New boat, new sailors

[Mac26Mpaul]

Congrats!

No go surf Westmarine website for toys.

Ah yes, buying expensive presents for the new woman in your life will come next
...Something that our Admirals never seem to be too impressed about unfortunately..

[arknoah]

Congrats!

No go surf Westmarine website for toys.

Yeah. My wife and son refer to West Marine as my favorite store -- which may be why the staff there start to salivate whenever I go in!

[parrothead]

If you're ever in or near Fort Lauderdale, the West Marine at 2401 S. Andrews Avenue is not to be missed -- opened last year as the "world's largest".
Have someone else hold your credit cards while you go in and browse.

[capt grumpypants]

...here's grumpy....

This monring we drove for about two hours to San Rafael, and bought our boat from Arena Yacht Sales. Jeff spend over two hours going over set up and take down, and did a test drive around the marina with me (I've never towed anything). Money and paperwork traded hands and we drove away with boat, title and manuals.

Here are the specs:
2002 26x
2002 steel trailer
2002 60 HP Mercury 4 stroke outboard

The boat came with bimini, cockpit cushions, two 6 gallon gas tanks, mainsail and jib (with furler), covers for the sails pedestal and outboard, chart plotter/depth finder and old-style mast raising system. I had them add a cockpit backplate (so the furry crew don't slide off the boat) and main halyard led to cockpit.

The trip back was interesting but doable, and with my first mates help we got it into its dry storage space.

I'll post pictures soon. Now for setup practice this weekend. In the water next week!

And her name.....BAZINGA!

Fair Winds,

James and Theo

[rwmiller56]

Well...part 2

We had the test sail of the 2002 this afternoon. The location was the San Rafael Bay, north of the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge. We were out in 10-15 mph winds from the southwest. The current was running at 3 knots towards the south. There was a modest swell with variable direction. Warm and sunny. Here are some observations:

1) Apparent speed is all relative, 12 knots on the water under power feels like 80 MPH on a road. Depending upon your comfort level it can be exhilarating or terrifying. With no water ballast the boat is twitchy at low speeds, it improves as you pick up speed.The ship had an eighteen inch wheel and was responsive, but a person who has only driven a car will be surprised by the bow swings as your stern comes about. Power performance at low speeds improves when ballasted.

2) The boat sailed nuch better than I expected, reaching brief speeds of 5 knots under sail, readily tacking, moving away from and into the wind well, running smoothly with good boom control, and no glaring faults.

3) The boat launched and loaded simply off/onto its trailer. It can be hand walked down a dock easily.

4) On its trailer or in pictures the boat looks huge. On the water sitting in the cockpit as a tanker moves past you it seems very small. The cockpit has plenty of room for 3 or 4 and we rarely had side spray into the seating area.

5) If any in your party gets seasick, provide medication beforehand.

6) There seem to be many reputable Macgregor dealers, Jeff and Dan at Arena Yacht Sales in San Rafael, California are two of them. I encourage anyone in the bay area who is interested in a Macgregor to give them a try.

So, to make this long story short, we've bought an .

Welcome, and congratulations!

I know Jeff & Dan at Arena. They are great guys. I've talked to them many times at the Strictly Sail show, they are there every year. I'm thinking of buying a new aluminum trailer from them soon.

Where do you plan on sailing her? On one of the lakes near Sacramento? You know, you can motor all the way down the Sacramento River, to San Francisco Bay (actually, San Pablo Bay). It's a long way, but there are a good number of marinas along the way. That might be fun for a several days trip.

Cheers,
Roger

[capt grumpypants]

Hey there Roger,

We will learn how to use her on Folsom lake, the the river system, Lake Berryessa, amd Clear Lake, and finally, the SF Bay system.

Based on the treatment I recieved from Dan and Jeff, I heartly recommend thier business.

Fair wind...

James and Theo

[capt grumpypants]

Pictures can be found at:http://s1075.photobucket.com/albums/w44 ... umpypants/



Fair Winds

James and Theo

[jassr4848]

Very Nice!