MacGregorSailors.com

Good Evening,

New here, long time viewed, and my first post since sailing season is right around the corner. This will be my second sailing season, and after getting my feet wet last season, I now need to make some mods to the old girl. I am needing some advice on recommendations for GPS/depth fider/chartplotter. Currently, I only have a compass and I believe the original depth finder.

Also, what mods have you guys found useful on the interior of your 26s? I would like to do some more lights on the interior. and even a better set up for a cook stove type deal.

Lastly, I keep my gas tank/can in the rear hatch of the 26s, but am wondering if anyone has set up a bigger set up or if this is the best option? I think if I stick with this location, I will be installing some vents on the two rear hatches, I felt like a lot of fumes could build up in there. n n

Any information or experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Newsailor12 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 11, 2021 4:42 pm Good Evening,

New here, long time viewed, and my first post since sailing season is right around the corner. This will be my second sailing season, and after getting my feet wet last season, I now need to make some mods to the old girl. I am needing some advice on recommendations for GPS/depth fider/chartplotter. Currently, I only have a compass and I believe the original depth finder.

Also, what mods have you guys found useful on the interior of your 26s? I would like to do some more lights on the interior. and even a better set up for a cook stove type deal.

Lastly, I keep my gas tank/can in the rear hatch of the 26s, but am wondering if anyone has set up a bigger set up or if this is the best option? I think if I stick with this location, I will be installing some vents on the two rear hatches, I felt like a lot of fumes could build up in there. n n

Any information or experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Welcome to the forum.
Although, I'm not in the market yet for an official chartplotter/sonar/radar rig yet, I hope you get some good leads from the others.

If you were just wanting GPS/chart plotter (no sonar), I've been playing with OpenCPN. Works on my Android phone and I have a couple of Android tablets that have GPS capability. It also works on Windows so you can run it on a laptop and do your trip planning and waypoints and then ship them over to your phone/tablet set up at the helm. Best part... its all free if you already have a GPS enabled phone or tablet.

Best of luck,
Inq

Welcome to the forum!

The gasoline storage (and propane/Butane storage), should all be positively isolated from the cabin area and vented at the low point to an overboard location. I don't have an S, so can't give you a how-to, but that is the overall goal you need to accomplish. You are correct, you don't want to trap fuel vapors in an enclosed space.

There are numerous discussions on cook stoves, and opinions/solutions vary. My one word of caution is, when shopping, look for the "clearance to combustibles" requirement and compare that to your mounting point and overhead surfaces. Some of the higher capacity camp stoves have pretty high clearance requirements. If you plan to cook in the cockpit, ignore this.

For in-cabin cooking, my first choice would be unpressurized alcohol - if you can find one to buy. I couldn't, so I went with Butane because it had the smallest fuel canister (I didn't want much pressurized fuel in my cabin). A lot of guys use propane and like that. There are a few with Wallas (diesel/kerosene) stoves that will also heat the boat in winter.

Welcome!
I've got a 26d and use a Garmin 441S chartplotter/ sounder and every one in awhile I use the fishfinder on it. I made a custom arm so the GPS is mounted in the companionway but rotates into the boat and out of the walkway. It's honestly a little bit in the way but it didn't want to cut a hole to flush mount it. I mounted the transducer, shooting through the fiberglass under the V berth and it works great.

I too use the lazarette to store my 3 gallon gas tank and have considered adding a blower to vent the fumes. I've got a small passive vent on the back wall of the cockpit but I still occasionally notice fumes when I open the hatch. Iv ALWAYS close the fuel valve and vent cap on the tank when I'm done for the day.

For cooking, I've got a single burner butane stove that I store when not in use, or a portable tabletop style 2 burner Coleman grill that I'll occasionally bring to use on the pop top. Aside from making coffee, I've never cooked inside the boat.

+1 on OpenCPN. I've been using it for almost as long as it's been around. If you want to get a little more fancy you can use OpenPlotter (includes OpenCPN) on a raspberry PI. Use your phone, laptop, or tablet as a remote console. Neither one will replace your depth finder.

Where do you sail? Do you know what charts you might need?

Be Free wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:25 am +1 on OpenCPN. I've been using it for almost as long as it's been around. If you want to get a little more fancy you can use OpenPlotter (includes OpenCPN) on a raspberry PI. Use your phone, laptop, or tablet as a remote console. Neither one will replace your depth finder.

Where do you sail? Do you know what charts you might need?

Its my first exposure and I've been going through YouTube tutorials at night. I've got it set up with 11487 and 11492 and a route for the Mug Race on my home computer, my Android tablet (Nexus 9) and an old Android Phone (Galaxy S6). I'm looking forward to making use of that VMG feature!

Be Free wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:25 am +1 on OpenCPN. I've been using it for almost as long as it's been around. If you want to get a little more fancy you can use OpenPlotter (includes OpenCPN) on a raspberry PI. Use your phone, laptop, or tablet as a remote console. Neither one will replace your depth finder.

Where do you sail? Do you know what charts you might need?

I sail around Lake Superior along the coasts, hoping to do some longer trips. I haven't gotten my hands on any charts yet. Still trying to get some mods and make sure its completely ready.

You really need to check out Sumner's Mac page. He's got some amazing mods. Most are way out of my skill set but he's documented them all extremely well.

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... index.html

Newsailor12 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 3:20 pm

Be Free wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:25 am +1 on OpenCPN. I've been using it for almost as long as it's been around. If you want to get a little more fancy you can use OpenPlotter (includes OpenCPN) on a raspberry PI. Use your phone, laptop, or tablet as a remote console. Neither one will replace your depth finder.

Where do you sail? Do you know what charts you might need?

I sail around Lake Superior along the coasts, hoping to do some longer trips. I haven't gotten my hands on any charts yet. Still trying to get some mods and make sure its completely ready.

NOAA has free charts of Lake Superior and OpenCPN displays them perfectly. Download the program and maps and do a little "virtual sailing" while you are getting ready for the real thing.

Inquisitor wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 10:11 am

Be Free wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:25 am +1 on OpenCPN. I've been using it for almost as long as it's been around. If you want to get a little more fancy you can use OpenPlotter (includes OpenCPN) on a raspberry PI. Use your phone, laptop, or tablet as a remote console. Neither one will replace your depth finder.

Where do you sail? Do you know what charts you might need?

Its my first exposure and I've been going through YouTube tutorials at night. I've got it set up with 11487 and 11492 and a route for the Mug Race on my home computer, my Android tablet (Nexus 9) and an old Android Phone (Galaxy S6). I'm looking forward to making use of that VMG feature!

At the risk of going too far off-topic...
Going north, the river is wide and deep, almost up to the edges. Don't worry at all about staying in the channel except while you are going under the US17 and SR16 bridges. The race starts just north of the US17 bridge. Regardless of how it looks, you can sail under the SR16 bridge as long as you stay between the fenders. Set up a route that takes you through it so you will not get off course. The highest point of the bridge far left of the middle and it is hard to see when you come around Bayard Point.

Be Free wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 7:16 am At the risk of going too far off-topic...

I think you are right... I've started a more catch-all thread about OpenCPN so we don't hijack the OP's tread.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=28266

We hated having the gas tank in the cockpit, so added a built-in tank in the lazarette. Law and personal safety dictates having a power vented fuel cabinet!
We recycled this 12 gal. tank, with outside vent, added lazarette blower and port and starboard vents. Really like this setup.

Nice job!