MacGregorSailors.com

NiceAft wrote:

keep in mind even McGregor says a person can learn to sail on without formal education in half an afternoon

He was very good at marketing his boats. In one of his catalogs, he showed a Ford Taurus towing an . A Mac dealer I knew told me he’s asked MacGregor how he got a Taurus to tow an . The reply was “I didn’t tell the Taurus!”

Ray

Just so the world will know, I was impressed with the Taurus video since I had had a Sable and had moved "up" to a Crown Vic. Got my 26X (admittedly with a few mods that added a little tongue weight). Hooked it up to my Crown Vic, and the car rear end sank about six inches. If I had tried to pull it, the surge brakes would have engaged. Ended up putting spacers in the rear coils and getting a 9 inch riser to mount the hitch ball to. Just pulled it a few places here in Central Florida. Car would not go over 40 mph going up a modest Florida hill. Ended up trailering the boat sparingly and eventually put boat in a marina because I just didn't have the energy to step and unstep mast in same day in Florida heat. Have a Ram pickup with 5.7 Hemi now. Very sweet.

As I said, he was good at marketing. Just remember, MacGregor never stated that a Taurus would tow the boat. He just showed a Taurus hooked up to a Mac. Good marketing.

Ray

NiceAft wrote:As I said, he was good at marketing. Just remember, MacGregor never stated that a Taurus would tow the boat. He just showed a Taurus hooked up to a Mac. Good marketing.

Ray

Yes good marketing is important, Apple are the best marketers going, I mean I can't remember the last time I saw a Apple advert that actually said anything about specifications of the equipment, nope, it just full of lovely pics of families together and young people being trendy.

These are focused on the weak of mind that will never bother to see if the actual product is faster, more stable, value for money or better in any way than another brand, they just want to be involved in the lovely way of life it shows. I won't give you my personal opinion on Apple anything after working in IT for a long while, it may well upset (read will definitely upset) the cult of Apple supporters that have been sucked in by the rent a crowd Apple pays to stand outside their stores pretending to want to buy it on its release day (True story that). Now thats good marketing, making people believe that they have to have one because look at all the people lining up to buy the popular new model

Definately some marketing hype ....i towed mine once with a honda civic lx that I had a hitch on it seemed to tow up to 40mph but it was on us1 not i95 so no semis to deal with and I only towed it like 5 miles when my truck broke down

sailboatmike wrote:

NiceAft wrote:As I said, he was good at marketing. Just remember, MacGregor never stated that a Taurus would tow the boat. He just showed a Taurus hooked up to a Mac. Good marketing.

Ray

Yes good marketing is important, Apple are the best marketers going, I mean I can't remember the last time I saw a Apple advert that actually said anything about specifications of the equipment, nope, it just full of lovely pics of families together and young people being trendy.

These are focused on the weak of mind that will never bother to see if the actual product is faster, more stable, value for money or better in any way than another brand, they just want to be involved in the lovely way of life it shows. I won't give you my personal opinion on Apple anything after working in IT for a long while, it may well upset (read will definitely upset) the cult of Apple supporters that have been sucked in by the rent a crowd Apple pays to stand outside their stores pretending to want to buy it on its release day (True story that). Now thats good marketing, making people believe that they have to have one because look at all the people lining up to buy the popular new model

This is all a bit off topic, but apart from marketing Apple really does offer some very sleek design chops. Still, they'll cost you. And how. It's also a decidedly take-it-or-leave-it user experience--a bit like a gated community. Those hedges may be uniformly trimmed throughout "iLand" and all the doors and shutters done up in pleasant and uniform approved hues, but not by you babycakes. If you show up with your trusty weedwhacker and paint roller expecting to do any custom topiary or color schemes to really suit your particular tastes, forget about it. Enjoy the gardens, citizen, but don't look beyond the gate and don't touch those daffodils. No, the battery cannot be replaced. The unit is hermetically sealed for your protection. The line for the next generation device begins to the left. I'm afraid the future's gonna be...maintenance free.

That said, never mind the sexy young boogeying hipster silhouettes in the ads who'll be lining up for the next generation of iGimcrack, those defaulted student loans be damned. If your anxious holdout Grandma is finally willing to get on the Interwebs so she can email the grandkids links to cute cat videos (Subject: "FWD: Fwd: Fw: Fwd: Muffy poopz in a Trump hat"), don't saddle her with a Walmart laptop to have to figure out all those scary buttons. Get her a nice big iPad and a Netflix password. She'll be happier and a safer in that garden. Really.



I've had the odd piece of Apple gear, obtained either as old hand-me-downs or found objects: until a couple-few years back an old ca.2001 PowerMac G4 "Quicksilver" desktop from a colleague at work who'd upgraded used to run our home wifi network and personal Apache web server for a little low-impact free domain hosting long before most folks had either. An old 4th gen 20GB iPod fished out of a recycling bin was repaired (just a battery issue), and still offers more excellent free found music on board my MacGregor 26X than even the longest voyage would ever exhaust. Hëll, I still haven't listened to it all yet. With a little plug-in iTrip doodad that I got off eBay for 5 bucks it'll play crystal clear right over the boat's or any other FM radio. I also found what turned out to a pair of those absurdly expensive AirPods ear bud Bluetooth headphones in their little charger case left by some unfortunate on a bench. Superb design and quality, but I'd have never personally laid down a couple hundred bucks for them, and wouldn't even think of wearing them out and about for fear of losing them myself. Nope, those super-blingy found treasures have their home on my nightstand, so I can binge watch whatever crap I like without disturbing the Admiral. No, if I'm out and about, these are my earbuds of choice--not as slick or quite as top notch soundwise as the AirPods, but not too shabby either and for maybe less than a 20th of the cost of the slick snow white gear from Cupertino:



Why not try out a pair in various colors for less than $8 delivered?

Anyhow, sorry for rambling on this rainy day. Some retired geezers whittle, I bloviate online.

OK,

Now we are way off topic.

I apologize for hijacking the thread.

Ray

P.S. Bloviate is not the correct word. Everything here is electronic. There is no spoken word. You tend to be verbose

A disinfectant hasn't been made that would make me feel ok trying on ear buds I found on a park bench...
Ix

Ixneigh wrote:A disinfectant hasn't been made that would make me feel ok trying on ear buds I found on a park bench...
Ix

I'm just not as squeamish as you. H℮ll, at 200 bucks a stick, I might try sloppy seconds on your chewing gum. Besides, once I figured out what they even were, rest assured I gave 'em both a good swiping with alcohol swabs before jamming them into my noggin. But what can I say, I'm Ken Shabby and I'm here for your daughter.

NiceAft wrote:OK,

Now we are way off topic.

I apologize for hijacking the thread.

Ray

P.S. Bloviate is not the correct word. Everything here is electronic. There is no spoken word. You tend to be verbose

Nah, you're wrong mate. I most definitely "bloviate." To wit,

Bloviate
intransitive verb (pret. & past part.: bloviated; pres. part.: bloviating)
: to speak or write verbosely and windily
Ex. pundits bloviating on the radio
— bloviation \ˌblō-vē-ˈā-shən\ noun
First Known Use: 1845

Sorry I fell out of the loop here. I've been busy Internet boat shopping

Oh and as always, watching YouTube sailing videos. It's amazing how my taste in the types of videos I like has changed. Well I'm not going to lie and pretend the ones with the bikinis aren't fun, but there are some really educational ones too. Anything from anchoring techniques to provisioning. I lose hours watching the ones on electronics and solar installations. I could probably build a water maker at this point! There are some that I learn what NOT to do from.

So I'm not going to quote every comment because I'm on an iPad and feeling lazy, but I will address some things.

Sorry about the 20hp vs 9.9 thing. Showing my age? I remember the discussions of the HP change a while ago, but didn't know the outcome. The outboard dealers must have lost a lot of engine cover sticker sales from that since many a 9.9s were not 9.9s anyway.

So at this point I think the X & M are off my list for many of the reasons that were suggested to me. This will lead to more questions............

Thanks for the Lake Arthur map-chart! Haven't looked at it yet, but will be soon.

Also I don't have a Taurus, so we are good there! Current truck is a HD2500 so I should be good for I guess anything you could slide off a trailer to launch.

So now I have to learn more about the 25 & the 26s. This opens up the whole other can of worms too because while the X & M really have no competition from other manufacturers, the 25 & 26s and 26d have a ton.

As for previous boating experience, yep, have that. Have power boated on countless rivers and lakes as well as the ocean. Used to lifeguard and was on swimming teams from age 8 to 18. Smart enough to be afraid of being in the water when I should be in the boat. This goes back to some of the YouTube videos where you can learn what not to do!

I absolutely will continue to learn everything I can and get as much experience as I can!

I do remember taking the class with my dad when PA passed the rule requiring it but I couldn't produce that card if my life depended on it!

So for now, I'm off to look at more boats for sale and do more reading.

but I couldn't produce that card if my life depended on it!

Contact the PA Fish and Boat Commission. You might be able to get a duplicate.

Ray

Here's a sailing video for you with a bikini

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZAwqDpWYaI