Recent content by Macgyro

Never give up! Congratulations on your new Ericson! There’s a reason for the joke that a boat is hole in the water to throw your money into. But as nearly everyone on here can attest to, it’s well worth it! Just keep working the fuel problem with a mechanic or on your own as necessary. I...

Furling then Tacking When I'm short handed, especially if it's windy, I furl the genoa about 70% or so, take the slack out of the genoa sheets, and then tack, then unfurl on the new tack. When I forget, and let the sheets flop about, they tend to get tangled on anything including the hatch...

Atomic 4 replacement In 2014, I replaced my Atomic 4 that was last rebuilt in 1975 with a used Moyer Atomic 4 from 2006. The Previous Owner (P.O.) said it had about 100 hours on it which looked about right. Pretty much a straight swap, complicated by having to rebuild the structure that holds...

Prop Shaft I was able to slide the prop shaft straight out the back with the rudder turned slightly in one direction or the other. It slid against the rudder as it was coming out and going back in, but it made it past. I suppose you could remove the cutlass bearing before you remove the...

Two blade folding Martec Hi, A couple years ago I installed a two blade folding Martec Prop I bought used after it had been factory reconditioned. This replaced a fixed 3 blade. I don't have measurements, but you're right to be concerned about clearance. I think the new prop is a 12x9...

Off Center I may be a little off center, but when I pulled the prop shaft on my E-32, it wouldn't clear the centered rudder, but turning the rudder just a hair allowed me to pull the shaft along the side (starboard if I remember correctly) of the rudder. It wasn't much clearance, certainly not...

*UPDATE* The simplest possible answer is usually the correct one..... *UPDATE* I decided to tighten the turnbuckles on the stays to the proper tension regardless of whether the mast support was rotting or not, and have a frame of reference to see if it was getting worse or was stable. The...

Boat US Towing You now have a fifth or sixth endorsement for the unlimited towing. (I don't count well) Last December, my mooring broke free from the mooring anchor in the Sassafras River. I was out of town, so I called around to see if anyone could tow it. Lowest (and only) quote was...

Photos Went out sailing today. No real change, but I got to look at the mast step and compression post. I have a small crack in the headliner, but I think it's been there a while. I sanded the top of the door down a little about two years ago because it was sticking, and it hasn't started...

Thanks for the Mast Step by Step instructions That looks like a good set of steps to inspect the area. Your description makes me think an old problem may have migrated to the mast step. There is a solar vent on a wooden block about 2-3' aft of the mast that was leaking into the core of the...

Hey! Wait a minute... I have an A4. What's an aficionado? ;)

Wow! What a range of possibilities! You guys are awesome! Before we went out, I tightened the backstay 4-5 turns the wrong way (loosened) and then about 8 turns the right way. That was enough to "properly" tension the backstay using my highly accurate push it back and forth and see how far...

So, It's been getting colder and darker sooner here on the Chesapeake Bay, but we were able to get out for a couple of hours Wednesday afternoon. I noticed that my all of my standing rigging (forestay, backstay, and all 4 side stays) were looser than usual. The turnbuckles were all still...

Highly Recommend a Sailboat Marine Surveyor Hi, I'm going to second the advice of hiring a reputable marine surveyor. When I was looking at our 1970 Ericson 32, I had a list of obvious things that I found needed to be fixed, but my insurance company required a survey anyway. The...

Uses on your boat I used my old mainsail to make a wheel cover, binnacle cover, winch covers, and a spinnaker for the dinghy. Sprayed like crazy with scotch guard. They've lasted two years in the Mid-Atlantic so far. Probably need some type of UV protection spray further south.