The Ballad of the Evil Bowsprit ---long

[Seadogg]

The Ballad of the Evil Bowsprit

By request as a follow-up to my Projects, project, projects entry.


Our 1976 MacGregor/Venture 222 is not a new boat, but she is new to us.

We purchased her late last summer after deciding that a Hobie Cat is not a family friendly boat for a family of four.  Too wet, too tippy, and, after a disastrous "fun sail" at Lake St. Clair, too much of an obstacle to convince my wife that "sailing is FUN"!

When I purchased "First Step", I inherited a lot of modifications.  Some of which made sense and some which still have me scratching my head.  For example, there are four below-the-waterline thru-hulls.  FOUR??!!  I can understand one or two, (although I am of the mindset that the fewer holes in your boat the better—especially a 22 footer) but FOUR???!!
I still don't get it and will be removing and glassing over them as soon as I can.

Now, one of the modifications that made some sense was the bowsprit.  Mind you, the Mac/Ven 222 is designed as a sloop.  With the addition of this 2 foot plus piece of oak, the boat can be rigged as a cutter.  And that is exactly the way she was set up.  Why the previous owner felt that this was something that needed to be done, I'll never know. But that is the way she was...

When I bought the boat and hooked her up to my full-size Chevy van, I noticed there seemed to be more than enough room between the end of the bowsprit and the rear windows of the van.  Of course, this was due in part to the fact that you couldn't snug the boat all the way up into the vee brace due to the fact that the teeth on the winch would eat into the bow if you did!  Hmmmm....

After having the boat a little while, sailing her here and there during last summer,  and doing a LOT of research, I discovered that there were many things that needed to be changed.  For example, when towing the boat in her "not snugged up" state, the whole rig pulled and jerked the van as we went wobbling down the road.  My new MacGregor friends who I had met on the internet, all told me the same thing,

"That's not right.  With YOUR van, you should barely know the boat is there!"

After inspecting the winch set-up, I discovered that the reason the teeth would bite into the bow was because the winch had been installed backwards!! Yes, backwards.  I quickly removed the winch and turned it around and, voila!, there was no way the bow would have to fear the winch teeth any longer. 

All I needed to do now was to get the bow to slide up the eight inches or so into the vee brace.

I had a plan...

Our first over night was up at Higgins Lake, Michigan.  A great sailing lake and a lovely area that is normally populated with bikini wearing and surfer tog wearing guys and gals enjoying the heat of the sun and the cool of the water.  For our trip, though, we had highs in the low sixties and lows in the low thirties!!  Yikes!  In June, even... Fortunately, as a small boat, our body heat was able to bring the night-time cabin temps up to a balmy fifty four degrees.  Thank Coleman for sleeping bags!!

We had endured the tugging and pulling when we towed the boat up to the lake, but, as we prepared to get her back out of the water and head home, I was ready to implement "Operation Snugger Up".

After getting her secured to the dock, I spray silicone on the trailer bunks and hauled her out of the water.  Because of the ramp incline, she was still too far from the vee brace, but I was prepared.  I had been taught the mysteries of the "MacGregor bump".

Or, at least, I had read about it.

For the uninitiated, the "MacGregor Bump" is the process of accelerating your vehicle to about 5 mph, then FIRMLY stepping on your brakes.  If all is well, inertia takes hold and your craft smooth slides forward and snugs up into the vee brace. 

Feeling like a bride on her wedding night, I grasped the steering wheel and accelerated.  As the gauge read "5", I firmly braked.  Sure enough, I could see in my rear-view mirror, "First Step" coming forward, just as as a thought flashed through my head.

"What about the bow sprit?"

I instinctively cringed, fully expecting to hear a hideous crash.

Nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  The only thing I heard was my wife clapping and yelling, "I think it worked!"

Sure enough.  The boat stopped and was all snugged up.  We had about four inches of safety margin between the nose of the bowsprit and the back of the van.  Amazingly, it had worked!

Feeling quite proud of myself, I derigged the boat, and we were soon on our way home.  I was amazed at the difference it had made.  No tugging, no pulling; van and trailer in perfect harmony.  As the gang on the MacGregor boards had claimed, it seemed as though I wasn't towing anything.

We got home in due course and, armed with our trusty walkie talkies, the boys and my wife got into spotting position and I began backing the boat into her "land berth" along the side yard.

First try wasn't good; we were headed into the trees.  On the second try, the van wasn't positioned correctly on the apron and was in danger of sliding into the gulley.  Ok, the third try.  Boat going up the apron, van positioned right, boat heading up yard incline, van on apron and

"KEE-RASSSSSSH!!!!"  A loud explosion echoed through my road-weary brain.  What the heck??!!

I hopped out of the van and ran to the back.  Sure enough, we had gobbled up our safety margin with the boat going up the yard and the van going down the dip before the apron.  The perfect angle to force the sprit through the rear window.

After gathering our wits, we were able to get the boat in her berth.  Of course, not having to worry about the window helped.  The kids helped unload the boat while I parked the van in the garage.

While in the garage, I saw something I needed.  Something that could have prevented this disaster.  I grabbed it and walked down to the boat, passing the boys as they lugged sleeping bags, coolers, and duffel bags to the house.

With grim determination, I made my way as my youngest asked, "Hey, dad, what's up with the circular saw?"

[AdriftAtSea]

Our first over night was up at Higgins Lake, Michigan.  A great sailing lake and a lovely area that is normally populated with bikini wearing and surfer tog wearing guys and gals enjoying the heat of the sun and the cool of the water.

The guys wear bikinis and the gals wear surf togs... hmmm, never seen a lake where dressing in drag was a requirement. 

ROTFL about the bowsprit.  I have a bowsprit on the Pretty Gee, but it is retractable, which makes trailering much safer. 

The swaying may also be to an improperly setup trailer, where the tongue weight is too light.