Mac advice - N. Houston / Spring / Conroe

[Jolly Dodger]

After neglecting my Mac for 4 years, I have finally committed to moving her up to where I am (Spring TX). I have a ton of work to do to get her ready to sail, some of which I will do myself, but here are my most pressing that need outside assistance:

1.) New outboard

I know that I will get a barrage of comments for this but I have decided to replace the OB with a brand new 15 HP. I want to use the Mac as an RV on water with sailing (with the sails) in the fairest of weather only, on lakes, with a kiddo and wife - so no need to power up and plane and I thus definitely can't justify the +$10k on a new 50 HP. The old Tohatsu is pretty shot and 22 years old and my wife won't get on the boat unless the OB is reliable despite my promises to YouTube any repairs needed...

Question: anyone in the N. Houston area that can recommend a decent boat shop to have a new OB fitted?

2.) Lake Conroe

I searched the forum and could only find one (2006) reference to sailing on Lake Conroe - anyone on this forum that has/does sail on Conroe? I'd love to hear your thoughts / tips / etc. on what the sailing is like and where are good places to launch a Mac.

Thanks!

[Strange]

After neglecting my Mac for 15 years, I've retired and decided to retrieve mine from behind a barn, between a goat farm and chicken pen.



1. I'm in the same boat except that mine seems to be in working order. Have a fuel restriction issue I'm looking into . . . in my spare time. Very low mileage but you can't get critical parts anymore. My plan was to use this one, try a few "Dealers" with "Service" departments first. Then after the excitement of a complete system failure, decide which one I wanted to let overcharge me.

2. I have only been on this lake once and that was about a week ago. Working on getting my boat reliable and Conroe is handy. I launched at "830 boat ramp" (That's how Apple Maps finds it ) That looks like it'll be pretty packed in season. But the lake looks great for sailing and appears to have some "attractions".

So while I have not really helped you directly, I will be watching for you!

[Jolly Dodger]

Thanks and appreciate the help - just seeing that pic helps me feel the lift is not impossible!

I think my old OB is the same or similar Tohatsu - when I replace it feel free to shout if you would by any chance want it to cannibalize for spare parts.

If you do get out on Conroe again do share the intel.

[OverEasy]

Hi Jolly Dodger!

Welcome back to the water!
If I might suggest something to think about when looking for a new 15 hp outboard.
You might want to look to see if it’s rigged for electric start, remote throttle/shift, electric engine lift and wheel control.
A majority of engines in that size range don’t have those features which can make the functional use considerably less enjoyable, awkward or even somewhat hazardous. I would just like to make the suggestion to really think about the actualities of usage and do some ‘dry runs’ in-situ before buying.


I think you’ll find that many of these features are more common on the 25 hp class and up range.

It’s one of the reasons that we held off on our original idea of getting an auxiliary kicker motor for Over Easy that we could also use on our inflatable dinghy. We found that it would be nighnearimpossible to use a kicker on a swing up corner mount given that one would have to be a triple jointed contortionist with three hands and eyes on stalks that swivel 180 degrees. This assessment was confirmed by watching another boat with the nearly identical setup that we had been contemplating … swing up bracket… pull start…extension handle… it definitely would have been a challenge for even with someone in their prime! (I’m past that sell by date by a wide margin )

Just a suggestion… Your Boat / Your Rukes.

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[Strange]

Jolly Dodger,

I’m bettin’ your boat was originally sold by Captain Frank, with a steel trailer (right here next to the salt water OCEAN ) and a Tohatsu 50 HP TLDI 2 stroke. In that case, and assuming the compressor is serviceable, I’d PAY you for it. Want it in any case!

In terms of dealers, I looked up local Tohatsu dealers on their site. First one is just a few blocks from my house. But they do NOT service Macs because, “They are too tall to fit in the shop.” So currently I’m on a 3 to 4 week waiting list to get into Kevin’s Boat and Motor Repair LLC just to have someone with more experience take a look/listen.

My current issue is fuel restriction. I had help (that I didn’t need) from a swabbie (my son) who didn’t understand why the fittings were different. Some pins and some balls. He changed them to ALL PINS and threw away the balls. Sometimes it works. Mostly it doesn’t. Having some difficulty locating all the correct parts and so is Kevin.

But the most exciting thing for me is to MEET other Mac owners from the area. Yeah, gotta drive an hour or more to get TO some water around here. But, there are some great times to be had and it’d be nice to have comrades to run into on the water if for no other reason than to have each other’s backs!

At the moment, I’ve got the mast off and otherwise stripped down to essentials while I scout locations and work out motor issues. Let me know if you are interested in any of those “adventures” while you sort out your motor issues.

[Jolly Dodger]

You might want to look to see if it’s rigged for electric start, remote throttle/shift, electric engine lift and wheel control.

Yes, great advice. My docking is less than elegant to begin with so wrestling a wheel and an opposing OB won't help. I'm definitely going to get remote - I've seen a few 15 HP with this feature but definitely more prevelant in the bigger sizes and not too big a price shift to a 20 HP or 25.

I’m bettin’ your boat was originally sold by Captain Frank, with a steel trailer (right here next to the salt water OCEAN ) and a Tohatsu 50 HP TLDI 2 stroke. In that case, and assuming the compressor is serviceable, I’d PAY you for it. Want it in any case!

But the most exciting thing for me is to MEET other Mac owners from the area. Yeah, gotta drive an hour or more to get TO some water around here. But, there are some great times to be had and it’d be nice to have comrades to run into on the water if for no other reason than to have each other’s backs!

I got the boat off of another sailor who had had it for a few years and had not done a great job on the upkeep - I'll get full OB details for you @Strange - as I said - if you want it it is yours (the OB - not the boat!).

It is GREAT to meet a fellow Mac sailor. 5 years ago when I was on the boat it would have been very helpful to bounce a few ideas off of someone. I can definitely do with some pointers on trimming the sails once underway again. It would definitely be worthwhile to see if we can meet up at Conroe some time.

NOW for the naive question: How difficult would it be to install the new 20 HP myself? If someone on here has done their own install I'd love to hear the war story. Going with a smaller OB, I'm thinking the biggest challenge is going to be getting the old OB off but I could be mistaken.

[Strange]

Getting the old one off is easy. I’ve got a cherry picker that’ll pluck that thing off and drop it in my truck no problem.

But I’ve no experience with installing one.

[Jolly Dodger]

Great! Let me do some homework on how exactly to install and send you some info on the 50 I have. Then we can sync up and get this done! What side of Houston are you on? (We can move these details to direct messaging).