I have recently purchased a 2006 26M and I'm currently going through her trying to get her ready for the water.
The previous owner bought it new in 2006 and took it out twice. Never even put the sails up as far as I can tell. Unfortunately the furler has been stored in a weird twist for the last 16 years and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to replace the foil (if that's the right word?) I'll try to find a thread on that or start a new one.
It was also filthy just from years of animal droppings, leaves and moss-like junk that grew on it. Fortunately it seems to be cleaning up well with only pressure washing so far, and I got some good pointers from the Macgregor 26 Owners facebook group on taking out the stains. I picked up some star brite hull cleaner gel and some bleach spray. I haven't tried either yet, waiting for it to cool off a bit for that. The only lines that I think I'll need to replace are the rudder raise/lower lines and the daggerboard line, traveler lines and probably the jib halyard when I redo the furler. The rest of the lines were stored inside the boat and aside from some staining seem to be in good condition.
The cushions were removed in 2006 and stored in their finished basement and aside from some paint that somehow got on two of them, they're in perfect condition. Should make the boat look great once she's all cleaned up.
All the wood veneer has peeled as a result of what looks like standing water in the bottom of the cabin. I think it just kept the humidity high enough that it didn't stand a chance. I'll eventually replace all those panels with something else, but I'm not quite sure with what. I'm not a big fan of the wood veneer in the first place so I may try something different. I might also redo the galley top. I'll start a new thread on those projects once they kick off, probably not until winter.
I hate the hinge on the captain seat. Has anyone come up with a more robust system there? I would also like to install the stern rail seats, but $900 seems a bit spendy for them.
The motor is a Tohatsu 18HP, which I have recently learned via the facebook group is more motor than needed to get to hull speed, but not enough to plane. That irritates me a little as the seller told me he had it up to 20kts and I took him at his word. I don't plan on motoring a lot, but the ability to was a big selling point for this particular boat.
Electronics are another hobby of mine, so I'll probably want to add some more fun stuff that I haven't even thought of yet. One thing that comes to mind is some additional lighting for night sails. That's the thing my wife seems most interested in.
The radio is toast so I'll end up replacing that at some point, probably the speakers as well. Also, the trailer needs the wiring gone through as the previous owner decided to hack it up so he could put a warning light on the top of the mast. I'm thinking fully sealed LEDs will do the trick.
I'm glad this forum exists. I have used them in the past for several other hobbies which have largely moved to facebook groups. While great for engagement, it's really tough to archive information there.
Anyway, thanks for all the information you have all added here, and I hope I can contribute to it in a helpful way.
