MacGregorSailors.com

I haven't been on in awhile...but I have been working on the boat.

Those of you might remember I bought a 23Venture Newport, and then bought what we called the "S.S. Crack-boat" due to it's sorry condition and stripped the parts and scrapped the hull. Then I put my Venture on the sweet dual axle trailer and sold the other trailer.

So I have been slowly at work on the venture.

I fixed the Mast OOPS and the mast is now back up.

I fabricated and installed a Bimini top for the admiral.




I also installed the life lines, bow pulpit and stern rail I scored from the crackboat...I think they came out well.



Cleaned out the interior (two bottles of tilex) and I'm still not quite done in there yet.




more pics coming next post...forum only allows 3 i think

I also on advice from this forum and the venture23 group got rid of the huge 100lb 15hp and traded it even for a completely rebuilt and new condition Evinrude 6hp. The 6 has Fwd and Reverse. A bonus I noticed when I picked it up is that it DOES INDEED have hookups for forward control. And wow, what a coincidence I just happen to have a set in my "junk pile". So the Venture will have Forward controls in the cockpit so goodbye to leaning over the stern rail to adjust the motor




And lastly, just yesterday a friend helped me raise the sails for a photo op





Still a lot to do

Nice work!! I've always thought that those are the prettiest boats that Roger ever made,

Sum

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Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

Wow, looks way bigger than 23 feet! looks good - like a proper sailing ship.

Looks great, and good stories to boot! Will be very nice to see it sailing!

That is a cute little boat and great lines and colours..

That 6 hp is much better suited to the boat than a 15. I would suggest looking for a high-thrust prop for it, though, if they make such a thing. The three-blade props with the narrow, swept blades are more for speed than thrust, and that boat won't plane, so you're limited to less than 6 knots no matter what you do.

This is a high-thrust prop for the ubiquitous 9.9/15 hp Evinrude/Johnson 2-strokes of days gone by. Big Mickey Mouse ear blades make for more thrust. I used it on a 23 footer. Big difference. Actually had reverse, too (scary trying to slow it with reverse with the original prop).



But if high-thrust isn't available, at least make sure the engine will get up to rated speed.

Actually, it looks like the Solas Amita for that engine has wide area blades.

Oh, and I agree - those were the prettiest boats MacGregor ever made. Love the classic lines.

Thanks for the info.

Right now I am painting the boat. After much discussion with the admiral we both decided the banana color HAD to go!

She has been sanded down and has the first coat of primer on it...now waiting for weather to co-operate to put on the 2nd coat of primer.




We originally wanted to go with a very light aqua green, but were disappointed in the color choices of Interlux Brightside paint. Only maybe 13 colors to choose from. The Admiral finally chose ocean blue and we were going to roll-n-tip it (I have done before on smaller boats in the past) and it comes out well.

However talking to a friend who paints he said he would bring his sprayer and etc over and stated there was no reason at all we couldn't use an automotive Urethane (sp?) and Hardener and get whatever color we want. So we are going for the very light green we wanted originally (similar to Carolina Skiffs we have seen around here). I think it will look Great.

The old rudder was disassembled and stripped down. I was disappointed that it was a fiberglass with wood core, as I wanted to do a nice wood and varnish look. Instead to save $$ I stripped it down, re-glassed the nicks and dings, and went with Straight Rustoleum High Gloss Black.




The Rustoleum holds up well even under water, I have used it before. This boat stays on a trailer not in a slip so it will be fine.


The 6hp has a standard prop on it currently. After paint we will go out to falls and motor around and see how she does. I have other props from other motors, but not sure if I have one that fits the 6hp...however I can always upgrade later on. I agree a high thrust prop is a good idea to maximize the power from the motor...speed has never been a goal for us since we bought this venture. In fact the whole point was to slow down after years of antique run-abouts. Slow cruising and margaritas is where we are now.

Hey Catigale, so How do you think all those goodies from that crack-boat are looking on the Venture? Not bad for free + profit

On a non sailboat related topic I had to change a corroded starter on a customer's jetski. Had to pull the whole exhaust riser out to get to it...Man I hate working on Ski's





Cheers
Dave

Hey Catigale, so How do you think all those goodies from that crack-boat are looking on the Venture? Not bad for free + profit

You punked me solidly on that deal!!

Nice!

What ever happened with the sail drive motor off the Buccaneer??

I'm afraid to ask the fate of SS Crackboat - do I remember it was destined as a redneck lake barge?

Sumner wrote:

Nice work!! I've always thought that those are the prettiest boats that Roger ever made,

Sum

+1

Just a sneak peek of the first coat of color....still a lot of work to do!



And the rudder is done




Cheers!
Dave

1st coat is done







so much more to do

Cheers!
Dave


oh, the mint green we wanted didn't work out....the materials were $400....roll and tip the ocean blue was $100

I picked up an 18 foot mast, boom, and stays for free from a want ad I posted on
CL. A lady in Chapel Hill said they had an old "sunfish" style boat with a hole
in it. They were going to toss the whole thing in the dump but then she caught
my ad. I picked it up yesterday.

Also got the sail as well which is in great shape.

It is perfect for when we go to our local lake which has too many low bridges
for the regular mast. I wanted something to have that was shorter so we could
run up the Jolly Roger, and would look cool.

It's barely about the diameter of a coke can, and can be stepped up and down
singlehandedly, and also can be lowered if needed on the water to clear the
bridges,

The Step on the sunfish was different, and not only could I not remove it (stuck
screws from age) but I don't want to have to change steps each time, that would
be ludicrous...but after looking I can drill a hole in this new mast, install
some spacers, and use the existing step and pin. So seamless transfer between
masts depending on where we are going to drop in.

Now when we go to Falls Lake (which is often) I will have a mast so the boat will still look great but will be able to drop the mast backwards, slip under the bridge, and pop it back up. I CANNOT do this with the large mast the boat came with.

Having the ability to chose depending on where we are going and what we are doing is going to be awesome.

Remember as you read this, that I don't sail at Falls..just motor and party cove with friends. My boat is a big hit at the party cove because of it's unique old timey look, the fact it is the only sailboat in the group, and it has a bathroom (head) and thats a big hit with the ladies lol

I know I am a nut...I don't care

Cheers
Dave

Catigale wrote:

Hey Catigale, so How do you think all those goodies from that crack-boat are looking on the Venture? Not bad for free + profit

You punked me solidly on that deal!!

Nice!

What ever happened with the sail drive motor off the Buccaneer??

I'm afraid to ask the fate of SS Crackboat - do I remember it was destined as a redneck lake barge?

The Sail Drive and the Hull went up on CL for free...Some rednecks took it and the trailer, chained the boat to a tree and jerked it off the trailer and returned the trailer. My venture now sits on that "free" Dual axle trailer and tows much better than the crappy Mac single.

The Crackboat was cut into pieces and thrown away piece by piece....they removed the sail drive to sell (don't know if they did) and took the lead keel to the recycle yard and got $500 for it. However it took them a week to chop the boat up. you were correct that to dispose of it as a whole would have cost, so they threw it away a little at a time.

I still have a barnful of gear from it I may use on mine and some I may sell

Major profit for my $400 investment all the way around...the bow pulpit and lifelines look great on my venture

cheers
Dave

Your business acumen has even the Ferengi green with envy, grasshopper....