newbie wondering if a macgregor 26x or m is right choice

[Ixneigh]

Re draft, on the m as soon as the rudders hit, pull the board all the way up. The boat will still sail. I'm not sure which is better for sailing in shallow water, though between the x and the m. My v 222 with its heavy keel was pretty good at it.
I've been quite happy with the M and I spent most of my time in waters less the ten feet deep.
Ix

[yukonbob]

IMO these boats can take more than the crew. Usually once a year we hit 6-8’s @ 15s, very tight very stacked almost breaking waves. Not something we like to do, but as you’ve pointed out sometimes it just happens. This year we were out in the Gulf of Alaska in 10’s @30s with chop and were no problem; basically out for a nice cruise. We’ve had waves break across the bow and on one occasion had water enter the cockpit over the gunwales. We have regularly returned to our home port in SCA and the odd gale (although it was not apparent at the time of departure that it was a gale, just thought it to be a stronger SCA).
The worst part about heavier weather in these boats is the comfort factor. As someone else pointed out you can make that crossing in a few hours with some extra gas and a larger outboard. We have discovered that abandoning the OB in heavier weather in favor of sails smooth’s the ride out considerably especially down wind. There are numerous spots where we sail with no shelter for 40 -50 miles; a lot of rocky shore in narrow fjords, which creates a funnel effect and stacks the waves. Running in bigger waves in open water is much easier. My only concern in heavier wind and waves is the rigging. I could see losing the mast in really heavy weather, but you still got the OB for back up. That combined with all the proper safety gear almost anything’s possible really.
That being said a trans-Atlantic crossing could probably be done in this boat or in a dug-out canoe for that matter, I think Chris Rock said it best: “You can drive a car with your feet if you want too; it don’t make it a good f*****g idea!”

[BOAT]

I have been in 6 to 8 in 'boat' - I have no choice at times because my harbor is not a protected inlet - it's just wide open ocean. What yukonbob said is the key - the boat can take a lot more than the people on board. Sure I have been in 6 to 8 but I did not like it and I would not do it on purpose. It's too uncomfortable because the boat is so tall on the water. You need one of those wide flat submarine kinda boats for that 6 to 8 stuff.

If your thing is shallow water all the time I recommend the X boat - it's got a flatter bottom and floats a little better than the M in still water.

If most of your time will be out in the ocean I recommend the M.

[Sumner]

....If your thing is shallow water all the time I recommend the X boat - it's got a flatter bottom and floats a little better than the M in still water....

Since so much of the water in Florida is shallow except if you are off shore I'd take the X with the swing keel. The swing keel on the Kera Jane has been a big help in going in unknown shallow water in Florida and also Idaho, Canada and even Lake Powell. If you sail the same waters all of the time I don't think it is as big a deal,

Sum

[whgoffrn]

i appreciate all the advice guys...I think that's all I needed was a little reassureance the boat could handle bad weather IF (never intentionally would I put myself out in it).. I probably would save the Bahamas trips for once maybe twice a year during the summer months when weather is more predictable and use it to occasionally hit reefs / wrecks for fishing and in general camping out on with kids.... think my mind is made up... ive been leaning towards a panga with custom enclosure but I think ill go with an X it just makes more sense

[BOAT]

The X has a better bathroom, The M has a better bed

Can't seem to get a boat with both a bathroom and a bed.

[Tomfoolery]

The X has a better bathroom, The M has a better bed

Can't seem to get a boat with both a bathroom and a bed.

I sleep in the vee-berth, and the admiral uses the table. Head to head, with plenty of room for both. It's also easier for her to get out by just sitting up while grabbing the compression post. Stern berth is just storage.

With kids, the stern berth would be pressed into service.

I don't know much about the berth arrangements on the , though. But the does have a bigger head, at least from what I've always read here.

[BOAT]

The rear berth is HUGE on the M boat - it's like having another cabin. A friend at the harbor with an X always likes to look at the aft berth on 'boat' and he says he wished he had that too.

I have always like the layout of the X - that was the boat I really wanted when i first started considering a boat. The stand up head was the big feature to me.

Now that I have the M I'm happy because of the sturdier build and better performance but I still like the head on the X boat better.

[dlandersson]

That's because you spend so much time in there - Sunday paper and all. Me, I like the 's larger cockpit.

The rear berth is HUGE on the M boat - it's like having another cabin. A friend at the harbor with an X always likes to look at the aft berth on 'boat' and he says he wished he had that too.

I have always like the layout of the X - that was the boat I really wanted when i first started considering a boat. The stand up head was the big feature to me.

Now that I have the M I'm happy because of the sturdier build and better performance but I still like the head on the X boat better.

[BOAT]

My old Aquarius 23 had the same head set up as 'boat' except on the Aquarius there was no wall between the head and the forward berth and the potty faced forward instead of to the side.

You mentioned Newspaper - that's funny because your not far off:
I would have my charts laying out on the forward berth and sit on the head contemplating my position in the ocean (those were the days before GPS).

If my reckoning was way off or I was surprised by my latest plotting it made for a great laxative.

Even today I am seriously considering removing the wall in 'boat' that is between the head and the forward berth. Is there anything bad about taking that wall out?

[Tomfoolery]

This is the interior of my Aquarius 7.0 (an A23 with the rudder mounted to the transom instead of through the cockpit sole). The porta-potti is on the other side of this bulkhead, and there's a removable board with cushion in the v-berth to access it. That's probably the corner of the PP in the bottom-left of the second pic. That's something that doesn't fly with the admiral (head under your head when sleeping). In fact, the large, enclosed, separate head in the was one of a few major considerations when shopping for a trailer boat.







Those are the only interior shots I have of that boat, unfortunately. Unfortunate in part because the 7.0 is a bit of an odd duck, and there's little out there about them.

[BOAT]

Yeah, that's very different than how my Aquarius was. Mine had the galley there on the back of the bulkhead that hides the head. There was not a post or center table either - on my A23 there was a solid wall from the mast plate down to the keel well. Very interesting - that is a VERY different lay out!

I guess you could still read your charts while using the toilet. (Or was the porta potty facing the wrong way?)

[Tomfoolery]

Pretty sure it faced forward, but I guess you could lay your charts on the v-berth cushion in front of you.

Here's the fourth and last pic I have of the interior (forum only allows three pics in a post).



Speaking of heads, if I remember correctly that beige bucket under the companionway step was a kid-sized porta-potti. These were marketing pics from when I bought the boat. I put the battery there instead, if I'm remembering correctly.

[BOAT]

Wow, that’s funny – in my A23 under the step was the ice chest! And that place where you have a galley was a huge single sleeping berth that went all the way under the cockpit!

[Tomfoolery]

And that place where you have a galley was a huge single sleeping berth that went all the way under the cockpit!

That's what the port side had.

Those boats were more spartan than even a MacGregor. But tough, and fun to sail. Like a MacGregor.

The guy I bought it from came to me a few years later wanting to buy it back, in fact, but I had traded it in on a big boat.