MacGregorSailors.com

I am new to the Macgregor 26. Where is the bilge pump? I cannot find one on my boat.

They didn't come with one. It's something that's been discussed here and several members have installed, but I haven't permanently installed one.

Look through the mods section on this site. Hover over "Mods" in the top left of this page and click on "Search Mods". Search bilge and filter by . I found several mods.

If you need more detail and discussion, try searching for a thread on this site. You can search the forum, but I find doing a google search like "site: www.macgregorsailors.com bilge pump" easier. You'll find a bunch of threads here on the subject.

If you have more questions, ask them and someone here will know something.

Jeff

How low can one expect to get a water level with a bilge pump?

I'll probably install one under the aft battery. I get one, maybe two, inches of water collecting there, but it's not exactly level.
If it can't get the last inch out, there not a lot of point in me putting a pump in.

Check your local boating laws (state laws), I know that state laws in Australia differ, for example in my state of Victoria, if we have a enclosed bilge such as the Mac does a bilge pump must be fitted, and a bucket with lanyard must also be carried for bailing.

In reality a bilge pump could never keep up with any sort of breach in the hull but it is some sort of piece of mind

One advantage of a bilge pump is the stream of water (from a automatic switch pump) will alert you to a leak; also, it might buy you time to plug a leak and help empty the water once you've done so.

I doubt any bilge pump would keep up with a breach hull. I remember pulling the knot meter transducer out of our 34' and replacing with the plug. Water shot up like a fire hose. Pretty scary actually. No bilge pump could keep up with that.

Our boats have no thru hull fittings, so there really isn't much to leak except nuisance rain water.
Although I do believe the X has a weak spot where the cable passes through the bottom of the hull.

The big problem with the Mac is there is no center bilge. All these "compartments" can collect water and there is no central place to drain to and pump out.

I've never bothered to put a pump in. We rarely get water in there and can remove it with a sponge.
However, searching this site there are many clever installations. Just do it right else you could flood your boat when heavy healing.

Since the 26X has four separate longitudinal sections that can collect unwanted water (rain leaks, plumbing leaks, ballast tank leaks), I have always used a manual pump with hoses---until recently. I decided I would prefer an electric pump so I bought this puppy: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-mar ... ecordNum=6 . I have a "cigarette lighter" type 12 volt receptacle, so I bought a plug and an inline switch so I can just plug in the pump, attach the flexible 3/4 inch hose, run the hose out the cockpit to the stern, and then, place the pump manually into which ever longitudinal section of the bilge has water and turn it on.

Herschel wrote:Since the 26X has four separate longitudinal sections that can collect unwanted water (rain leaks, plumbing leaks, ballast tank leaks), I have always used a manual pump with hoses---until recently. I decided I would prefer an electric pump so I bought this puppy: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-mar ... ecordNum=6 . I have a "cigarette lighter" type 12 volt receptacle, so I bought a plug and an inline switch so I can just plug in the pump, attach the flexible 3/4 inch hose, run the hose out the cockpit to the stern, and then, place the pump manually into which ever longitudinal section of the bilge has water and turn it on.

And keep your manual pump available.

There is no pump so efficient on a sinking boat as a scared sailor with a bucket.