MacGregorSailors.com

Hi - I'm thinking of using my Mac as a camper for part of the summer, and wonder any of our good members have good (workable ) ideas on the subject? Not planning on roughing it, rather using campsites with hookups where possible.

Max

We've done that a lot with our 26X. Couple of thoughts come to mind. You'll need to unhitch in order to level the boat for comfortable sleeping. On land, she's no longer self leveling. Bring chock blocks and use them. It may look flat, but if even slightly sloping, your boat may decide to take off if not blocked up. A little bubble float will help tell when you're level. Good to have several 2x6's along, to roll wheels up onto if you're low on one side. A shovel may come in handy if you need to lower the trailer jack more than the travel in the jack allows. Just jack up the trailer, put a temporary block under the front of the boat, dig a hole under the trailer jack wheel, and lower away. With all that use of the jack, it's a good idea to have an extra portable jack along, just in case the trailer jack breaks. You'll want to bring a small bucket for placing under the sink drain thru hull outlet, so that your sink waste isn't draining out onto the campground dirt. A small step ladder will help in stepping on and off the boat. Be prepared to field lots of questions from curious campers, who've never seen a sailboat camper before. And, don't be totally surprised if you're refused admittance to the occasional campground. Amazingly enough, that happened to us once, at a snobbish RV park in Arizona. We just didn't fit any of the categories on their registration form. Maybe they thought we looked like rif raf, and might lower the quality of campers there. Other than that, it's a great option when on extended trailering trips.

We've done that several times. We always have the mast with us so we can't put up the cockpit enclosure. Some kind of tarp to protect the companionway is important if you have the mast.

The first time we camped my wife washed the dishes and brushed the kids teeth without realizing that the sink was draining onto the ground outside. She was pretty embarrassed but the boat was new to us at that time.

Clothespins. A ladder of some sort to get on board easier. We don't back into camping spaces unless privacy is an issue because if you back in you end up getting on and off in the bushes. A good bugscreen is critical.

Haven't used my X as a camper, but it bears saying that the 30 amp three pronged plug for marine use is different from the 30 amp three pronged plugs for RV's. You need an adapter that converts it to a regular 20 amp household three pronged plug. Assuming you have 110 volt marine system in your M.

Herschel wrote:Haven't used my X as a camper, but it bears saying that the 30 amp three pronged plug for marine use is different from the 30 amp three pronged plugs for RV's. You need an adapter that converts it to a regular 20 amp household three pronged plug. Assuming you have 110 volt marine system in your M.

Or adapt straight to the L5-30 of the marine shore power cord. With this - https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Wiring/Migh ... 0DAVP.html - or this - https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Wiring/Migh ... 30DBK.html

Chinook wrote:.... And, don't be totally surprised if you're refused admittance to the occasional campground. Amazingly enough, that happened to us once, at a snobbish RV park in Arizona. We just didn't fit any of the categories on their registration form. ...

That happened a couple times to us also. Once they said that they felt their insurance might not cover them,

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

Starscream wrote:We've done that several times. We always have the mast with us so we can't put up the cockpit enclosure. Some kind of tarp to protect the companionway is important if you have the mast.

If you have the mast strut coming out of the helm, you can extend it by a foot with a 12" length of aluminium tube and a 24" length of steel pipe to temporarily put the roller higher than the bridge section, and still keep the mast on it. I don't have the side and rear curtains on in this shot, but I can put the full enclosure on with the mast overhead if I wanted to.

Just don't tow it like that. Put it back down, and guy it to the cleats for trailering down the road.

Tomfoolery wrote:

Herschel wrote:Haven't used my X as a camper, but it bears saying that the 30 amp three pronged plug for marine use is different from the 30 amp three pronged plugs for RV's. You need an adapter that converts it to a regular 20 amp household three pronged plug. Assuming you have 110 volt marine system in your M.

Or adapt straight to the L5-30 of the marine shore power cord. With this - https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Wiring/Migh ... 0DAVP.html - or this - https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Wiring/Migh ... 30DBK.html

Good to know. Thanks.

Tomfoolery wrote:

Starscream wrote:We've done that several times. We always have the mast with us so we can't put up the cockpit enclosure. Some kind of tarp to protect the companionway is important if you have the mast.

If you have the mast strut coming out of the helm, you can extend it by a foot with a 12" length of aluminium tube and a 24" length of steel pipe to temporarily put the roller higher than the bridge section, and still keep the mast on it. I don't have the side and rear curtains on in this shot, but I can put the full enclosure on with the mast overhead if I wanted to.

Just don't tow it like that. Put it back down, and guy it to the cleats for trailering down the road.

I picked up on that mod on this site and set up with it before we went on our Loop Cruise, since we knew we'd be cruising for extended periods with the mast down. The elevated angle of the mast allowed us to keep the dodger in place, and gave us additional head room when moving around in the cockpit, without bumping heads against the mast. The bimini frame on our BWY enclosure conflicted with the support pole, and I didn't want to cut a slot in the bimini cover for the mast crutch, so we didn't have use of the full enclosure while the mast was lowered. I did bungee the partially raised bimini frame to the mast crutch, to give me a bit of shelter from rain. With the mast in this position, the top of the mast rode 10 feet above water level. We squeeked under a lowered railroad bridge on the Illinois River with just 8 inches to spare. Felt pretty smug not having to wait for an opening at that bridge.

Chinook wrote:We've done that a lot with our 26X. Couple of thoughts come to mind. You'll need to unhitch in order to level the boat for comfortable sleeping. On land, she's no longer self leveling. Bring chock blocks and use them. It may look flat, but if even slightly sloping, your boat may decide to take off if not blocked up. A little bubble float will help tell when you're level. Good to have several 2x6's along, to roll wheels up onto if you're low on one side. A shovel may come in handy if you need to lower the trailer jack more than the travel in the jack allows. Just jack up the trailer, put a temporary block under the front of the boat, dig a hole under the trailer jack wheel, and lower away. With all that use of the jack, it's a good idea to have an extra portable jack along, just in case the trailer jack breaks. You'll want to bring a small bucket for placing under the sink drain thru hull outlet, so that your sink waste isn't draining out onto the campground dirt. A small step ladder will help in stepping on and off the boat. Be prepared to field lots of questions from curious campers, who've never seen a sailboat camper before. And, don't be totally surprised if you're refused admittance to the occasional campground. Amazingly enough, that happened to us once, at a snobbish RV park in Arizona. We just didn't fit any of the categories on their registration form. Maybe they thought we looked like rif raf, and might lower the quality of campers there. Other than that, it's a great option when on extended trailering trips.

All these things mentioned here are the same things that people with regular small travel trailers or pickup truck bed campers or pop up tent trailer campers do. The only thing I would add is that if your on the single axle trailer try to limit the number of people inside the boat - that trailer is already close to it's limit before you add the people. It's also not good for the boat to have 6 or 8 people on board when it's on the trailer - it puts a lot of stress on the hull.

Chinook wrote:I picked up on that mod on this site and set up with it before we went on our Loop Cruise, since we knew we'd be cruising for extended periods with the mast down. The elevated angle of the mast allowed us to keep the dodger in place, and gave us additional head room when moving around in the cockpit, without bumping heads against the mast. The bimini frame on our BWY enclosure conflicted with the support pole, and I didn't want to cut a slot in the bimini cover for the mast crutch, so we didn't have use of the full enclosure while the mast was lowered. I did bungee the partially raised bimini frame to the mast crutch, to give me a bit of shelter from rain. With the mast in this position, the top of the mast rode 10 feet above water level. We squeeked under a lowered railroad bridge on the Illinois River with just 8 inches to spare. Felt pretty smug not having to wait for an opening at that bridge.

About a hundred feet in front of the boat in that shot is a lift bridge that actually is on a steep grade, and I can fit under the high end with about a foot to spare at the most with the mast in the higher position. Which is good, as they won't raise it without a permit, and I don't need to use the locks for the most part, so I don't need to buy the permit. It's cheap, but so am I.



That's my FIL, taking the boat to the ramp which is a couple of miles to the west. I left the trailer there, drove to the boat and got it started for him (with one rudder down plus the CB halfway down), and went back and hooked up and got ready before he got there.

That is such a cool picture! Where is that?

Chinook wrote:I picked up on that mod on this site and set up with it before we went on our Loop Cruise, since we knew we'd be cruising for extended periods with the mast down. The elevated angle of the mast allowed us to keep the dodger in place, and gave us additional head room when moving around in the cockpit, without bumping heads against the mast.

Which reminded me that I had never put it in the Mods section, so it's there now for anyone who wants to do something similar.

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/modt/in ... ?view=2059

BOAT wrote:That is such a cool picture! Where is that?

Which one? They're both in the same place, on the Erie Canal in Fairport, NY. The lift bridge is over 100 years old, and the only one in the world (supposedly) that's both sloped, and angled to the banks. It squeaks and squeals when it moves, and you can see the ropes and sheaves and counterweights up close and personal. It has a mechanical bell that gongs away when it moves, and different mechanical ones for the road gates. It also has a staircase at each end, with little mechanical barrier gates, so you can go up the stairs and walk over the bridge when it's up. Not something you see every day.

But as an interesting aside, when it was built (due to widening the canal, with the south bank only [on the left - the high side] being dug), there were so few cars that they left it up all the time for barge traffic, and lowered it on-demand for cars - the opposite of how it and most other bridges are operated these days. Hence the need for the walkway stairs at each end.

I found this video of it raising, and you can see people walking across it while it's up. The ladder-type structures under it are barriers to prevent cars, and people (the smaller ones, near-side) from running under it into the drink. My boat, when it's in the canal, is on the far shore. Fewer people on that side, as the canal tow path is on the north side. Where most of the restaurants (best shepherd's pie I've ever had in the Irish pub) and ice cream shops are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICyFgBMum_Y

Tom! It's too cool! How many miles can you travel on the "Erie Canal" (It's a place I have never seen - what's it like?)

Can you travel a long ways on it? Is it hard to do? Do they charge you money to tie up? Is there a site I should read if I want to take 'boat' on the "Erie Canal"?

It looks like a fun place - do you recommend it as a place for us to explore?