GL: McGregor 26X

[Ralph Yost (home)]

I agree. You dont outrun weather. You regularly watch the forecasts and move 
accordingly, if you can, to position yourself as best you can to handle the 
weather.
In the early 1990's (I think...have to ask the wife), we were in Maine in 
our 30' Catalina sailboat when a hurricane started up the coast. Kept 
watching it waiting for it to move out to sea. Never did. Went straight 
through New England. Coincidentally, my wife had looked at the cruising 
guide and saw a town, Wiscassett, Maine, that she wanted us to visit. I 
complained as it was 15 miles up a river, rather narrow, and it would be a 3 
hour motor each way. But I gave in (this one time). We were there when we 
realized that the hurricane was going to continue on up to Maine. It was 
about a day or two away. I immediately looked a the chart for hurricane 
holes, found a few, but then thought carefully. How many others would be 
trying to anchor in these small harbors? What if their anchor drags? What if 
too many boats anchor there? The whole scenario was not good. I was actually 
glad that my wife talked me into coming to this place, 15 miles or so AWAY 
from the coast.

So we stayed put in Wiscassett, tied to a 500 lb granite mooring. Took down 
all the sails, boom, etc to cut down on the windage. Used chafe gear, then 
left the boat for the night and took a room at a local bed and breakfast. 
Then we had to look for some lunch...Everything in town was closing 
up...putting tape on the windows, the whole bit. The only place we saw that 
was still open was a place called RED's EATS. It was a little trailer on the 
side of the main road near the bridge. So we ordered two hamburgers, and sat 
in the rain, at the outside tables, with out rain gear on, eating these 
hamburgers.And, we had the best tasting hamburgers of our life. Maybe it was 
just the circumstances.

Turned out the be a really great experience. The people in that town were 
wonderful. After dinner, at the height of the storm, we walked down to the 
yacht house where all the town people kept their dingys to get out to their 
boats on moorings. Half the town was there watching the storm. When we got 
there, I was comforted by several people who said 'Oh yeah we have been 
watching your boat...no problem. Its doing well."
Kudos to the people of Wiscassett, Maine. Its a great little town to visit. 
Lots of antiques, if you like old junk (as I refer to antiques). And dont 
forget to try the burgers at REDs EATS if its still there.

Moral of this long story - you cant outrun the weather, and if you try, 
where you end up might be worse. You dont know until you get there, and then 
its really too late.
R.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Randy Pickelmann" <rwp_48@yahoo.com>
To: <great-loop@lists.samurai.com>
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 8:01 AM
Subject: GL: McGregor 26X


>I gotta' jump in here.  I don't know much about the McGregor 26 but I do 
>have
> a lot more time under sail than in trawlers.  I have two concerns about 
> Glen's
> thinking.          First, be careful about overloading.  The McGregor is
> fairly light and will not like overloading.  That is not to say that you 
> can't
> add amenities ... just be aware.  Also, when you start loading the boat 
> for
> your trip you will be shocked at how much stuff you are going to drag 
> aboard.
> This additional weight will affect performance adversely.
>    Second, The notion that you have enough horsepower to outrun the bad
> weather is flawed.  This is pretty common thinking among those folks 
> without
> much experience under sail.  The fact is that when the weather kicks up, 
> you
> can't run a powerboat fast in comfort and safety, let alone a "hybrid" 
> like
> the McGregor.  This means that you will have to be overly conservative 
> about
> what days you travel.
>    This is not to say that you can't do the trip in a McGregor.  What the
> heck...its been done in canoes and jet-ski's.  But I think I'd rather have 
> a
> purpose-built boat - trawler or sailboat- than a boat which doesn't sail 
> well
> and doesn't power well either.  That's just my opinion and, hey, opinions 
> are
> like belly-buttons....everybody's got one.  What every you choose, have a
> safe, fun trip.
> Regards,
> Randy Pickelmann
> hard aground in Clearwater
> MORNING STAR
> lying in Solomon's, MD
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