What If? What Sailboat Would You Have If Not A MacGregor?

[Sumner]

...Full headroom throughout, not just in the companionway. Full head with shower. Ability to put in a real mattress not cushions. Sailing speed. Large cockpit. Standing headroom in the cockpit. Easier to sail than the Mac. Galley. Large Refrigerator/Freezer. Storage. Hanging closets. Owners cabin with door.

Better calm down! Jim

I don't think I could ever give up the house. It is paid for, so costs about $120 a month for utilities, taxes are about $70 a month, insurance about $60 and there is lots of room for my shop and plenty of parking space for all of the vehicles and the Mac and tons of storage for all kinds of things that we probably don't need.

Our Endeavour sits 2200 miles away and costs $240 a month just to sit there and that isn't in a slip. I bought barrier and bottom paint for the Mac for about $500 and the same high quality barrier and bottom paint for the Endeavour is going to be over $1000. I did all of the labor on the Mac. We are paying someone down there to remove the old bottom paint and repair blisters so that we can get in the water quicker when we get back. I'll paint it then, but the repair has been pretty darn expensive.

$1000 deductible insurance on the boat was going to be over $2000 a year, so we have our necks out there and just have liability. I've been watching the hurricane tracker . The boat just costs a lot more a year than the house, for us anyway.

We like the boat and I think we are really going to enjoy it, but to live on it full time, especially tied up in a slip just wouldn't be an option to me. I need my shop . In a few years the Endeavour will go, we will still have the Mac and plan on using it still for a trip or two a year (even while we have the Endeavour) and Ruth and I will grow old in the house sitting by the fire, me messing around in the shop and her sewing in the sun-room .

Just to be clear, the above is geared around Ruth and my needs and I see lots of people going through our town that are full-time RV'ers and they love that life and there are I'm sure lots of people that like being full-time boat people. I'd suggest that if you want to do either you start with something smaller and put yourself on it for at least 2-3 months before selling the house. You might not be as comfortable as if the boat was bigger, but you will at least have a better idea if this is the life for you. After being on the Mac for 2 months straight and wanting more time out we still realized that we didn't want to be on a boat 12 months at a time year after year.

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

[Freedom77]

If there were no Venture/Macs my first trailerable choice would have been Catalina 25 with swing keel. The wing keel version doesn't go to weather very well. Then Balboa 26. Need beefy vehicle to haul as they boat weigh a whole bunch. Fixed keel, Ericson 27 or 30. Fair winds and Full Sails....Old Salt.

[jschrade]

Nice boat. I have run into power boaters moving down but haven't hit a sailor yet.

Jim

Full headroom throughout, not just in the companionway. Full head with shower. Ability to put in a real mattress not cushions. Sailing speed. Large cockpit. Standing headroom in the cockpit. Easier to sail than the Mac. Galley. Large Refrigerator/Freezer. Storage. Hanging closets. Owners cabin with door.

Better calm down!

Yeah, I think you'd better. I gave all that up for the advantages of a trailerable boat.

My baby, in someone else's arms now.

<sighhhhhhhh>

[dlymn]

A quote from A boat design forum about the ideal cruiser,
As Jacques Mertens says:

“The seaworthiness may come as a surprise to beginners or to those who have never sailed a shallow draft boat but experienced seamen know that the shallow draft boat is more seaworthy than a hull with a deep keel.
Unlike the deep boat, a centerboarder will not resist the sea. Instead of tripping on it's keel, it will dodge the waves or lift over them. Properly designed, a keel centerboarder will have the same ultimate stability than a boat with a conventional keel. …
But there is more to it than safety at sea. In case of real bad weather like a hurricane, a shallow draft boat can take refuge deep inland or in very protected coves inaccessible to deep boats. The centerboarder can, with only a small tide, be beached for repairs or to clean and paint the bottom. It can go on anchor where nobody else can and save on marina fees. “

http://www.amateurboatbuilding.com/a...sign/VG25.html

where are those purists? Bring em on!

[Octaman]

Speed on the water is a high priority for me.
It's hard to better a Mac under power.
My only other alternative would be speed under sail.
This translates to a Dragonfly 28 by Quorning for me
Not quite the same thing but certainly thrilling like a Mac.
Has a different price tag too.

Check out this video.

http://www.dragonfly.dk/boats/dragonfly ... llery.aspx

Happy Power Sailing!

Octaman

[gyroplanes]

Sumner,
Thank you for posting about your Endeavour. I have been looking at the Catalina 30 for some time now, but an Endeavour sure fits my bill for a "classic" style sailboat, moreso than the Cat. I have added the E37 to my shortlist.

[Matt19020]

You gotta love the dual Helm

Why do I gotta love the dual helm, and what purpose does it serve to have them side by side??????

Now I understand why I gotta love dual helm (on flybridge and inside salon) on powerboats.

Rick

Rick, I sailed a 43' Jeanneau with this setup and the layout was nice... Some of the advantages I saw

- Opens the cockpit up A LOT without having the pedestal in the middle of the transom walk thru The wheels being off to the sides where the seats are they do not get in the way (this was one of the biggest advantages)

- Additional seating area

- Aids in docking to be close to a cleat to tie off or have someone throw you a line when short handed

- When heeled over heavy it can make it easier to see around a Genoa by being further out

- A little bit of redundency built in if there are system failures (some may argue more to go wrong and maintain)

[pokerrick1]

OK - - I can see that! More room is obvious from the pic above. Thanks

Rick

[impinnacr]

Anything designed by Bill Crealock. Pacific Seacraft boats are a work of art. They're like a beautiful little ship.

[dvideohd]

Big questions.... Affordable? Endeavour 40 - center cockpit would be a good go... old enough to afford - and with rear bearth - something to stay out there with... Sum has the right of it on cost...

[Sumner]

Big questions.... Affordable? Endeavour 40 - center cockpit would be a good go... old enough to afford - and with rear bearth - something to stay out there with... Sum has the right of it on cost...

Yep if we would of had about twice what we did to spend the center cockpit 40.....



http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1981/En ... ted-States

...is a really nice boat. Even the 38....



http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1986/En ... ted-States

...center cockpit has a lot more room below than our 37.

The aft stateroom on these center cockpit boats .....



....would be comfortable on anchor. The center cockpit gives you a lot more room below. I guess it is only money . Come on guys I know that some of you 'lust' after another boat . Doesn't mean you have to give up the Mac , lets say you get to keep her and have $50,000 to $80,000 that you 'had' to spend on another boat,

Sum

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Our MacGregor S Pages

Mac-Venture Links

[Brian]

OK, I'll bite on this question. My is meeting my needs at the moment, but if I were to upgrade I like this concept:

http://www.tomcatboats.com/

This is kind of like a Mac version of a small catamaran that uses two small outboards instead of a diesel. I like the simplicity, and with two outboards you should be able to turn around in your own length. Unfortunately, the price tag is pretty high. The Gemini 105 MC provides more bang for the buck.

That said, I like the concept of the Tomact, and hope that by the time I am ready to move on something like this there will be similar less expensive options available. Roger, if you build one of these I will buy it.

[jschrade]

Some of the Gemini's were equipped with outboards (typically older ones).

Jim

[Seapup]

OK, I'll bite on this question. My is meeting my needs at the moment, but if I were to upgrade I like this concept:

http://www.tomcatboats.com/

I thought about posting the same boat. Where I sail shallow draft/drying out for the night is our favorite part of the mac. We just recently got back from this years Annapolis show and of all the boats there the Tomcat 9.7 (16" draft) was probably the only one I could realistically see myself owning. It was the first time I had been on one and it was not the most glamorous by far, but seemed very practical. They have a lot crammed into a relatively small package. I have done some reading about them since and have found mixed reviews though.

Of all the other boats at the show the oysters were by far our favorites mono's. I know it is a far superior boat, but personally I was unimpressed by both the seward 26 and 32rk. They were beautiful, but felt tiny inside.

[vizwhiz]

I've thought about this, and even looked at a few larger/older sailboats to see what I'd consider. Then I have a friend who is searching for a trawler-type to live-aboard, and after looking at a lot of those with him, I'd have to say that if I had $50k-$80k to buy another boat with, I might be looking at a trawler instead of a sailboat. (don't throw things at me!!!)

No guarantees, of course, because I'm not in that position for real. But I've looked at some nice monohulls, and several catamarans also, and while I'm impressed with the idea of a larger sailboat, that's a lot of mast and rigging and ropes and lines and sails and "stuff" to maintain. I mean, just the running rigging set for my dinky 26' S ran upwards of $250, and that wasn't topping lift, boom vang or anything else like that...just the main lines. I can imagine how much more it costs to maintain the shrouds (there are more of them too!) and lines (larger diameter and much longer than the ones on our boats!) and OMGoo'ness they used teak on those boats (we had teak furniture that I had to oil...yuck)...

So while the idea of a larger sailboat is very romantic, and of course the wind is free**, I also see an exponential rise in the time required to own/maintain...and there's a lot more room on a trawler. Perhaps if I was independently wealthy - had time to do nothing else, then it would be different - but not with the life I have now.



**the wind is free, but the cost to CATCH the wind is not!