Just bought Mac 26S

[Barnacle Jim]

Ahoy,

We bought her just this week, but still need to bring her home. The former owners really kept her clean and shipshape.
The boat had been a part of their family for some 15 years; you might say their children grew up with that boat.

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/boa/4421796398.html

We had been looking at photos of the MacGregor designs for sometime, initially favoring the 26x, but the 26s seemed a better fit for us.
The boat cover is still in the original package, never opened; the spinnaker likewise never opened.

We live in Arizona; as I recall some of the Mac owners on this board suffer from a Big Mac attack sometime during the year, only to find themselves in a gathering on a Arizona lake.
(I hope I'm not making this up, but it would make a good story even if I did.) Let me know when you ne'er-do-wells get together and maybe this ne'er-do-well can join you.

Fair Sailing,

Barnacle Jim

[Russ]

Welcome to Mac ownership.

You will love that boat.

[mastreb]

Congrats! Be sure to inspect the standing rigging and make sure it's all in good shape. Age creeps up on it even on a well maintained boat.

[taime1]

Looks great! Congrats - I used to have an S, it's a great sailing boat. Check with the owner if the pop-top enclosure is in the boat somewhere. It's a canvas piece that goes around the top and can be handy in the rain and at anchor and really opens up the cabin space.

[wccorder]

Welcome! I'm sure you will love the S. New members buy thepizza
Wally
J.A.W.A.

[dlandersson]

Pizza pizza!!!

Welcome! I'm sure you will love the S. New members buy thepizza
Wally
J.A.W.A.

[JohnWood]

Congratulations. I bought a 26S yesterday. We're driving her home right now.

[Hamin' X]

You might want to change your profile; it shows that you own a Macgregor Venture 23

Welcome to Mac world,

~Rich

[Barnacle Jim]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the welcome and kind words.
We bring her home tomorrow and will have more of chance for close scrutiny then.
The halyards looked quite good.

What about the swing-keel? Are there any gears?
What might need to be replaced there?

Congratulations, John! You probably have her home by now.

As to pizza, pizza, sure; we can do that.

Yes, I saw the Venture listing, and finally discovered how to change the wording. Thanks.

Adventure begins,

Barnacle Jim

[Barnacle Jim]

Ahoy,

The boat is now at home; at least, she's at a friend's house where we plan to buff and polish the fiberglass hull.
(There must be something here on the board, but for some reason, I seem to have overlooked what others may have done.)

The fiberglass hull is oxidized, and that's understandable.
I just need to remove the oxidization and polish.


What products and approach have others used?


The hull is in good condition, and just needs a touch up of paint near the bow.

Any suggestions? Can someone throw me a life-line?


Barnacle Jim

[Azzarac]

Maine Sail posted an awesome "how to" manual on sailnet that covers everything you will ever want to know on wax and polish. You can find it here:
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-main ... h-wax.html

I've used his method for the last couple years and the finish just keeps getting better.

[Russ]

Ahoy,
The hull is in good condition, and just needs a touch up of paint near the bow.

Any suggestions? Can someone throw me a life-line?

Barnacle Jim

Good advice in the link above. Compound and polish will do magic to fiberglass.

Not sure what needs paint. The bottom is the only place there should be paint.

--Russ

[Barnacle Jim]

Hi,

Wow! That has to be one of the most complete discussions about polishing fiberglass that I have ever seen. Thanks so very, very much.

The bow apparently has hit something; small areas exposed there. Should we simply gel-coat rather than paint?

All this discussion caused me to remember Casey's book, This Old Boat.
What is especially interesting is that my dog had somehow found the book and was chewing one of the corners.
Maybe he is just anxious to get started and wants to become a true sea dog.

Thanks again.

[Barnacle Jim]

Ahoy.

With the help of some friends today, we were able to raise the mast. They are much better salts that I am, and came to inspect the boat for needed repairs.
All the lines are in good shape. The hull needs some buffing, but even the deck has no spider-cracks. The previous owner took good care of her.

Mast =Raising System

The optional mast-raising system was a pain to use. Indeed, we were not able to use the pole; instead, we used the whisker pole and made some modifications.
Everything worked. We checked the manual and what we saw in the manual did not seem to correspond to the hardware that came with the boat.

I later checked the manual here on the site, and from what I can tell, the pole should attach to the base (to the tabernacle), and not to the mast itself.
Two support lines need to be attached, one on each side of the mast to help keep the mast from twisting.
The line used to raise the mast (block and tackle) should be taken along the deck to the starboard winch.
(We did none of this.)

Maybe I am confused. I looked at a video, and the 26X's seem to have a different system, but with the same principle of leverage.

Maybe there are some other 26 S sailors out there, who might share what they do with the mast raising system?

In the meantime, here are a couple of photos. The temperature today was over 100; the sun was brutal, but neither sun, not sleet, nor rain, nor hail will keep us from our appointed task.
A sunstroke might, however.

Now let's see if I can upload some photos here. Maybe I can; may I cannot.
Oops, the code seems to be saying that the photo needs to be elsewhere on the Internet.
The photos will have to wait until I figure out how to upload a photo, and upright a mast.

Until then, sign me off as—

Two Years Before the Mast

(Oh yes, those who came over were rather complimentary of the MacGregor design, but I will share their comments later with you in another post.)


Barnacle Jim

[Catigale]

Posting pictures....photobucket is one of many such free services that one can use now.

You need to set up a free account on Photobucket, at http://photobucket.com/. Then you upload your photos to Photobucket.
To post an inline image on this forum:
1. Open the image in Photobucket, then right click on the image, then select "Copy Image Location".
2. When posting on this forum, click the "Img" button.
3. With cursor between the symbols, select Edit-->Paste from browser menu.

It will appear like this: