than 5 years old. Also had a 3.5 ft surge bring water into the grass at high tide. Once again, it certainly could have been worse for Tampa, folks between Vero Beach and West Palm got the worst of it.
The boat did great, I never even saw it wiggle once. The only thing I probably should have done differently is to have removed the rudders. They were flapping around a bit too much for my liking. I have a couple 2X4's jammed under the fender brackets helping to support the extra weight of the full ballast. Maybe I should leave it full for another week until Ivan comes through. Hopefully, this next one will veer away and leave us alone. Think the extra weight will hurt anything for another week or should I empty it as a good omen?
Storm is finally leaving Tampa. Even with our overhead powerlines, we managed not to lose power (one of the lucky ones as almost 200K in the county lost power). It was flickering so bad a few times, I had to shut down things for a while. Lost cable/broadband during the worst 20 hours of the storm..I've always wondered why that is so much less reliable than electric and phone service. At the very worst part of the backside of the storm this morning, my upstairs roof started leaking in a few places....drywall got wet but didn't come through so I figure it is the stupid ridge vents and some other small things in the design that can not stand 50mph wind blown rain. The roof is less than 5 years old. Also had a 3.5 ft surge bring water into the grass at high tide. Once again, it certainly could have been worse for Tampa, folks between Vero Beach and West Palm got the worst of it.
The boat did great, I never even saw it wiggle once. The only thing I probably should have done differently is to have removed the rudders. They were flapping around a bit too much for my liking. I have a couple 2X4's jammed under the fender brackets helping to support the extra weight of the full ballast. Maybe I should leave it full for another week until Ivan comes through. Hopefully, this next one will veer away and leave us alone. Think the extra weight will hurt anything for another week or should I empty it as a good omen?
-
Jeff S
- First Officer
- Posts: 371
- Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:13 pm
- Location: Cherry Point, NC 2000 26X Tohatsu 50
Dmitri-
Do you fill the ballast and then trailer the boat or do you fill it up after you move it. I assume you ballasted her to make her less prone to movement from strong winds. Do you have 1 or 2 axles? I worry about single axle with ballast due to the strain on the bearings. The leaf springs and shackles could probably handle a short smooth ride, but I think it may damage the bearings. Maybe I worry too much. I was thinking on the same lines though if (I should say when) a hurricane comes by NC.
Jeff S
Do you fill the ballast and then trailer the boat or do you fill it up after you move it. I assume you ballasted her to make her less prone to movement from strong winds. Do you have 1 or 2 axles? I worry about single axle with ballast due to the strain on the bearings. The leaf springs and shackles could probably handle a short smooth ride, but I think it may damage the bearings. Maybe I worry too much. I was thinking on the same lines though if (I should say when) a hurricane comes by NC.
Jeff S
-
Dimitri-2000X-Tampa
- Admiral
- Posts: 2043
- Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 5:36 am
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Tampa, Florida 2000 Mercury BigFoot 50HP 4-Stroke on 26X hull# 3575.B000
No, I would never dare try to move it with the ballast full. I have the trailer parked on a slab at the side of my house. It is just the stock 1-axle trailer but I very recently got new wheels and tires. I took a couple pieces of 2X4 and jammed them vertically under the bracket that holds the rear part of the fender. Gave em a couple knocks to make sure they were jammed in well, then brought the hose on board to fill the ballast tank. I didn't take all the weight off of the wheels, but the boards are certainly holding some of the weight off of the axle. I'll drain the tank before knocking the jacks out. It is very steady and I'm sure could have taken much higher winds if I removed the rudders. Now, my neighbors' boats hanging from boat lifts were swaying pretty precariously.
-
Chip Hindes
- Admiral
- Posts: 2166
- Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2004 6:13 am
- Location: West Sand Lake, NY '01X, "Nextboat" 50HP Tohatsu
The shock from driving the trailer down the road, empty, is going to be way worse than towing it a few feet in your yard with the ballast full.
In fact, I seldom empty the ballast while on the water; those with smaller (or no) motors can't do it at all. When the boat is pulled out of the water, the ballast is full. I usually pause on the ramp for a minute or two just so the ballast water drains back down the ramp instead of watering the parking lot, but that's irrelevant. Yes, for that brief moment the trailer is supportung the extra weight of the ballast water. It hasn't broken yet, nor have I had bearing problems. 4,000 plus miles of towing with the single axle, before adding the second axle.
You ought to be just as concerned about the boat. It is designed to be supported over the entire hull, floating on the water when the ballast is full, not on those few pressure points where it contacts the the trailer bunks.
That being said, I don't imagine there is a problem with either. Just don't leave it in there; empty is out as soon as the danger is past.
In fact, I seldom empty the ballast while on the water; those with smaller (or no) motors can't do it at all. When the boat is pulled out of the water, the ballast is full. I usually pause on the ramp for a minute or two just so the ballast water drains back down the ramp instead of watering the parking lot, but that's irrelevant. Yes, for that brief moment the trailer is supportung the extra weight of the ballast water. It hasn't broken yet, nor have I had bearing problems. 4,000 plus miles of towing with the single axle, before adding the second axle.
You ought to be just as concerned about the boat. It is designed to be supported over the entire hull, floating on the water when the ballast is full, not on those few pressure points where it contacts the the trailer bunks.
That being said, I don't imagine there is a problem with either. Just don't leave it in there; empty is out as soon as the danger is past.
Hurricane damage and lessons learned.
I live in east Orange County, Florida-The eye wall of Charley came right over my house as a category two-no damage here. The X road the storm out at Kennedy Point Marina on the Indian River-
The X was pulled out of the water for Frances and trailered to a indoor storage yard in north Orlando, the buildings are supposedly rated for a category 3 hurricane-and it is fine.
I visited my Marina yesterday-we are located directly across the River from the Space Shuttle assembly building on Cape Canaveral-The Marina was fairly torn up-four to five large boats sank-finger piers torn out-a lot of damage caused to boats by beating into each other and the piers.
Lessons learned from this-if you leave your boat in the water-dont tie off to cleats on the dock-tie off to the piers-also dont be a cheap skate and use cheap or old dock lines-
A lot of damage was caused by boaters using undersized cheap dock lines or old worn out dock lines-these snapped and then the boats slammed around-
I have only lived in Florida for 9 months and have been through two hurricanes-I dreamed of buying a large fixed keeled boat-but now I love my Macgregor even more, because of the shallow draft for the skinny Florida waters-and the ability to trailer it out of harms way-
I live in east Orange County, Florida-The eye wall of Charley came right over my house as a category two-no damage here. The X road the storm out at Kennedy Point Marina on the Indian River-
The X was pulled out of the water for Frances and trailered to a indoor storage yard in north Orlando, the buildings are supposedly rated for a category 3 hurricane-and it is fine.
I visited my Marina yesterday-we are located directly across the River from the Space Shuttle assembly building on Cape Canaveral-The Marina was fairly torn up-four to five large boats sank-finger piers torn out-a lot of damage caused to boats by beating into each other and the piers.
Lessons learned from this-if you leave your boat in the water-dont tie off to cleats on the dock-tie off to the piers-also dont be a cheap skate and use cheap or old dock lines-
A lot of damage was caused by boaters using undersized cheap dock lines or old worn out dock lines-these snapped and then the boats slammed around-
I have only lived in Florida for 9 months and have been through two hurricanes-I dreamed of buying a large fixed keeled boat-but now I love my Macgregor even more, because of the shallow draft for the skinny Florida waters-and the ability to trailer it out of harms way-
made it again
Well , again we circled the wagons. Motorhome against the shed, Mac26X aglongside the motorhome, trailer in front of motorhome to protect windshield, truck behind to protect rear window, 2 cars to fill the voids. Took the roller furler off so it couldnt come loose and act like a sludge hammer. Boat strapped to trailer and some waterballast. We made it fine. No damage. We stayed in the motorhome thru both Charlie and Francis. (we live in mobilehome). I spent 2 days cleaning out the boat. Did have a front window leak and since it was pointed into the wind..the hatch let in a few sprinkles too. Cleaned it out since our road,yard and the surrounding woods were flooded....might have had to move into it if the water got high enough. I spent so much time in it my husband wanted to know if I was pretending I was cruising. I WAS! Most fun I've had in weeks. We arnt moving anything until we see where Ivan is headed. How did the Miami Macs make out. Has anyone heard from them?