My X finally arrived. Now some questions

[sunshinecoasting]

Hi All,

I finally picker her up yesterday after 12 weeks freight from the USA. I'm very happy with the purchase but I do have some questions.
1. The hull has had black anti foul paint but was pressure washed so it now looks patchy, I want to remove it back to just white, can this be done? How?
2. Removing the registration letters from the bow, best method, they have been there for 12 years, I'm thinking hair dryer and patience?
3. She has some water in her bilge, I cant see it under the floor anywhere but during towing it has appeared on the aft floor in front of the rear birth, I guess it came out of the drain hole under the ladder, it is brownish and looks/smells old probably from dealer wash down. I cant see any obvious bilge drain plugs like most boats have, how does one drain the bilge? (This is bilge water not ballast tank).

Now al lI have to do is work out how to re-rig her, I have the factory manual so that will be some help but it has a CDI furler and 150% Genny which looks complicated to re-attach, anything I should know before I fit it upside down?



Thanks, Dennis.

[mastreb]

There's no way to go back to just gelcoat because that was sanded rought to allow the bottom paint to adhere. You can strip off the current paint and repaint with white bottom paint, but that's not going to match the gelcoat. I think you're best bet is to put another coat of black bottom paint.

There's no bung or bilge drain on the Mac X stock. You'll have to use a pump and finish with towels to completely dewater it. There's likely a bilge pump installed by the PO somewhere.

[yukonbob]

A fresh coat of black will look awesome with a good cleaning and waxing. One of the best ways I've found to remove vinyl or adhered decals, window tint ect. is a mild solvent one of those citrus based thingies and a straight razor (yellow snap handle) lift the top edge with the razor just a little then let the solvent get behind it…wait…then slowly scrape. Get the bulk of then reapply solvent to get any adhesive off. Windex solvent off, wash boat.

[bartmac]

Now the personalising begins.....1. Rego letters with a hairdryer.2. I've left my anti fouling to weather off...2 years now and its not all gone but you don't see it when she's in the water.3. Water in the bilge.......well mac's are known for various leaks up on deck...I've done most but still end up with a little bit so now and then...the old talcum powder trick will show up where its coming in.The known spots are the chainplates,around the steering binnacle on the cockpit floor (get lots of force on it from the main sheet) Our sliding hatch is far from water proof (rain is ok but driving rain or on the water with wind is so so)but haven't worked out how make it so (Have made a cover which goes over our collapsed dodger and sliding hatch for on the road and that stops high speed rain...goes over the end of the hatch at the cockpit...stops water dripping in )On the water the hatch is shielded by the dodger and a boom tent when at anchor or motoring.
One thing to check...our mast rake was way out...its obvious that our Mac had not been sailed much as nothing was assembled correctly...the was still fold marks in the jib.We ended up at the end of our adjustment forward on the front stay...so much so that with the furler fitted it was easier to put an additional (50mm higher) mast attachment point than to shorten the front stay.She now doesn't round up like a pig when the wind hits her Good luck

[Ormonddude]

Congratulations! as far as the Antifouling paint it can be removed however, I would keep it for lots of tips and tricks search bottom paint on the forum (I use zylene to loosen it up) however I seen some possibly better remedies also. The Registration Letters yes a hair dryer or a heat gun on low and plastic scraper the trick is once you can grab a piece try to work the heat and keep it going. Now for the Water there is no drain plug so a shop vac works wonders on it.

[seahouse]

Congrats, Dennis! Looks like a beauty.

If a power washer removed it in patches or flakes or sheets (it shouldn't be able to do that), you might be in luck. That might mean the the surface was not prepped properly, and it might make it all easier to remove.

Can you tell by looking at the white part (I assume that's the gelcoat surface of the hull showing through) whether or not it has been keyed (sanded) to a rough finish? If it hasn't, (it's a long shot) then more good luck for you, because you might just get away with simply removing the anti-foul that's there.

You are not planning on keeping the boat in the water then? Anti-foul paint on a barrier coat would be preferred if you did.

-Brian.

[sunshinecoasting]

Awesome replies, thanks everyone. I have a shop vac so that will be the go.

I have one more question though, in each of the storage bunkers under seats etc there is a lot of blocks of polystyrene foam wedged in, I understand the Macs had lots of foam floatation but always assumed it was 2 part squirted in at the factory, are all these loose foam blocks factory or has the PO simply wedged them in as additional floatation? To me it would seem silly as they would just float up out of their holes and clutter the cabin if it took on water, that could hinder exit of the hull maybe?

I think I may just sand back and re-paint the hull with a good marine white paint, it will always be trailered and not moored so I dont see any advantage in anti foul.

Cheers, Dennis.

[seahouse]

I have an M, not an X, but by your description it sounds like someone just threw them in there; they shouldn't be loose, in any case. The factory does stuff foam blocks (tightly and securely) all around in non-storage spaces, though, so hopefully they are large enough that they couldn't have come from somewhere else (hidden) where they were supposed to be.

Yeah – sand back and hard paint would be the best route to do it right then.

-B.

[Tomfoolery]

I have a shop vac so that will be the go.

I have a baby wet/dry vac that's just right for using and storing on a boat. It doesn't hold much, but it's all I need, and it takes up very little room. I paid something like $20 on sale for it. Yeah, that's how small and cheap it is.

I have one more question though, in each of the storage bunkers under seats etc there is a lot of blocks of polystyrene foam wedged in, I understand the Macs had lots of foam floatation but always assumed it was 2 part squirted in at the factory, are all these loose foam blocks factory or has the PO simply wedged them in as additional floatation? To me it would seem silly as they would just float up out of their holes and clutter the cabin if it took on water, that could hinder exit of the hull maybe?

Even if some of them floated up to the cabin roof, as long as they stay in there, it's better than nothing. But do try to make sure they're packed in there nice and tight. I don't remember now if some of those access hatches are screwed down, but you could always add some SS hardware to secure them if they're not. Just be careful where you're putting screws.

Congrats on the new boat.

[vkmaynard]

I used a paint scrapper to remove the bottom paint. It was not rough sanded. The paint scrapper was trial and error. Sounds brutal but it did not hurt the bottom.

Then I lightly wet sanded with 320 grit for a shark skin finish to make it the fastest production X

Victor

[Russ]

Congrats, Dennis! Looks like a beauty.

If a power washer removed it in patches or flakes or sheets (it shouldn't be able to do that), you might be in luck. That might mean the the surface was not prepped properly, and it might make it all easier to remove.

Can you tell by looking at the white part (I assume that's the gelcoat surface of the hull showing through) whether or not it has been keyed (sanded) to a rough finish? If it hasn't, (it's a long shot) then more good luck for you, because you might just get away with simply removing the anti-foul that's there.

You are not planning on keeping the boat in the water then? Anti-foul paint on a barrier coat would be preferred if you did.

-Brian.

What he said. ^

If it comes off that easy, it probably wasn't prepped correctly, dewaxed and all that. So you will have some work ahead of you to prep it correctly and paint it properly. Or just try and scrape it all of cleanly and leave it bare as Vic did. The photo make it looks like some of it is stuck on well.
Sumner has the best page documenting the proper way to paint the bottom. http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... de-39.html
BTW, anyone who finds his site useful can donate a buck or two to support it (as well as this site).

Since the Mac doesn't have any thru-hulls, no motor shafts etc. the water in the bilge is probably from above (rain). As mentioned above, best to try and find the source or buy a good sponge and bucket.

--Russ

[dxg4848]

1. The hull has had black anti foul paint but was pressure washed so it now looks patchy, I want to remove it back to just white, can this be done? How?

I had a few coats of epoxy put on my boat first to prevent blistering, and then bottom paint. There is no way to restore it back to white for me.

[DanInCanton]

Congrats on your new purchase. I owned an that was probably near the age of yours (it was a 2000 model). I now sail a 25, but that's a heated discussion for another time . Most of the foam flotation on my boat was built into the deck liner above the vee berth and around the cockpit coaming. There were a few long strips of foam under the aft bunk and some blocks under the vee berth. Foam anywhere else was probably put in by a PO, but may have been moved from the original location under the vee bunk in order to mount something there (batteries, water tank, etc.). If you can spare the room for storage, it couldn't hurt to leave it.

Cheers,
Dan
Sailorguides.com

[Normer]

Welcome, Dennis:

It is important not to remove any factory installed foam. There is no loose foam in the locker areas under the berths on my '98 . Macs are shipped with all the foam needed for them to remain buoyant when filled with water. Stability when filled with water may be another matter. My '98 X has most of its foam in the upper portion of the cabin, including near the forward hatch and high in the transom area. I have been informed that the foam should be held in place and be as high as possible; I suspect that is to increase stability if the boat does fill with water. The idea is that rigid foam in the upper portion of the cabin would displace a mass of water high in the cabin, which would assist in keeping the boat from turtling. I'm not a physicist, so can't claim that that is actually true. But it seems to make sense and is consistent with how the factory installed the foam in my boat. I therefore installed some additional foam high in the aft bunk area between the hull liner and the cockpit liner port and starboard. I also put in "pool noodles" in the mast from top to bottom. The noodles have holes in the centers lengthwise that allow wires to be run to the steaming light, anchor light, and antenna. A very nice side benefit of the pool noodles is that those wires no longer bang against the inside of the mast. I got that idea from this forum years ago. A mast filled with lightweight foam instead of water seems like a prudent idea (Google "righting moment").

I hope not to actually test the above stability theory!

Norm

[JotaErre]

My 26X has a water pump to empty the bilge... it is in the port side, very close to the W.C. door. You'll see some kind of gaiter, with a hole in the middle. There should be a steel bar with a black, plastic handle somewhere in the boat: insert the bar in the hole and start pumping.