Soon to be a new Macgregor owner

[JohnWood]

Thanks for the warning on carrying cash. It sounds like your friend got in trouble because of no paper trail. If i carry a receipt for the withdrawal and a maybe even a printout of my bank statement, that you cover it. maybe even a copy of the ad for the boat.
The seller wants to work with cash and I don't blame him. I don't want to have to look for a branch for my bank in Louisiana.

[mrron_tx]

I hope You have a fruitful , yet uneventful trip Ron.

[JohnWood]

We're driving her home right now!

[Tomfoolery]

NO TEXTING WHILE DRIVING!

(you might damage the boat )

[JohnWood]

My dad is driving right now.

[JohnWood]

The boat lived on the Bayou abou 1.5 hours SW of New Orleans. We're taking her to her new home in Largo, FL. 750 miles.

Without the trailer on our Sienna got there getting 20.24 mpg. Now, hauling the boat, we're getting about 12 mpg. I did not expect that much drag.

[Russ]

Without the trailer on our Sienna got there getting 20.24 mpg. Now, hauling the boat, we're getting about 12 mpg. I did not expect that much drag.

My Sienna got about that when towing. Big drag to pull a boat.

[Loala]

But its better than paying someone to do it!

[Hamin' X]

Put the sails up and motor sail!

~Rich

[mrron_tx]

Congrats John Glad You are having a good run of it Of course We will want pics of Your progress in making Your Mac Yours Ron.

[Obelix]

Welcome to the neighborhood, we live in Port Richey and our is in Gulfport.

Obelix

[Catigale]

My dad is driving right now.

Sow and steady as she goes. I found my trailer was a dream at 60 mph, and a nightmare at 70 mph

[JohnWood]

The guy we bought the boat from must have been the nicest man in the world. He cooked a big pot of shrimp creole which was awesome, and then he help us quite a bit to get going. He even offered to let us spend the night. His wife was equally hospitable. You can't substitute for southern hospitality. I've never been deep down in the southern Bayou before, but I may return some day.

The boat and trailer is a little bit wider and a good deal taller than the minivan so it adds a lot of drag.
I found that on the highway, the trailer pulled very steadily, not affected much by cross winds.
The drag, however was a big issue. Cruise control was not cooperating. It kept slowing down, and then down shifting to speed up again. MPGs were horrible with cruise control. On flat roads, with a tender foot, we could keep her at about 65 mph without the van downshifting too much. It also really help whenever we could follow a big truck, and we didn't have to follow it real close. Our beast gas tank yielded us 14.4 mpg.

"Tomfoolery" got it right. The trailer, although an original MacGregor trailer, was never equipped with brakes, and looks just like his picture. I might add brakes in the future.

We had some problems with getting the trailer out of there, though. The owner had equipped it with brand new LED lights, and they were not working. Prior to the trip I had checked my trailer light connector on my van with a voltmeter and thought I had confirmed that everything was working properly. After a lot of fooling around we deduced that since the lights were working with the prior owners truck, the only thing to do was to wait until the morning and go to an auto parts store and pick up a new converter box and hope for the best. When I did, the new box had a sticker that said "Compatible with LED lights." It occurred to me there that the van and the trailer were both working fine, but the converter box in the 10 year old van was just not compatible with the new LED lights. We wired it up, and sure enough, it worked perfectly.

We also lost a bearing buddy pretty close to the beginning of the way back home. We improvised a new cap with a water bottle and duct tape, which worked perfectly. I'm might install a new one, put bang on it with a punch a few times, as I've read as a suggestion. Would that kill the water seal?

The kids sure were excited when we brought it home. They're having fun scrubbing it with sponges.

Well, now I'm thinking of modifications. So far, this is what I'm putting priority on:
* Build a battery box that secures the batteries down. Right now, there are two, and they just sit at the bottom of the lazarette, unrestrained. Not safe. I thinking of building a box for them under the V-berth.
* Fix up the deck. It needs some fiberglass and some gelcoat here and there. Nothing major. Then a good buffing and waxing.
* Fixing the tiller so that it doesn't scrape the lazarette door. Also, fix the rudder pull down cable so that it does turn over sharp edges. Was this really how this was designed? Am I missing a part? The rest of the boat seems to have been well designed and built, but this tiller is baffling. What am I missing? I've looked through the modification forum, and haven't found much on this subject.
* Re work the boat's wiring. It's a mess.
* Add a VHF
* Trailer: mount the spare somewhere, Replace the bearing buddy and keep another handy as a spare.
* Run a cable down from the back stay, down to the water for lighting conduction. Possible through the rudder shaft. Is there currently an conductor that connects the mast to the water? I'll probably also connect a zinc somewhere.
* Install one or two bilge pumps. I haven't seen much on bilge pumps on the Mac forum. Do people often go without them?
* Eventually I want to rework the galley, including adding a proper cooler. I'm going to take down the mirror and add some millwork.

[Rick62]

Hi John,
I have read all your posts and responses and congratulations. I too have just picked up a Mac 26s 1994 model down on the Sunshine Coast in Qld Australia. The boat was in average to good condition but certainly has a lot of potential to become an excellent example. I too have a list. The temptation is there to doll her up first but I am starting from the "safe and mundane things first". My priority list is as follows…

1) Do wheel bearings and replace unusual (For Australia) tow hitch. Replace tail lights with Led and replace winch. Make trailer safe for towing.
2) Build a mast raising system like the original to save back especially when lowering.
3 )Replace standing rigging as looks original
4) Replace running rigging as is definatly original with colour coded sheets and halyards. Too many white ropes. e.g.; blue for headsail,white for main,red for main halyard and so on.
5) carry out repairs to rudder cable and centreboard cable
carry out misc minor cosmetic repairs. You Americans don't like thick Gel coats do you.
6) Replace mainsheet pulley system
7) Install bilge pump and carry out minor electrical repairs
Do a service on 4 stroke 8 Hp honda. Need a reliable outboard for safety reasons.
9) Cut,polish and wax seal deck and hull to prevent stains and make cleaning marks and stains easier.
10) Replace main sail as looking quite tired. headsail in great con with fixed furler.
11) replace rudder with upgrade larger one from the U.S.A
I have owned the boat 2 months and only last weekend took her out sailing. I was more than impressed with her handling and manners. These boats are very rare in Australia and are over shadowed by the 26X and 26M with a price tag of over $40,000 plus Australian. I paid $14,500 Australian for mine so quite expensive compared to the prices in the U.S.A. The next one on the net i saw was going for $24,000.00 Australian so I think I got a bargain over here.
It got a lot of attention at Maloolaba seaway boat ramp as I was rigging her. The mast raising system is a god send!
Cheers from Queensland Australia.
Beautiful one day…Perfect the next!

[JohnWood]

Congrats on your boat. I too, don't want to do anything real fancy, just the basic stuff to make it more seaworthy.

Is there any advantage of LEDs over incandescents? I know that they have great advantages of energy savings for your home, but that's really irrelevant for trailer lights. LEDs have a little circuit board that might be prone to failing due to corrosion. Then you have to replace the whole thing, most likely. I'm wondering if an LED trailer light system would last any longer than an incandescent bulb would take to bur out. Does anyone out there have experience with LED light durability vs old school?
BTW, I will be replacing all of the little hardware (nuts and bolts) on the lights with stainless steel. Perhaps recaulking seals. I will also be caulking over all electrical connections. That prolongs life.

Macgregor didn't use thick gelcoat because of weight and expense. As I understand it, the 26M and 26S boats has even thinner gelcoat than the 26s. I will be applying and maintaining a nice coat of wax to protect my gelcoat. Fortunately, apart from a few easily repairable nicks, mine is in pretty good shape.

I'm also going to replace old drain hoses and hose clamps, and inspect the through hole pipes very well, perhaps even reinforce them. Even though they are above the water line, they wouldn't be if we took on water. Good sinking prevention measures. Old cracked hoses or bad hose clamps often sink boats.

I also have an old through hull knot meter and depth sounder I will likely remove and glass over. I need to add a depth sounder of sorts. Any recommendations out there for something cheap, simple and not requiring a through hull? I don't see it as worthy to measure hull speed. I also need to add a compass.

Man I have a lot of stuff to buy and a lot of work to do. I need to stop thinking about this.