MacGregorSailors.com

I am new to boating and bought a lightly used 2002 Mac 26x with a 50hp Honda last January. My son and I took her for a spin on the Delaware River in March after I added a few gallons of gas to the few already in the tank (what did I know). She was hard to start but once warmed up we took her for a spin a couple miles up river, then, puttered back after she stalled out and I got her restarted. After the maiden voyage, I coated the bottom and studied the workings of the boat while she was on the trailer. In April I launched her about 8 miles north of Philadelphia to dock her in a marina there. The motor started right up and the ride down at about 10 knots was awesome with a gusty wind, some chop, and spray coming over the bow. Once at the Ben Franklin bridge, I circled in the river twice while calling the marina to request that dock hands meet me at my slip. As I entered the marina and powered down, the motor stalled and the wind pushed and pinned me to the riverside dock. After 15 minutes of starts and stalls and stress, I made it into my slip without hitting anything but felt a bit embarrassed.

During the next week or so I started setting the boat up and messed with the motor while at the slip but it was hard starting and stalled alot at low idle. After researching and talking to friends I removed all the old gas from the tank and cleaned it out, put in new spark plugs and a new fuel filter. She started easy and idled ok. I had one of dock hands show me how to gas up in the marina and he gave me some tips on how to maneuver there also. She only stalled twice in the marina so I figured I would take her out on the river for a spin. Once in the middle of the Delaware the motor started sputtering and stalling and I slowly made my way back into the marina again. As I turned into my slip the motor stalled and the wind blew me into the adjacent boat. I ran to the bow and pushed off and drifted into the bow of the next boat which had some rigging that my pulpit got caught on and again I released my boat. Then, as I continued to drift, I jumped down into the cockpit and got the motor running and backed up to my slip and the motor died again and again I got it started and a dock hand caught my line and I was in my slip once more. Red faced again.

I did more research and read a post on this site about old fuel lines and air mixing with gasoline etc.. so I replaced the line between the tank and motor with one I got at Walmart but used the old Honda attachments. I started her up in the slip and she ran great. A few days later myself and a friend went out on the river and after an hour at moderate RPM (the motor would start to stall at high RPM) she finally died and would not start. The tide carried us up river about a mile and we drifted into (soft landing with bumpers) an old concrete dock which we tied up to. I called the BoatUS towing service in our marina and as we waited and the sun was dropping behind buildings we watched boats from Liberty Sailing school racing each other. The tow boat finally showed up (he had trouble starting both of his two outboards and only got one to run) and now I am back in the slip.

I called a Honda certified outboard shop and they will come to the marina and look at the motor at the beginning of next week. The fellow I talked to said it sounds like a fuel problem. Hopefully they can fix it. I really can't focus on learning to sail the Mac until I can trust that the motor can reliably get me in and out of the marina.

My question (sorry for the long introduction): should I consider getting a small hp backup outboard? If so, what hp do you recommend? Thank you for any advice you can provide.

Mike,

My feeling is hold off on the kicker if the only reason for it is to be a back up for the main engine. Let the Honda guy see what he comes up with first. It may be tough to do, but at this time of year, the good sailing on the Delaware in Philly is going to be after the heat of the day. It's best after six at night, and you probably will need a 150 Genoa to do it. The air is just too light for just the main.

What marina are you in? I sail out of the Neshaminy marina in Croydon. Is there a name on your boat? What service company is coming to look at your engine?

Ray

Hi Ray

I think we saw your boat in it's slip last last Fall at Neshaminy when we we're still deciding on what type of boat we wanted to get. That is where we launched ours the first time in March. Our boat's name is Good Life but I have not had time to add the lettering to the hull yet. We are at the Philadelphia Marine Center next to Dave and Busters and the service company coming to fix it is the Philadelphia Boat Supply. I have not seen any other Macs at the PMC but know of at least one other at Winter's Sailing Marina in Riverside, NJ. If they do fix it and I go out a few times without any problems, I'll gain back some confidence. Other than the motor problem, we really like the boat.

Mike

Im the eternal optimist, but save your money in case that motor cant be fixed ...honestly, if a marine mechanic cant return it to you in excellent running shape, punt it and go get one of the many well recommended motors

On rivers with tides, traffic, etc a well running motor is not just a convenience, its a safety issue. My 2002 has a fuel injected 50 HP Merc that goes VRROOOM! in 1/2 second when needed - as it has been on the Upper Hudson several times...

Mike,

I was thinking about putting Nice Aft at the PMC when we first were looking for a place for her. The cost at Neshaminy was approximately half the cost of PMC. That affected our decision

When I was checking out marina's, I had a chance to speak to the fellow who runs the BoatUS towing service in your marina. He was an exceptionally nice fellow.


Ray

Skip the extra outboard, you would need at least a 15 hp to push agains that wind and nowhere to really put it. Buy the Tow Boat US no decutable insurance.

I hope the motor is OK with out to much work. Bad gas would be my best guess unless you ran it out of oil.

The tow boat finally showed up (he had trouble starting both of his two outboards and only got one to run

Thanks All...I'll wait to see what the outboard mechanics can do. I to am generally an optimist but in the meantime I am going to upgrade my Boatus tow insurance from $ 500 to unlimited. A viking style oar setup might work...however, I would be the only willing galley slave

Ray,

I talked to the manager at Neshaminy last Fall and asked him to call us if any slips opened up but we never heard from him...at the time I told him we were "planning" on getting the boat and he may not have taken me seriously. Winter's sailing marina would have cost ~ $1200 for the season and PMC is $2000.00 (I talked PMC into the up to 25' rate since the boat is 25' 10''). My wife was really excited about being able to walk into old city and the city goings on are kind of fun to watch and go to. Everyone at the marina has been friendly and helpful. If (no, when) my motor is operational, maybe some sort of Delaware River MacGregor meet up could be planned. I know I would definitely benefit from the experience.

Mike

Catigale wrote:Im the eternal optimist, but save your money in case that motor cant be fixed ...honestly, if a marine mechanic cant return it to you in excellent running shape, punt it and go get one of the many well recommended motors ...

What he said~!

Stalling outboards are worse than nagging wives. You really need an EFI motor ... if you don't want to buy a new one, some guys here are looking to upsize from Suzuki 50 to bigger 70+ motors. Assuming you're not a zoom-aholic, a good, used Suzi-50 might be a perfect choice.

Of course, you mechanic SHOULD be able to get that Honda running right. Keep your fingers crossed. Otherwise, search on Honda 50 to see how other Honda owners have done their troubleshooting ... there are at least a half-dozen threads, if you can find them.

Appreciate that owning an outboard is a function of both the brand and the local available service....you can have the 'most reliable' but if you dont have someone who can help you with a problem, you will sail less than someone with a well-serviced, trouble-prone motor...

Probably need to pull the carbs and get them cleaned.

Honda 50s want frequent use. This ain't your cousin's bass boat that starts the second time after sitting unused for six months. The orifices (jets) in these carbs are incomprehensibly tiny (think human hair) and trumpet shaped inside the rod stock. They are not simply cylindrical tubes you can shove a wire through to unclog. They can also have hairline cracks visible with a magnifying glass.
BTDT, bought the shirt and lots of Honda parts. Rebuild them including jets, floats, and needle valves.
After the carb....ahem....three carbs... are fixed...


- Use only -known to be clean-, fresh, fuel. When in doubt, throw it out.
- Store vertical, not tipped.
- Run it dry after using. You need to flush the salt water anyway.
- Run it regularly if it's not used.
- Drain the carbs of fuel end of season.

My next Honda will be a Suzuki EFI.

You could mount a backup motor as I have with my 6hp Yamaha on a bracket. It's been on the back of the boat since 2004 and I've never needed it. It's also the dinghy motor. You want a size that you can manage to get off the bracket and onto the dinghy which limits you to a 60-70lb motor max. My 6hp will push my X at 6 knots with full ballast. It is more than enough power for any situation a normal small sailboat can get around in. Hull speed is the max you will get, but there is no need for more.

My experience for the past 7 years with carb'd outboards (My tohatsu 50 has 3 carbs) has been the opposite of your's. It starts every year even though I do nothing special over the winter (I don't even run it out of gas). It even starts and runs just fine on what's left of last years gas. Throw in plugs every year or so and lower unit oil and it is good to go. I can tell when it needs plugs as it starts being picky at idle (as it is now). Other than that good old outboards, non-efi, non-computer controlled are about as bullet proof as any marine motor gets. They arn't quiet, or economical on fuel, but the run and run and run.

I have had Honda outboards for the last 25 years, two 10hp, one 40 hp and my present 50 hp. In all that time I have never had one stall, and I have never had to have one repaired (except for a clogged fuel filter). Never even had an impellor replaced. Just do routine maintenace in the fall and it starts immediately in the spring.

Wow! Thanks again for all the information. I bought the boat based on an add placed by the seller on this website (it is still listed). The seller stated the package (boat plus motor) is in excellent condition with little more than 50 hours on the motor. He did tell me that the motor was winterized and that he had to spend $500 because he didn't winterize it prior...hmmm. I checked the oil and it was new and at the right level. The engine actually looks like new when you take the cover off. Hopefully, the problem is something simple, because the thought of spending ?thousands on another motor right now is... not pleasant, and might require one of my kids to give up a semester of college.

I've combed other sites and a few have noted great luck with Honda outboard motors the first few years, then some stalling problems that seemed to be related to the tiny jets that feed the carbs. In one case, many things were tried but not until the jets were replaced did the problem disappear. I did read some criticism about Honda not embracing fuel injection on their smaller outboards. But I really did not find that many complaint posts, so I can only conclude that most people with Honda outboards are happy.

Believe me, if the mechanics can get the motor running the way it should, I will follow the advice provided by you all. I will also consider getting a small outboard just to be on the safe side.

Argonaut

I am really a newbie and my questions probably back that up

When you say: "Store vertical, not tipped." Are you talking about after every use, so that the lower part of the motor always sits in water, or, just at the end of the season?

"Run it dry after using." Do you mean disconnect the tank fuel line after every use and burn all the gasoline in the carbs?

I'll let you know how it all turns out.