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It was very much an experience! Got to the Hammond marina on Sunday at 930 am. Hoping to miss the traffic. Guess with it being Chicago air and water show everyone else wanted to launch early too. Raised mast just fine and launched. I wasnt ready move but the marina staff was wanting me to get going.
We pulled her around to the other side of the dock away from the launch so I can get ready. Started the motor and got underway but was having trouble. The motor is a little fidgety so I was going forward and backward while also being pushed by the wind some. As this is going on I was feeling a little foolish because I was looking like a fool in front of another Mac name Side By Side. (hope you guys enjoyed the comedy) once I got moving smoothly I was actually going backwards so I figured continue backwards down one isle then put her in forward to swing around straight. While this was going on the was a group was watching me the whole time. They got my attention and told me to pull in to the closer dock and helped get me situated. At this point I was still a few docks from where I was to be but they told me no one was in that space so I should switch since I'm already there. Great people!

About the sailing: Sunday I spent most the day organizing and learning about her from the dock. I had my sailing instructor from the sail-a-way program, Ron, come by and look her over and give me his opinions.
Around 4ish we left for a sail. My wife,dad, and I went. They were both nervous by I was excited. Once we got out there and set sails the wind was low but enough to push us around. I was disappointed because having been in 3 lessons I had experienced stronger winds. But they pointed out that being the first time out with her sails it was best to learn in lower winds.
We return then enjoyed dinner and the evening on her.

I returned the next day with my brother and mom and the wind was much better! Got going good and made it all the way to the break wall and back. Was an awesome day and looking forward to many more!
I had encounter some issues but I will post them at a later time

Good on ya. Keep it up.

Ken

Don't worry about going backwards out of the marina--I do it all the time. From advice on this board, I just stand behind the console facing aft, then the steering and throttle are all normal and I pull right out into the bay backwards, then reverse it when I've got some water and no boats around me. There are kayakers, paddle boarders, and dinghy's all over the damned place in San Diego bay so you can't always guarantee that you've got the room you need to get all situated and be pretty. There's a typical 3 knot cross current in the public docks where I go in and out of as well that makes maneuvering inside the marina a tad tricky.

When coming back in, do make sure you drop sail before trying to slip it. Nothing like an unexpected gust to push you into the pylon you thought you were motoring past. I used to sail into my slip frequently with my full keel sailboat, but the mac doesn't have the inertia for it.

Mastreb, I love that bass-acwards, aft-backwards technique! Thanks for passing it on.

"Baft Ackwards" --Boat named!

cub21rak - Regarding the wind jerking you around at the marina, don't be embarrassed and don't blame yourself. Frankly. it's the boat's fault, not yours. When there's a breeze at the dock or in the marina, it handles, or mishandles, like no other boat on the water. We all experience the same erratic hull behavior due to the boat's design - those high freeboards that catch the wind as if they were the sails. It is at it's worst when you are moving very slowly. With more time behind the wheel you will get better at handling it and compensating. Every vessel has it pluses and minuses, and this is one of the latter. Your report reminded me of my first visit to my marina which, as luck would have it, was very windy day. Bystanders watched in amazement as my Mac went everywhere but into my slip as I steered it as one would steer any normal boat, something with which I have many decades of experience. But now that I know her better, maneuvering the docks and marinas are much less a problem. But I continue to be very alert, tentative, cautious, and quick to adjust. The reverse direction technique works really well.

The guy has a lower freeboard M-22, with a tiller and a steel keel. Just needs more tiller time and it will come together.

~Rich

Buy a boat hook. It's your best docking friend IMHO.

Hey Cub!

When I did my first launch in June, I used that backing technique. Sort of.

Others were waiting to launch, so without taking time for daggerboard, ballast, or rudders, I tilted the motor down, and quickly reversed out of the way, down the marina lane, which is maybe 30' wide, and several hundred feet long. I didn't want a close-quarter turn to be my first manoeuver.

But under that configuration, and those conditions (some of you will already have guessed the result), and some crosswind, the Mac ("M") reverses at a 30 to 45 degree crab angle to the direction of travel. Must have looked funny to anyone watching. So I used a 20 foot swath of that 30' lane, until after a couple of hundred feet I put some dagger down. It was a much more boring trip to the slip after that!

Hint - It is very important to remember that you need to look like you know what you're doing - even when you don't.

I must add that so far (touching wood) even with crosswinds (off-dock, towards neighbouring boat), I have found that the Mac is quite controllable in docking, and the admiral can step from the cockpit (she says she won't jump) onto the dock on approach (maybe a dozen times so far- did I mention I am touching wood). I use ballast in, both rudders down, and 30 to 50% dagger (or center? in your case), but I find you can't dither, you have to drive it in with some authority (~1000 rpm), and finish with a good reverse power pulse to pull the stern in to the dock. The boat seems to rotate well around the daggerboard. (Center on a 22?)

Mastreb- so going backward is fine, sweet I'll remember that. When I am coming into the marina, I drop both sails and motor in the rest of the way.

After the first pain in the but time getting into the dock, the others were pretty smooth. Got close enough, cut motor ad drifted while maneuvering with the rudder into place.

Is it called centerboard or swing keel? I have been describing it to people as a swing keel. And when I first launched and was having all those problems, I hadn't put down the keel yet which probably cause most of my frustrations.

Rich, I probably do need more time at the helm to get used to her. Although things felt pretty good on Monday.

Thanks all for listening and for the advice.

Ryan

cub21rak wrote:Is it called centerboard or swing keel? I have been describing it to people as a swing keel. And when I first launched and was having all those problems, I hadn't put down the keel yet which probably cause most of my frustrations.

Ryan

There is some debate about definitions, but the way that I understand it is: You have a swing keel, because it doe duty as ballast. I have a centerboard, because it is separate from the ballast and the M's have daggerboards, because they do not swing. Not sure if the M daggerboard becomes a "daggerkeel", if ballast is added, like some do.

Welcome to the world of Macs, Ryan and enjoy your boat.

~Rich

"Issues" is how we learn.

cub21rak wrote:It was very much an experience! Got to the Hammond marina on Sunday at 930 am. Hoping to miss the traffic. Guess with it being Chicago air and water show everyone else wanted to launch early too. Raised mast just fine and launched. I wasnt ready move but the marina staff was wanting me to get going.
We pulled her around to the other side of the dock away from the launch so I can get ready. Started the motor and got underway but was having trouble. The motor is a little fidgety so I was going forward and backward while also being pushed by the wind some. As this is going on I was feeling a little foolish because I was looking like a fool in front of another Mac name Side By Side. (hope you guys enjoyed the comedy) once I got moving smoothly I was actually going backwards so I figured continue backwards down one isle then put her in forward to swing around straight. While this was going on the was a group was watching me the whole time. They got my attention and told me to pull in to the closer dock and helped get me situated. At this point I was still a few docks from where I was to be but they told me no one was in that space so I should switch since I'm already there. Great people!

About the sailing: Sunday I spent most the day organizing and learning about her from the dock. I had my sailing instructor from the sail-a-way program, Ron, come by and look her over and give me his opinions.
Around 4ish we left for a sail. My wife,dad, and I went. They were both nervous by I was excited. Once we got out there and set sails the wind was low but enough to push us around. I was disappointed because having been in 3 lessons I had experienced stronger winds. But they pointed out that being the first time out with her sails it was best to learn in lower winds.
We return then enjoyed dinner and the evening on her.

I returned the next day with my brother and mom and the wind was much better! Got going good and made it all the way to the break wall and back. Was an awesome day and looking forward to many more!
I had encounter some issues but I will post them at a later time

While it is tempting to come in slow, to minimize "docking damage" its actually best to approach crisply and then back down on the boat and take the speed off at the stopping point. Of course, if your engine likes to stall or wont shift easily, rethink this. You will find you can easily stick the boat right at the dock with the method...if you choose the dock to the lee, you can let the wind finish the dock for you..might as well use that freeboard for something....

While I do "come in slow" - as per my sailing class - I do tend to use the wind to drift me to my slip. As you point out - might as well use the high freeboard for something.

Catigale wrote:While it is tempting to come in slow, to minimize "docking damage" its actually best to approach crisply and then back down on the boat and take the speed off at the stopping point. Of course, if your engine likes to stall or wont shift easily, rethink this. You will find you can easily stick the boat right at the dock with the method...if you choose the dock to the lee, you can let the wind finish the dock for you..might as well use that freeboard for something....

To amplify Catigale's point, the rudders are less responsive as speed goes down. If you come in below 2 knots, you'll find you have very little steering response and the boat won't point necessarily where you want it to go, especially if there's any wind or current. The solution is to rev the engine a little to regain steering and as he says, reverse into the dock to stop forward momentum and pull the stern aside. It's easy once you get used to it.

Also, my boat often crabs about 20 degrees when reversing out even with the rudders and dagger down. Just be aware of it and don't worry about how it looks