New boat and bunch of new mods

[Seapup]

Hello all, I have not posted much, but began reading the forums when looking for a boat about this time last year. Last fall I found a 2002 that perkerd my interest and started negotiating on it, I had some concerns about it and made an earlier thread http://macgregorsailors.com/forum/viewt ... =8&t=17376in Nov. Halfway through February I was able to reach an agreement with the seller and bring her home. The boat had sat unused and untouched basically from 2005 until this february and was in need of a lot of tlc. From reading the boards over the past year I had a good idea of what to look for and what I wanted to change about the boat to customize it. I didn't really come up with anything new, basically just took what I learned from everyone else and added it in so there is a good chance I stole one of your ideas If so thanks! I wanted to kind of document what I have done and show off a bit since I am pretty proud of how its turning out. Let me know if you have any questions about it or suggestions.

Here is how she looked last fall after 5 about years collecting dirt and fading in the sun.



Managed to make it home on the dryrotted tires which blew on the first trip to test the motor.



The motor was stolen in 2006 and replaced with a new 2006 bf50. After it was replaced the owners took it out once and snapped the steering cable, then let it sit with the gas until now. The gas in the can was a thick yellow shellac, and when I opened the carbs this is what I found:

[Seapup]

I ended up on and off with the carbs a couple times but eventually after enough research got them running perfect. All the jets initially were clogged. The final culprit was the midrange jets in the body of the carb and a single strand of copper speaker wire was able to clean them out.

I also replaced the steering cable with a 9' teleflex kit which was pretty straightforward and put on new rims/tires so I could get to the ramp.

Still winter, but had to try out the motor, runs great Was a bit disappointed by the top speed of only 17 on gps though. It was an ugly cold day, but still a good one.



Next up came tackling the bottom. From sumner I decided to use the sehawk tough stuff 2 part epoxy bottom primer/sealer, was able to get about 3 coats out of 2 gallons, then put 4 coats of sehawk monterey which should be good for trailering and has a 55% copper if I remember right. Prepping the bottom was way more work than I anticipated. The bottom was covered in barnacles and the old dried paint was a pita to remove. Eventually I was able to get it all off though.

New tires and prepping the bottom


Tough stuff epoxy

[Seapup]

Centerboard



While I was at it I decided to mask and repaint the stripes. I think they turned out pretty well, will have to see how it holds up.

[Seapup]

From there I decided to move on to the inside. On a random rainy day I found some chestnut colored vinyl flooring at lowes on clearance, so picked up a box. Hopefully it does ok with a little water, but if not it was cheap cheap. My main goal on the interior was to make it as nice as possible for as little as possible. All of the interior ended up costing less than one sail and I think turned out nice and cozy.



After the floor I decided to attack the galley.

For the countertop I used 2x4s ripped to 3.25" thick and glued butcherblock style. The pine is pretty light and I routed the underside down to about 1" thick to get it down to only a few pounds overall. On both the countertop and table I used a clear waterbased poly that is supposedly 30% stronger than standard poly. Only time will tell how it holds up.

Sanding the butcherblock silky smooth.



Adding cupholders into the countertop

[Seapup]

I made the countertop a little oversized and wanted the extra height to get it up closer to a standard counter. For the base I cut out the opening oversized and made a base cabinet. On out other boat the doors always seemed to get in the way so I wanted this one to be open to reach right in. This turned out to be another frustrating project. I like right angles and perfect squares, nothing in the boat seemed to fir that bill. To get as much space as possible I taperd the cabinet both from top to bottom and front to back to fit the contour of the hull. I went with 1/2" plywood and 1/2" oak trim and tried to keep weight to a minimum again.



Fast forward a bit and here is the installed picture:



I also added a stainless RV sink and electric water system from parts on ebay. The faucet is a sureflow which has the switch built in. I stole the idea of the 7 gallon reliance containers under the bow for water storage. Above the sink you can see the storage shelf built to match the base cabinet.

[Seapup]

I wanted a sturdier table so made a matching one to the galley. This time I ripped 2x6 down to 1.5" thick, cost less than $20. We liked the plexi on the factory table for putting in charts and pictures, so I routed a spot right into the table to remount the plexi flush again. I intended on mounting the table to the mast support to get rid of the table leg, but just ended up moving the leg behind it instead.



I also made the classic 26x magazine rack, nice addition

[Seapup]

To make everything a little more cozy we added some more wood to the interior. I fitted 1/4" plywood pannels and stained/polyed them to match.

Not to offend, but kate was very turned off by the factory cushion covers. Neither of us are good with sewing though. My mans solution was to cut a piece of plywood to fit each cushion, then just carefully rap each cushion neatly and staple the covers down. She was able to find some upholstery fabric on clearance that I was a bit skeptical about, but turned out very nice and seems to be holding up well.

8' shelf along the table



cushion covers/galley

[Seapup]

I also wanted to modify the electronics a bit. First was lighting. I ordered eight 24smd warm led bulbs from china. They are about 1w each and about the same brightness as the factory filament bulbs. They doe require soldering directly to power leads. Since they are flat I was able to mount them flush inside the headliner and also in the bold cover plugs. Each one of the 8 bulbs I wired with its own on and off switch and also wired them all to one dimmer. That way you can have any combination of dimming them or turning on only the ones you want. Except for a 6" section getting from the front flotation compartment to behind the forward hatch I was able to snake all the wires inside of the liner so they are not visible.
I put one on each side of the aft bunk that light it up nicely mounted and mounted in the inspection hatches.



One in each of the factory lights, one on a switch over the sink, two over the bow sleeping area, and one over the rear seat at the table.



You can also see the speakers for the radio, I mounted it above the head so its easy to reach from the cockpit. I put the rear two speakers in the sides of the pedestal as I saw others do here.

[Seapup]

Here is a pic of the led dimmer, I popped out the potentiometer and mounted it right to the switchplate and hid the pmw box behind the switches. For batteries I picked up a bank of AGM deep cycle 55ah wheelchair batteries off of ebay. They are designed for deep discharging so hopefully they hold up well.



Mounted dimmer



The weather finally warmed up so we were able to start using the boat. Before using it I had to pick up all new running rigging. I went with color coded cajun ropes from canada. Nice ropes but did take 4 weeks. I was able find the lengths here and individually order each line for about 1/4 the price of what they sell it for as a package.

The roller furler was missing half of its parts so we had to order them directly from cdi. Once they came in we gave the mast a test raising. It is a bit more than our potter, but we found with two people we can raise it easily enough by hand by just lifting vs using the mast raising system.

[Seapup]

Finally the weather started turning and we got the chance to begin using the boat other than hanging out in the driveway. We are both teachers and plan on spending most of our 3 months off this summer living aboard. We had an anchor drag once on our potter and I did not want to make that mistake again. I went with a 22lb plow and 40' of heavy chain, the chain alone weighs about 60lbs , We have used it a few times and it really holds. The wind was 20-30 overnight last friday and we held perfect on a bahama moor with it and our danforth. After the first experience lugging the plow aboard I mounted and anchor roller to the bow for storing the plow.



I finished up the final preseason mod last night. After seeing the pictures of all the additional room with a back porch I decided to make one that extends through the cockpit. We are looking forward to taking it out this weekend for a test.



And finally kate learning to dock. It has been a windy spring and we found that the boat truly can be a handful for her to hold when we are docking, so to avoid a mutiny I try to let her bring it in while I secure the lines.



I hope you enjoy the pictures, I know I have spent much more time at work than I should have looking through everything 26x related I could find over the past few months. If you have any questions ask. We are getting a slip in may and from then on I hope to be on the water and not the net!

[Divecoz]

I Did Enjoy All The Pictures... IMHO your doing a great job .. Enjoy the summer off .. shes on her way and you'll have earned it by then...
( wow.... teaching the cutie to dock?? this kid has a huge set of.........)

[mastreb]

Want to come work on my boat?

[tvanbeck]

Nice Job -- Some of the best mods I have seen.

[kmclemore]

I stole the idea of the 7 gallon reliance containers under the bow for water storage. Above the sink you can see the storage shelf built to match the base cabinet.

Glad to see someone else putting in my water mod. But you may find some difficulty unless you find a way to introduce air into the top of the containers - you will reach a point at which the tanks will start to collapse. Add a vent using the upper plug, or you can drill directly into the top of the tanks and screw a fitting into the plastic, as I did (there's no water pressure there, so it won't leak). I also added an easy way to fill the tanks without removal.

[vulcan98]

You have been a very busy fellow. Your mods look great, and I love that you continued the Mac. white & black theme going on the inside with your wood work. Very classy job.