RussMT wrote:
For the head skylight, I used that frosted shelf liner stuff. Provides privacy and I never need to look out that window anyway.
Your idea to block the window is great and my wife would have loved that but when I am sitting on the head I LOVE to look out the window!! I think it's great! I can look up and see the mast and the sails and if the boat it not trimmed to my liking I can bark orders right from the head!! It's great!
RussMT wrote:For the head skylight, I used that frosted shelf liner stuff. Provides privacy and I never need to look out that window anyway.
Your idea to block the window is great and my wife would have loved that but when I am sitting on the head I LOVE to look out the window!! I think it's great! I can look up and see the mast and the sails and if the boat it not trimmed to my liking I can bark orders right from the head!! It's great!
"Bottom" line is: "I like the view".
And now I've got a "view" stuck in my head that will take a very long time to purge.
It's a great view! You guys should try it! I'm working on a mod to make the head door just close off the entire front of the boat right there at the dagger-board truck - I have seen a few posts here where guys have done that and it's a great idea to have the entire forward compartment at your disposal when your making your 'disposal'. You can stretch out your legs and look up at the sky and clouds and really relax and enjoy the ride from there on the head!
It's great! And if you close the entire forward compartment you can have the forward hatch open and the air blows right to you instead of right past you into the galley.
BOAT wrote:
And yeah your right, the ballast vent mod is really 'out there' and I did it a long time ago and the main reason I have not posted about it is cuz I knew you guys would all make fun of me.
Actually, there are a few variations of the helm-controlled-ballast-vent on this forum that go back a few years. What I haven't seen on this board tho is a helm-controlled-forward-hatch-actuator!
K9Kampers wrote:
Actually, there are a few variations of the helm-controlled-ballast-vent on this forum that go back a few years. What I haven't seen on this board tho is a helm-controlled-forward-hatch-actuator!
Yeah, that's a mod my wife would really appreciate when I'm sightseeing from the "bosuns chair".
BOAT wrote: You can have the forward hatch open and the air blows right to you instead of right past you into the galley.
This also, is not an enticing situation - adding to your bellowing orders from the head.... "Hard A-Larboard, Open the Scuppers!"
Criminy!
Yeah Crikey! That's the problem with the original factory design of the MacGregor M head! You open the hatch for air - but then in the head you close yourself off from the fresh air - it just blows right past you to the galley! (Picking up smells on the way through the "solid door" that Roger is always bragging about). Well, I think it's better to close off the entire forward compartment and keep the air up there instead of sending it back to the galley!
Don't ya think?
(Man, I gotta tell you the interior design on the X boat was way better!)
BOAT wrote:I really can care less about closing the shade when I'm on the head but my wife insisted because at a dock she could see people walk by and I told her the windows are too dark to see in but for her this is how the shades fix that:
So, ANYWAYS, back to the bow vent - here is the electric bow vent with the submarine hatch over the bowl.
What you really need is an electric gate valve. Tie both on the same switch.
Your ballast vent is really slick! I also considered the 12v gate valve when I altered mine but it seems they are only water resistant, not waterproof which is not enough with their location on the waterline.
Do you have an indicator light on the helm pedestal?
I have one of those electric gate valves on my tow vehicle (I tow 'boat' with a small motor-home made out of a Sprinter van). But I don't need it on 'boat' because the gate valve is right there next to the helm - I can just reach down and get to that one easy.
I do not have an indicator light because the switch position tells me if the valve is open or closed. If i were going to add an indicator it would be a tank sender to tell me if I am full or empty.
BOAT wrote:I do not have an indicator light because the switch position tells me if the valve is open or closed. If i were going to add an indicator it would be a tank sender to tell me if I am full or empty.
Install one of these water alarm things under your hatch. When it gets wet, alarm signals it's full.
The whole reason I posted here was because a new member (DIRKO) lost all his ballast water even though his gate valve was closed - when he went to make a tack the boat started to tip over.
I suspect he just did not push the gate valve all the way closed, but he did say that he left out the plug and that his tank did not leak when he used the plug. I think plugging the tank is important but really the tank indicator is probably more important that all of this stuff combined:
If you had a gauge on the helm that was monitoring the water level in your ballast tank then you would NEVER get caught off guard with an empty, or half empty ballast tank - I think what is really needed here by ALL Mac owners is a decent gauge and sender that will indicate the tank level - that way you can avoid trouble before it happens. A gauge would alert you to a slow leak like what happened to DIRKO.
I am just not well educated in tank senders and water level indicators and stuff like that and I was told to NOT put any holes in the ballast tank so who would know enough about tank senders to come up with a decent sender and gauge that will work thru the existing hole without blocking the vent??
Not me - I ain't got the knowledge, so I don't have gauge or indicator - but we ALL need one.
BOAT wrote: I don't have gauge or indicator - but we ALL need one.
Yes. A partially filled ballast is bad. Mine has had bubbles or something and I later burped it once it settled. I always wonder if air pockets are in there.
I disagree with the notion that ALL Mac owners need a ballast tank indicator. Because one person failed to maintain a simple system does not mean that the simple system is faulty and therefore should be replaced by a complex system. Some people favor gadgets and will justify the need to gadgetize anything to forgo the effort of verifying a status with their own senses. To each their own.
btw... how many have a toilet seat indicator at the helm - is it up or is it down??
and the main reason I have not posted about it is cuz I knew you guys would all make fun of me.
