Yesterday finally, we baptized our brand new MacGregor 26M in the waters of Boston Harbor. She is named SLAINTE (thats Sla-Lawn-Cha)
for you non-Gaelic folk. Based on the great info on this site we outfitted it with the standard jib, stern seats, CDI roller furling, shore power, Garmin GPS 178C, Merc Bigfoot 50 HP, and Strandard Horizon hand-held VHF with DSC. Initially the dealer and I had difficulty getting proper tension on the forestay thinking it was 2-3 inches too long. In fact, MacGregor sent us a new one which we found was exactly the same as the first. A call to Bill at MacGregor lead us in the right direction as increasing tension on the upper side stays pulled the mast back into better alignment and seems to solve the problem. I was relieved to finally get the boat under sail. It was a beatiful evening, we motored out to a wide open area with very little boat traffic (still nippy in these parts). My son and I have been sailing Pearson 26s in these waters for three years and were anxious for the comparisons. The mainsail (with slugs thanks to you guys) went up like a breeze and the jib althouth not adjusted quite right unfurled and we were off. I left the Bigfoot down for safety and found immediately that the handling at the wheel under sail was very good. We reached 3.5 knots and as the breeze picked up as we approached the outer harbor we hit 4 knots. The jib handling was a piece of cake and I was quite suprised at how the boat seems to sail well pointing up into the wind. I was prepared for uninspiring sailing performance and was really pleased with our first sailing experience. We were having so much fun the light was beginning to fade so rather than push our good fortune we dropped sails, cranked up the Bigfoot and was safely in our slip as the darkness fell. It was great! To top it off a small humback whale (MacGregor sized that is, 20-25 feet) has been sited all over Boston Harbor, feeding on Herring) this is a good sign that the Harbor is getting cleaner and cleaner)
Lets see; The Red Sox won the World Series, the Pats won the Super Bowl, the snow is finally gone, and our first sail in Slainte was GREAT.
I am one lucky sailor...life is good, thanks Roger, I think you did a pretty good job !!!
Baptism
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marc ducharme
- Deckhand
- Posts: 43
- Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2004 4:59 pm
- Location: Salve Lake Alberta CA 04M50hp
as much as we enjoy ours,-
Graham Carr
- First Officer
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2004 9:19 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Sedro-Woolley WA, 2002 26X , Mercury 50hp 4 Stroke Bigfoot "Pauka2"
Hi Hinesy, Congratulations on your maiden voyage. Sounds like you had a great time. Do you get to keep your boat on the water all season?
I have the big foot also (26X). I really like mine. I was wondering, what are your clearances like around the engine and the stern area when turning. Obviously it works or you would not have it, but I was curious. I no some owners are using 2 strokes (narrower cowling). Im not sure if the Bigfoot comes in a 2 stroke. I dont think so but could not tell by the Mercury site.
I have the big foot also (26X). I really like mine. I was wondering, what are your clearances like around the engine and the stern area when turning. Obviously it works or you would not have it, but I was curious. I no some owners are using 2 strokes (narrower cowling). Im not sure if the Bigfoot comes in a 2 stroke. I dont think so but could not tell by the Mercury site.
