Need Purchasing Advice 26X

[C Buchs]

MacGregorSailors:
I've been trolling around this site for more than three years, living vicariously through all of your adventures and soaking up all the wonderful information you all provide. I would like to give personal shout outs to Sumner & Ruth (may she rest in peace), Mike & Sandy of Chinook, and Matt “mastreb” for the adventures they have shared. May they have many, many more!

I’ve decided that a is the boat for me and I’d love to find one with a 90 horse. We’re a family of four with two boys who are 11 and 13. The boys want to do some tubing, so my thinking is the extra horsepower will help.

Here is what I’ve found:
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2000/Ma ... TqMuCFVhBc
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2002/Ma ... ted-States
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2001/Ma ... ted-States
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2002/Ma ... ted-States
I live in Southwest Washington. So I’m going to look at the two boats in Portland tomorrow. I’m taking Monday off to go to Olympia (about 2 hours North) to look at the boat there. You guys know what you’re looking at. Do you see anything I should be concerned with? Do you have any advice? I've emailed these dealers and most of them seem to be brokers who are contacting the owner to get information. I can afford more. Should I try to get the boat repowered as part of my purchase agreement? Do you think these brokers would consider doing this? Please send me a PM with deliver addresses and preferred toppings for the pizza!

Jeff Buchholz

[sunshinecoasting]

Hey Jeff and welcome aboard, if you are shopping in Portland then be sure and visit McCuddys boat sales and ask for Andrew, that is where I bought mine 2 years ago, these guys were great, Andrew really looked after me, he could so easily have ripped me off as I purchased it over the internet off their web site from Australia, they gave me a good price and a solid boat and no crap, Andrew even towed it down to L A for me for extra of course and put it on the ship for me, very happy with their service. Oh and by the way, imho the is the right boat, your boys will have huge memories for the rest of their lives.

If you do see Andrew tell him Dennis in Australia says hi, he will remember me. http://www.mccuddys.com

Pm me for the delivery address and my favourite is meat lovers with bbq sauce.

Cheers, Dennis.

[dlandersson]

Some brokers will consider this - provided you are willing to pay for it. Remember, there aren't any more X's being made, and the vast majority already have a 30/50 HP engine. So you are going to have to pay extra - or jump on a X with a 90 HP already installed (not many).

[C Buchs]

Dennis:
One of the boats I'm looking at today is being sold by Andrew at McCuddy's. I'll tell him you said hi!

Jeff

[Herschel]

As a 26X owner for almost 12 years, the 1st and the 3rd listings looked like they would be most likely to make my short list. They both looked like they were owned by someone who really liked having a Mac 26X with custom mods and accessories. I will say that having had initially a carburated Merc and now a fuel injected Yamaha, I would not be interested in going back to carburated engines. Just too much temperamental issues with fuel. Good luck.

[mastreb]

I liked contestant #1 best: Lots of well thought-out value adding mods like the cabinetry and the electronics, Bottom painted, clearly loved by her owner.

As for engines, as a new buyer I would buy it with a 50hp motor and then have that taken off, sold, and a new 90hp hung from the transom before I even put it in the water. That way you're getting a brand new boat with zero issues, including an engine warranty. I'd also pay for a professional inside/outside detail and wax unless it just had one, just to complete the new-boat experience.

Presuming there are no holes (or thru-holes) in the hull, the centerboard is working well, and there's no leaks on the deck joint, and the steering gear is straight there's nothing else that really goes wrong with these boats so with a new engine and battery, you'll be like-new with a new engine.

Personally I'm partial to the ETEC-90, but the people who have Suzuki's love them too.

[C Buchs]

I was able to look at boat #1.
The bilge was full of water up into the cabin. They had a hole in the cabin floor so that water could drain into the bilge. It has a bilge pump that was able to pump it out. I guess that's a good added mod All the wood that looks nice in the pictures was coated in mold. The wood counter is sagging under the weight of the sink and stove. It is no longer my front runner.

Boat #2 is in a slip at a marine. I told the broker that I would be out to look at it today. He said to call him after 10. I called him and left a message to let him know we were on our way. We drove the 40 minutes to get there called him again and he told me he couldn't show the boat on Saturdays. Wish he would have said that in one of the 5-6 emails we exchanged!

I'm going to look at #3 on Monday.

[mastreb]

Ugh. That's a weekend full of disappointment.

If you decide you just want a boat that's ready to go, My 2011 26M is for sale...

[Russ]

Don't write off #1 totally. Bargaining points. Most of the wood is owner added. Original had little wood.

Might need a lot of cleaning..but if you can shave off $4-5k off the price...

The motor is probably the most complicated thing to worry about. If that can be checked, started etc. I suppose a good mechanic that can pressure test would be a good idea.

[sailboatmike]

With boat #1 their laziness can be your gain if you dont mind some hard work with a scrubbing brush and if you are be able to bargain them down a few thousand $$$ as long as the boat is structurally sound.

In some cases I would prefer a genuine boat that you can see the flaws with than pay the going rate and then finding that things have been covered up rather than repaired correctly so they can sell it and you get stuck with not only paying top dollar but then having to pay out more hard earned to bring it up to scratch.

If the expensive stuff checks out alright like motor, sails, standing rigging and trailer then you could pick up a bargain for a few hours of your hard work

[sunshinecoasting]

Hi Jeff, hope that second one wasnt Andrew? Doesnt sound like something he would do.

Now about the hole in the floor to drain it to bilge, if you are talking about the hole in the middle below the ladder then that is a factory hole, they didnt put that there to drain the cabin to the bilge but in fact the exact opposite, the drain hole is designed to allow bilge to spill to the cabin floor to show you that it needs draining as there are no drain plugs. If you get water coming through that hole you definately need to lift your rear mattress and sponge out your bilge. Never been an issue on my boat. Cheers Dennis.

[Ixneigh]

I'd avoid anything that had any water in it long enough to create mold unless they were selling very low.
High humidity and moisture aren't good for electric, battery, woodwork, fabric, plus mold is difficult to clean.
Ix

[C Buchs]

Boat #3 is exactly as advertised. If everything goes well, I hope to tow it home!

Jeff

[Chinook]

One thing I noticed in the galley pic of boat #3: it has a Wallas stove. People either love em or hate em. I'm in the love category. It cooks great, and that hood has a fan which allows you to use the stove as a cabin heater. it's great to have here in the Pacific Northwest. The stove in the picture is the same model we had installed in our 2002 26X. If the information is available, it would be nice to know the last time it was serviced. I'd also recommend that you have it demonstrated for you, both in cook and heater mode. If you buy that boat, you'll want to get acquainted with Scan Marine on Lake Union, as they are the primary dealer and service center for Wallas Stoves. It will cost you a few hundred bucks, if no major parts are needed, for them to do a complete servicing of the stove. It's condition will depend on how heavily it was used, and how well it was cared for. They are quite voltage sensitive, and will have trouble starting if your house battery is down or not holding a full charge. Voltage loss due to corroded connections will also cause start problems. The other big issue is fuel. Stpve grade kerosene is the recommended fuel, and you should start with fresh fuel at the start of each year. Kerosene which is older will gum things up and cause trouble. I ended up buying a kerosene heater from Home Depot, and I burn off the left over fuel in the heater, warming the shop during the winter, while I'm working on boat projects. It's a nice symbiotic relationship. One thing they'll tell you at Scan Marine is that the blower hood is old style, and the bearings in the fan will get noisy over time, as they start to wear out. When that happens, the entire hood needs to be replaced, since that old hood wasn't designed to allow simple bearing replacement. The new hood is scary expensive, and will likely push you toward replacing the stove. Then, you'll have to decide if you're a Love the Wallas or Hate the Wallas kind of guy. (We're on our second stove and still loving it.)

[C Buchs]

I'll have to figure out the stove on my own. The broker didn't know anything about it. Luckily the previous owner kept an organized file with all the manuals for everything!

The trailer needed a new light. The broker paid for that and we got it installed. We didn't check the trailer tire pressure before we loaded the boat. When I got up the ramp and could see the tires in my mirror, they were squished big time! We had to call the local tire shop to pump them up. The broker paid for this also. Took us an hour to get the mast down and everything stowed.

I had to stop quick for a light and performed an inadvertent "Mac Bump". If I hadn't read all you guys talking about it, I would have been a little freaked out, but it was not problem to pull over and tighten the wench up. At least the trailer breaks were working well! I stopped at the first rest area to check the wheel bearings. They weren't super hot, but they were warm. I made it to the in-laws to pick up the kids (my wife is a nurse and was working nights). The bearings were too hot to keep your hand on. By the time I got home (about 130 miles total) I could smell the grease cooking. It's only 1/4 mile from my house to launch. So I'll get her in the water and my first expense will be new bearings for the trailer.

I'll post pictures when I get to 10 posts.

Jeff