We just purchased our first Mac - a 99 26X. Love it so far, but are sorry that we didn't hold out for one with cockpit cushions (this boat never had them). We are having a hard time finding a place that sells them. Only have found one place online so far, and they have seat cushions only. We'd really like to have full cushions - seat and back.
JEff & Jean...Congrats on your 99X ! ! We purchased our 99X last year after selling our 1992 Mac 26S. I've found the cushions somewhat troublesome...just more stuff to pack up. But the family likes them.
I would suggest contacting Bill at Boats4sail in this Forum. He is a Mac dealer.
By the way, I dont think cushions would be too difficult to have made. It would seem that the snap ons may be difficult to align.
I didn't personally care for the factory M cushions..we had ours custom made at a local shop. Not cheap, but much better than the factory ones. Not sure how the X ones are ..but the M ones were not so great.
Any marine shop can make them for you, you do not have to use the top quality padding, to keep the cost down. This would be a good time to customize your boat
I like the ones we got with our M except that they didn't use closed cell foam. We wrap the foam in plastic under the cover to keep it from soaking up water.
Having custom cushions made is the way to go, though very pricey - too much for my blood. Much buying a small sofa. I found a set on ebay for $50 and, although not for the Mac, they fit sufficiently to use.
They're great for lounging around in the cockpit, but are a nuisance under sail IMHO.
We've found that those small closed-cell 'sports' cushions work perfectly. They do sometimes blow overboard, though, but at $3 each, no worries.
Maybe you should check with "Western Sailcraft" (Doug, the Minneapolis dealer 952-492-6028?)... He had a nearly un-used set for a 2000 26X for sale...
Good luck,
JR
Personally I don't like any cockpit cushions when I'm sailing. They always seem to get in the way and I like the firm footing of fiberglass. For lounging around afterwards or on the hook we found these new high back seats from West marine are very comfortable. My wife also enjoys hers while sailing.
ssichler wrote:Personally I don't like any cockpit cushions when I'm sailing. They always seem to get in the way and I like the firm footing of fiberglass. For lounging around afterwards or on the hook we found these new high back seats from West marine are very comfortable. My wife also enjoys hers while sailing.
I must be getting old because my butt gets sore sitting on fiberglass. I use a very cheap toss/square floatation cushion. We have the Factory cushions for our M and I need to remember to wrap them in plastic . . . . .
mtc wrote:The blue with red sipes are very cool. How much? I recall seeing them on our forum.
Michael
The picture of the blue cushions is our 04M. We had them made at a local upholsterer. They are made of marine sunbrella, closed cell foam, full length zippers, with the red piping. Cost was about 425 if I recall. Yes a lot more than the factory, also a lot better than the factory IMO.
To keep them from sliding, I cut a couple pieces of undercarpet anti-skid to keep them in place.
In response to the cushions that Ssichler posted, there is also a regular version of the go-anywhere chair. The last pages of the Boat U.S. magazine has them for sale at $29.99 or the newest Sail Magazine has a West Marine ad for "Buy one, get one free" at $59.99.
I'm not sure how well these work, but if anyone has one, please let me know.
Try throwing a scrap of closed-loop carpeting on the fiberglass. Benefits include:
Definitely low-cost;
Can't absorb any significant water;
Helps the dog keep her footing;
Keeps you from sliding around; Sweat-proof ! (thx TT & Dive);
Cures those circulation cramps from unforgivingly hard seats;
It's the epitome of easy stowage, just roll-em up, toss way-back.
Fact is, I just asked boat-bimimi guys to sew up a pair for me, with those nicely bound edges.
As for the seat backs, WEAR YOUR PFD!
Last edited by Frank C on Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
Divecoz
As I recall Aya 16 bought some large beach towels, made them to fit with zipper/snap so they could be washed easy, and provide the dry no sweat seating. Maybe Aya 16 will provide an update of his ready-made beach towel covers.
We have one of those racheting chairs, that my wife loves. It does rachet down to flat to almost cover a side bench of an X. It is great on shore too, as your weight holds you sitting upright on the ground. They are at least 3 inches thick and cusion-ee.
Usually my wife uses it propped up against the port side bulkhead.
