26M Bimini fouling boom

[magnetic]

Apologies for the triple-posting; has this thread now been deleted from the Forum?

[Hamin' X]

No worries, just a new page. You can click on the first page to view past posts.

~Rich

[magnetic]

the IE6 cache was playing up and appeared to have deleted the entire thread.

A propos nothing in particular, could anyone offer me some guidance on safe installations of shorepower? Would it be appropriate to install a female socket somewhere watertight on the Mac, run it through a 15 Amp Circuit Breaker and/or an inline RCD such as e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002 ... 8ZPKZB46PG and then straight to an AC Distribution Panel in the cabin?

To be honest, the only AC useage on board will be when moored on the Pontoon, recharging the various bits of rechargeable electrical kit and floating the battery banks. As long as I don't make the entire boat live or set up any stray cathodic currents in the Marina, then I'm hoping that this setup would suffice

[c130king]

Magnetic,

2 suggestions:

1) Probably need to make this a new thread...maybe one of the mods can seperate this to a new topic since it is a big change in subject

2) Have you tried the search function yet? Click on "Advanced Search" in the upper right corner of the screen, type in "Shore Power", a little further down on that page click on the bubble to display as "topic" otherwise you get 1000's of individual posts.

I found these two:

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... shore+cord
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... shore+cord

I haven't done shore power yet...but someday I probably will.

Cheers,
Jim

[Kelly Hanson East]

To be honest, the only AC useage on board will be when moored on the Pontoon, recharging the various bits of rechargeable electrical kit and floating the battery banks. As long as I don't make the entire boat live or set up any stray cathodic currents in the Marina, then I'm hoping that this setup would suffice

For that low usage, I wouldnt do a whole shorepower install. Consider bringing your rechargeables off the boat, and carrying a starter pack for backup battery at 1/10 the cost.

[Gypsy]

Being new to big boat sailing , please explain the term ' Topping Lift '

Question , Somebody on this forum moved thier main 3" up the mast .
Would it hurt to move it a few inches further ? Say 6" ?
I would really like to be able to stand up under the bimini .
At 6 feet thats not doable at present .

[c130king]

Gypsy,

Topping Lift is a line from the top of the mast to the end of the boom. It holds the boom up when you lower the sail...otherwise the boom falls into the cockpit when the tension comes off the sail. Frequently the TL is run back to the cockpit, through turning blocks, so that the skipper can raise or lower as he/she feels necessary. I have mine fixed in place...not easily adjustable...no need IMHO but others will chime in with their useage.

As to raising the main. The main can only go as high as the top of the mast. If you are talking about getting the boom higher so that you can raise the bimini I guess you would have to have a main with a shorter luff. I think the references you may be thinking about are folks raising the hound for their forestay/furler on their mast which enables them to had some hardware under their furler drum allowing easier/adjustable tensioning/connecting of the forestay.

I am 6' 2" so I understand your point...I can't stand under my bimini but that doesn't really bother me.

Cheers,
Jim

[Gypsy]

What I had in mind was to raise the pulley that raises the main sheet by putting it on a bracket a few inches higher than the end of the mast . Then remount the boom a little higher up the mast to match.

thanks for your advice Jim

[c130king]

Have not heard of anyone doing that before. I wonder if it would be possible to cut off the top 12" of the main, reinstall the headboard and maybe a batten along the new top seam, and have the main look like a flat-head sail. This would allow the sail to be raised 12" higher thus allowing one to raise the gooseneck/boom 12" higher, thus making room for a taller bimini???

To me the Mac is what it is. If I feel I need more room then someday maybe I will get a bigger boat...two-foot-itis I think they call it.

Cheers,
Jim

[Hamin' X]

Someone smarter than I can do the calculations, but it seems to me that this would adversely affect performance. Most of the sail area on the main, is in the bottom portion and raising that bottom portion up at all, will increase the heeling moment, as the center force moves up, but the center of resistance remains static. Whacking off 12 inches at the top will make little difference. Just a thought.

~Rich

[Gypsy]

[quote}

To me the Mac is what it is. If I feel I need more room then someday maybe I will get a bigger boat...two-foot-itis I think they call it.

Cheers,
Jim[/quote]

We are in the process of making our Mac into something She wasn't designed to do , and thats to be a live aboard boat.
In two years we are retiring , and we wish to travel for as long as we are able. After careful study we chose a Mac X as our retirement boat. The reasons for a Mac X , is its trailerable and easy on gas , both in the water on the trailer.
The Mac X has a floorplan that , IMHO is more liveaboard friendly than the M

Although we have always been powerboaters , we have never had any desire to " Go Fast"
Hull speed has always been our norm. I have a little sailing experience in a small boat , so there will be a learning curve. Thats why I ask so many questions on this forum .

Between a 50hp Honda , sails , two 80 watt solar panels , and an electric outboard , we are hoping there will be a little bit left over for food . If not we will just have to catch something.

What I really have in mind on raising the boom , is a hardtop over the helm , that I can mount the solar panels on as well as keep us dry.

[Love MACs]

Gypsy: Some one on this board has already done the "hard top" but I don't remember who it was. It looked nice and would definitely fit your purpose. You may have to do some searching in the mods section, but I know he posted pics!



Allan

[seahouse]

Hi Gypsy --I like your plans! You are lucky to have such a "sporting" wife!

As mentioned, raising the boom as you describe will move your Centre of Effort upwards, and slightly forward, and reduce the area of the main, changing the handling characteristics of the boat. Having a centreboard, the X will allow you to move your Centre of Lateral Resistance to compensate somewhat for this, as will adjusting your mast bend (is that possible on a Mac?) and rake (et alia) to suit. Of course it's really more complicated than that - but if the changes are small enough you might be able to still balance the helm safely.

Some boat designs ( eg.the TomCat 9.7) address the issue by giving the boom an upward rake as it moves away from the mast, allowing more headroom in the cockpit. This increases the amount by which the CE moves forward, reduces the amount it moves upward, and will reduce the sail area loss over a horizontal boom. While it might seem that you could "trim" some material off the foot, clew and leech of your existing main, I would think that it might exceed the design limits and alter the sail shape too drastically. But I have no doubt that a custom sailmaker would be able to accommodate that and suggest other changes/ compromises.

The fact that the Musclehead sail works successfully on a Mac would show that there is some latitude to play with the mainsail specifications (moving C of E upwards) without causing an unsafe amount of heeling or helm imbalance.

Please keep us posted on your progress - this sounds like a great mod where others can learn from your experiences.

Regards - Brian.

ps. Are you aware that the Dowsar enclosure will give you 6'+ under the bimini, less under the dodger, (but doesn't help with solar panel substrate).

[Gypsy]

My thoughts were to raise the pulley that raises the main sail , to just above the top of the mast , by mounting the pulley on a bracket above the end of the mast .
Then remount the boom the same distance up that I raised the pulley from its original location .

Doing it this way allows me to use the same sail. We don't plan to be 'bad weather' sailors , just the opposite , ' fair weather ' sailors , using the motor when conditions aren't favorable for sailing , so if it alters the handling slightly , thats fine.
But I wouldn't want to make a situation where the boat is difficult to handle all the time.

So far , we have extended the Vee Berth out , so as to make it nearly 6 ' wide and 8' long .
We got used to a king size bed aboard our Bayliner . We plan to use the stern berth as a stowage area. We will bring an inflatable matteress for guest .

We had all the upholstery recovered in blue denim . Its soft , but more durable than the original.

I have altered the gas tank lockers to accomadate two 12 gallon tanks .

After Christmas , I attack the galley and anchor locker , by adding an anchor pulpit .

I would post pictures , but don't know how.

[Currie]

Hi Gypsy,

I wonder if one could rig the boom to be easily moved up and down. You could leave the mast-head where it is and reef the mainsail up instead of down when you wanted to sail with the bimini. No mods to the mast-head or the mainsail - just something at the gooseneck. A single-line reefing would come in handy too. All comments about heeling moment still apply, but at least you can set it back to normal at will. Just a thought,

~Bob