Newbie...Dad's buddy is "concerned"

[restless]

horses for courses.
We're getting ready to haul our X across the continent to the Aegean. I expect we'll cross the sea from Greece to Turkey, scuba diving, exploring minoan ruins and anything else we fancy. This trip is planned for 6 to 10 weeks. We'l probly leave the boat there and go back after winter for another month or so live aboard stint.

Throw in the caravan potential, and show me how to get so much versatility and use-ability from a heavy keeler, or as we call them the 'stay-at-homes'

[Divecoz]

Mastreb you are SOoooooooooooo right on..
This boat , is a GREAT Boat, but it has limitations!
It was NOT designed or ever meant to make Trans Ocean Crossings.. On the other hand it does what it was designed to do.... VERY well..
I sail Lake Michigan.. aka The Inland Sea... I also sailed in and around Port Charlotte Florida and even out and beyond the Bell Tower.. Into the Gulf of Mexico.. and I beached it in Pelican Bay and I sailed mile after mile in less than 6 feet of water.. I raced for cover with my 50 HP Merc BF doing in excess of 15 mph.. Yet as a PP Sailor.. I have sailed through no less than 2 Nasty storms.. Force 4 ..when it was all said and done, and my time was over ( 4 months) I trailered her and towed her, back to Chicago from SW Florida.. Try doing that with a 30 foot keel boat...
For many years I owned a Ruger Black Hawk.. and excellent hand gun by anyone's account.. but I sure wouldn't hunt Elephants with it.. I wouldn't even hunt a Brown Bear with it.. BUT.. Much better hunters than I , have...... used it to hunt big game..( OK but NOT Elephants )

[mastreb]

My Sabre never left San Diego bay in the ten years we had it. Our Mac has already been out of six different harbors in six months.

..and that, as they say, says it all...... (Other than the slip fees in 10 years paid for the Mac)

Ah yes, the slip fees. My math:

6x12 months @$585/mo. (Slip): $42,120
4x12 months @$110/mo. (Mooring): $5,280

Yep, the Mac is more than paid for. In all fairness, I pay $100/mo. to park my Mac on trailer because I have no yard, but we only used the Sabre about four times once I moved it to mooring because it was such a hassle to get to and I didn't have a decent dinghy at the time. We moved it once my first child was born and we suddenly found that instead of sailing 3x a month, we were sailing 1x/year.

[mastreb]

Also, I will warn you that many new Mac sailors are initially a bit despondent about their first one or two outings--culminating in a desperate "support post" asking how things could have gone so wrong. Basically it's like new parents in their first month of kid ownership.

The boat took them three hours to rig the first time vice the promised 30 minutes, they took the manual's advice and tried to power aboard the trailer and wound up scratching the hull, taking off a guide-post, or ruining their prop backwards on the ramp. Somebody's hand was bloodied by a winch mistake, and an argument broke out when the Admiral was unwilling to risk her life by jumping to the dock to strong-arm stop the boat.

It will take you more time than you think to put the boat in the water and get it back out at first. You should fully expect that your first dunk will consist of nothing more than putting your boat in the water, running it around for an hour to get a feel for the steering, and getting it back on the trailer. Expect this to take a full day. Don't invite all your friends or even your kids--this is just you and the admiral. You might do this two or three times in quick succession and you'll be skilled up at that point.

Don't go replacing all your rigging and drilling holes in your boat until you understand exactly what you want to change and why. The forestay will be really hard to get into place single-handed. Have the admiral help until you've got the hang of it, don't go changing the clevis or adding a lever right off the bat--until you've read through these forums and determined which mods make real sense and which are bad ideas.

My first rig was three hours. I'm now easily at 30 minutes, but holding about there. I tie off to the dock and then line-handle my boat onto the trailer and I strongly recommend you do the same--mistakes just don't happen this way. Get a boat hook (or two) and get handy with it because it will take you a while to get the hang of docking with a big motor. An admiral wielding a boat hook to push against other boats will save you an insurance hit while you're figuring out how to dock.

Go slow. Be careful. Don't Panic.

[dlandersson]

Yeah, that rings a bell. Must have been 90 degrees, too.

My first rig was three hours.

[Wavelady]

I have enjoyed reading all replies to this post - thank you.
I have been looking at sailboats for years and hubby and I are almost ready to take the leap... I have some sailing experience, he is interested, will catch on quickly - but is letting me lead the way as it is my dream to sail. We live in the San Juan Islands (yes, lucky us!) and I had never heard of the MacGregor until just a few weeks ago. Since then, have done TONS of research and am super excited about just how well the combination of "pros" of the "M" fit our criteria - no moorage fees, ability to explore our "backyard," and even to trailer to Canada, California, other lakes, etc., etc. as many of you have listed.

Funny, tho - our local yacht clubbies seem to think we will regret our eventual purchase! I'm learning that in the "yachting" world, there are so many different kinds of sailors - bluewater, racing, daysailing - but apparently the MacGregor is fitting a wonderful niche' of people like us - retired, active, adventurous - and goodness, if we want something different in the future, we can either sell our Mac or let the grandkids use it around here as a camper/sailer - what a great way to spend family time!

I do have a question - are there any forums or places to find WOMEN Mac owners? So many of the posts here are from men...I'd love to hear the softer side speak...

[mastreb]

Yeah, that rings a bell. Must have been 90 degrees, too.

My first rig was three hours.

Well, it's San Diego so sunny &72--but I did get a hull of a sunburn not paying attention to how long I was out before I put the SPF on.

[mastreb]

I do have a question - are there any forums or places to find WOMEN Mac owners? So many of the posts here are from men...I'd love to hear the softer side speak...

If it's any consolation, more women post here than in my Kawasaki ZX-14 SuperSport Motorcycle, Meade LX-200 Telescope, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, and AVR Microcontroller electronics hacker forums combined.

You're a rare gem. Be proud of it!

[Mac26Mpaul]

Hey Wavelady,

Welcome aboard
I too got told I would regret my purchase! I spent ages (more than 6 months) researching everything I could find on these boats on US, Australian, UK etc etc forums. I was even turned off them for while.

Its funny, I found that many of the negative comments are repeated sometimes word for word (or close) across all these forums). Here is a couple I came across a lot.

“There was one of them at our Marina. (sometimes they say club) It sailed so bad it never went out.”

“My sisters uncles brothers dogs mother had one, only used it once and sold it” (something like that anyway)

Funny thing is, in all my research, and ever since, I have never found one owner, or ex owner who didn’t love the boat! See if you can find one… Sure we may gripe about some issues, like you will with any boat, but by and large, it is a great boat that does just what its supposed to, and quite well too and every ex owner will tell you that.

For funs sake, here are a couple more of the comments I saw repeated over and over:

“There’s a lot of them on the second hand market – That tells you something!” (This comment is particularly moronic because it doesn’t support the Mac bashers argument at all - “That tells you something!” What does it tell us? it tells us that they are very popular, in fact consistently the best selling trailer sailer in the world for over a decade. There are not thousands of the most popular cars and motorcycles on the market because they are no good LOL.

“Only people who have never owned a boat buy a Macgregor!” Hang about on this site for a bit and you will soon realize that many Mac owners have been sailing for decades and many are ex keelboaters who have downsized with no regrets. Amazingly, here in Australia, I now know of two qualified yacht masters (one is on this site) who work in the industry but choose to own a Mac 26 as there personal boat, for its versatility. Other than that, I haven’t heard of any other yacht masters owning trailer sailers (???)

Another thing I remember being told, is not to go looking on this site for info on these boats because its all Mac loving here, or something LOL. This is about as far from the truth as you can get. This is the ONLY sailing forum on the internet I have found, where you consistently find objective information on the Macgregor 26. Every single bad and good point has been discussed to death on this site. We don’t have anything to prove by telling each other we love them. We just want to do everything we can to make the whole experience even better than it already is! So if you want the truth about what is good and bad about them, do lots of reading here, and don’t listen to the sailing club people who by and large, will have never set foot on one of these boats. Trust me, we know what is good and bad about them For us, the good must outweigh the bad, for if it didn’t, we would sell them wouldn’t we

Anyway, I’m just glad I didn’t listen to that person who told me I would definitely regret buying a Macgregor! LOL . It is an infinitely better cruising boat than our last trailer sailer. We have owned it for 2 years now and plan on keeping it for another 10 (until the kids are bigger). In 4 weeks we are going to do 5 nights in the boat in a 97 nautical mile trip around the islands near here.  We love this bloody boat! Cant say the same about the trailer though......

[Catigale]

Wave lady..there is an Admirals forum here ( guys are the Captains, but the better halves on ths forum are traditionally called Admirals here, since they outrank us... )

I can connect you with several of the sailing Admirals using either PM or EM too.

[Tomfoolery]

I downsized from a 34 ft keelboat, and don't regret it. Well, maybe a little. I still miss it.

Hard requirements (no room for compromise) of a small boat included:

1) light enough to trailer behind the family Truckster (Honda Odyssey)
2) enclosed, private head
3) standing room, or close to it
4) easy single-handing
5) some speed under power

Only the Hunter and Mac fit that bill, but the Hunter was too heavy for the tow vehicle, and at 8-1/2 feet wide, not strictly legal everywhere. So that leaves the Mac.

You have an admiral (enclosed head will be appreciated), and kids (big engine means going fast sometimes).

Ask the sailing snobs at the YC how much fun their kids have had doing this behind their keel boats. It's not a ski or wakeboard boat, but it goes fast enough that he can slalom to where he's even with the transom (much to his surprise the first time he did that - the look on his face was priceless ), and he's been on this boat more this summer than the whole decade I had the keelboat. If the kids are young, think 'tubing' - plenty of speed for that.





While I already miss the trips across Lake Ontario to Canada (not something I'd do in the Mac), I was able to splash the boat in the Erie Canal for a leisurely excursion yesterday just before lunch, with the Admiral and dog, and still be home for dinner. We will probably take it to one of the finger lakes next weekend and sail solo while the Admiral does the spa thing, and if time allows this fall, take it to the Thousand Islands for a long weekend before the weather gets too uncomfortable (few hours driving vs two days minimum to sail there). I could not do any of that with the other boat, at least not without a major effort and monetary penalty, and a LOT of time.

LIke any boat, it's a bunch of compromises. I gave up the compromises of a big boat for the compromises of a trailer boat, and so far, I'm satisfied.

[bscott]

HI Wavelady,
Welcome board
I just retired two years ago and am planning several road trips to far away places--one of which is in your sailing grounds of the San Juans.(1,350 miles from home) I first sailed there 30 years ago with the Boy Scouts on their 89' ketch Odyssey which drew 15'. I remember the keel boat issues of timing the tides, the 4-5knt currents and wind direction--all of which determined where and when we could sail--as I write this I reminded myself of these issues and had some concerns about navigating my --then the went on--heck, I've got 60hp on the stern and a draft of 12". So, none of the weather or navigation problems that typically plague keel boaters concern us--except for one--how to deal with a precocious 2 year old grand daughter on a 6 day cruise--but that can be solved by firing up the iron genny and get some spray into the cockpit My son and his wife will make good thing happen.

I have 4 grandkids, ages 2, 8, 11 and 13 and three of them spend time on the boat with me and my wife--sans parents. The biggest problem we have is making sure that each one gets equal time on the wheel, equal time tubing and who gets to jump off the boat with the dock lines (they all want to do this).
Your husband will appreciate the easy maintenance features of the Mac and the fact that Wavelady is into sailing

Good luck with your decision and happy sailing,

Bob

[pokerrick1]

I spent ages (more than 6 months) researching everything I could find on these boats

I looked at Macs for fifteen years every year at a boat show until I finally pulled the trigger on a new 2006M - - - my main issues were with circus type interior colors and cosmetic things. Once I bought it, I became the most frequent sailor in Marina Del Rey, going out 250+ times a year. I USED my boat!!

Rick

[Boblee]

Try doing this with a keel boat


If you can see this real keel boat out over the reef where it anchored while we camped inside beached and enjoyed a pleasant night .


This is better and several hundred metres to the right of the above photo almost 1/2 k inland with some great walking trails and a resort on the other side of the island, even though they weren't too happy to see the few who were energetic enough to traipse round there

[Benmcgov]

I agree with your dads friend, but I would say that there are far more advantages that out way that. Just look around on this forum and see where everyone has taken their Macs.
I had the same concerns as you did before I purchased my .
One thing about the MAC is that they are kinda tipsy when you are upright but as soon as you are heeling they bite down really good and sail beautifully.

Ben