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When approaching the rocks what was your DEPTH SOUNDER reading on your GPS ????
Sorry to here about your accident.

bastonjock wrote:as the lifeboat turned into the harbour we slewed over and the bowser sliped,it was pulling accross my furler,

No fault of the Mac.

Maybe your steering box (rack and pinion) came apart? That started happening to me once, one out of 4 screws had fallen out completely and the other three were very loose. I caught it just in time and after tightening everything back up, its been fine for a few years.

I also know first hand how easily a mast can break when you put some force on the standing rigging. The Mac rigging is light but it is proportional to the boat which is also light. Bigger boats are heavier and may be able to stand more beating but they also will have larger accidents too!

Anyway, I repaired my mast myself with the insurance settlement, it took a while but it was worth it. I added lots of goodies so the mast is much better than before. Three new lights (anchor, foredeck spotlight, and spreader light illuminating cockpit), less rake in the mast now, a new spinnaker block and halyard and all new running rigging. So, there are some advantages that can be made out of a bad situation.

im with leon on the stuff breaking on the mac,,i think that if you sail these boats regularly at their design limits 25 mph winds then stuff will break,IMHO its the wave motion that causes the problems.Im going to keep my mac for the forseeable future.As for a heavy keel boat,ive been offered to buy into a 35ft keel boat for a relatively small amount of money,its a 4 way split on running costs ,my buddies whom ive known for 30+ years hardly use her anymore,the down side is that the keel boat is 8 hours drive away,but then again its cheap sailing in one of the most beautifull areas on the plannet.

Ill keep my mac for her versatility,after i put all the new bits on her she will be as good as new.

theres also a huge project on the go in my area at present,the Government agencys are linking up the rivers witham,glen.nene and the ouze.So what that means to me is that i will have access to the entire inland water ways in the Uk,5 mins from my front door,this will also allow me to slip out to sea if i decide to go sailing,and i cant think of any boat other than a mac than can go under the bridges and up the rivers and out to sea

I would only add that having had several keel boats operating in the limits you describe and things broke there as well - just last season, when my oldest son was still here we lost the upper stay and as soon as we fixed it, blew out the main sail, then replaced a winch who decided to let all its little parts go swiming in the lake. The Mac is not a land rover but it is not a Yugo either.
Glad to see your perspective is lightening up.

Now please keep us posted on the water works project - that sounds like it would be a great place to vacation if someone puts in a charter fleet.

Matt,

Once again, sorry to hear about your mishap. Glad to hear you are all right and that you aren't giving up on Glissando. With your mechanical skills I know that you can easily repair her and get her back out on water soon. Hopefully it won't be too expensive.

As we discussed on the phone, but for everyone else that may be interested I too experienced a catastrophic steering failure...fortunately for me I was only experiencing maybe 10 knots of wind and 1 foot seas. Rack & Pinion was completely stripped. Steering wheel would spin freely...no effect.

But if this does happen you can try what worked for me. Disconnect your motor from the steering system and then "steer" the engine with a boat hook and your foot. Had no real problems steering the 3 miles back to my marina at about 5 mph. Then physically "hugged" the motor to back the boat into the slip.

Or as mentioned, you can try duct-taping a pole to the motor to act as a tiller. But you steering range may be limited.

Here is how I did it:


Good Luck and send some photos of the damage if you can.

Jim

the damage to the steering was as exactly as you experienced jim,i was going to try the boathook idea but the surf and waves looked a bit to heavy,ill be picking Glissando up from yarmouth on saturday,then ill take pictures of the damage,

Tangentmthe water works project has a spin to it that Americans may find interestingmthe first Phase has been completed at Boston(UK) and somewhere along that river (witham) is an innocent looking stone,its where the first group of Famillys met to leave Lincolnshire to head out to the "New World",they eventually set sail from Plymouth as everyone knows but thats where they left from.

Does anyone know if they sailed from Boston to Plymouth? if they went by coach or cart?

Sorry to hear about your troubles....but been there, done that. Hey! Delevi, how about something like my ex...
40 foot and 15 tons....

But I always had to have a crew and a wet place to park it.
I chose the because i can single hand it.

As to a strong towing point...how about this...


And even something similar in the middle of the foredeck...
My previous TANKARD [ 23 FT] had a vertical 4X4 inch solid jarrah [ timber] bollard that went from the keel , up to and through the foredeck with 4 inches over for mooring and towing...sorry, no photo ...and it got used when I ran aground in Warnbro Sound.
We all learn from our experiences...Puggsy

Hey! Delevi, how about something like my ex...40 foot and 15 tons....

Yikes! That's a bit too heavy duty for me. I can single hand a 40 footer w/ AP but not a ketch/yawl. I'm looking at the Catalina 387 and 400MKII. Now if I can only sell Rusalka for a decent price, considering all the upgrades and mods I made.

I've been on the Mac lists starting with Sailnet for at least 15 years, so when I bought my 97x I knew the steering was a weak point. Fortunately someone on the Sailnet list had just posted a mod for an emergency steering handle. I made one immediately but fortunately have not had to use it. It is a steel bar that after disconecting the rudders, is connected to the motor and also the steering bar, and extends under the seat almost to the wheel. Using the connection at the steering bar as the fulcrum, you can easily turn the motor when sitting on the seat by moving the handle side to side. It's not something I would look forward to attaching in rough seas, but then none of the other alternates are better.

Sorry about your experience......like many Mac folks, we too had a steering failure. Our solution was to fabricate an inexpensive but reliable emergency tiller. We posted a mod in 2005. Take a look. http://macgregorsailors.com/modt/index.php?view=618 We can deploy the tiller in less than a minute. Tahoe Jack

Quite a few discussions about this in the past:

http://macgregorsailors.com/forum/searc ... er&start=1

Your bad luck reminds me that I really should do a practice drill.

Hope everything works out in the end for you.

BJ,
wow! that sounded rough!!
Regarding the towing points, I needed a tow this season due to engine problems, a nice powerboat gave us a tow from Hurst Narrows to Yarmouth (IoW) Harbour entrance.
We rigged tow lines from both aft cleats around the outside to the bow cleats and then over the anchor roller to the towing boat, a pin was also put through the anchor roller guide and over the tow rope to keep it in position.
This rig worked well, though the conditions were not as windy as yours but we were beating into an ebbing tide of about 4-5kts through the Hurst narrows.
Also there is a story in latest UK Mac Owners magazine with a member's boat breaking off its buoy mooring in Portland Harbour during a force 8, which then caused the mast to break at the cross trees.
A couple of years ago I also had a similar experience with my boat moored on the trots off RSYC at Yarmouth, in a Gale F8, which also caused my mast to break at the cross trees.
Fortunately my insurers paid up for new mast, standing rigging, mast shoe and some cosmetic damage to my topside, hopefully you should not have any problem getting your Mac put back as good as new.
Stories like yours makes me glad I donate to the RNLI and illustrates its money well spent. (for those who don't know, the Royal National Lifeboat Institute is a charity and mainly has volunteer crews and provides rescue services, that in the US are done by the USCG)
At least BJ you've got the winter to recover from the experience and you deserved that slap on the back you gave yourself, well done.
Cheers
Morris
26X99 hullaballoo, IoW, UK