Question about 1999 hull/our first Mac! Also an introduction

[StarSpun]

Salutations:-)

My name is Cat, and I'm new here! *waves*.

I've been lurking for some time to be honest....this forum has been a wealth of information which has aided my hubby and I in our search for our first MacGregor (we have decided on the X layout). We're pretty excited! Both of us have a background in boating....Bryans dad was a lobster fisherman and he used to work with him in the past. As for myself, I grew up in a family who had an addiction to powerboats;-) I spent a lot of my life on a boat of some sort, but only a small percentage of that was on a little sailboat (summer camp). We both kite surf (aka, we respect the wind!) and feel that learning to sail may just be right up our alley!

Not new to jumping into things like this....over 5 years ago we ditched our condo, sold most of our stuff and took off fulltime on an RV at the age of 25. It all happened within three months and we never looked back Our original plan was to fulltime on a boat, but we felt somewhat restricted by where we could go. I cannot tolerate winters, so like the wimpy Canadian I am, I get us down to Florida at the first sign of cold:D We have been talking about one day revisiting the fulltime boat thing (or at least wintering on one), and thought to for once start out slow (kinda) on a Mac:D

Just last year we bought a studio condo for my biz, but as it turns out, we LOVE being downtown Toronto again so spend the summers there, and keep the RV as a cottage just north of Toronto. (Guess we are 'halftime-3/4s RVers now, ha ha!). Being right by the water, we sit out watching the sailboats go by, getting all jealous and stuff. Hopefully this summer, we'll be the ones scooting around while others sit and watch and get ideas

Soooo, things have progressed from finding a cheaper older boat to going up a bit in price and looking at Macs between 1996-2002. Now I'm pretty stuck on 1999+.
There are three contenders as of now, and I have put in an offer for one of them. I have been reading about the changes through the years and I am curious if the 1999 I just put in an offer for has the upgraded hull. Can anyone shed some light on this?

The last part of the serial number is: [b]L899[/b]
From my research, this means it was made in December 1998, but is a 1999 model. If anyone has any idea on what hull it is, that would be great! I am assuming the new one....but not sure....

Our first choice is this 1999 which is CLOSE to our route back home to Canada. It is listed as the most expensive, but I am working on getting it for a lower price since I think it may be a bit overpriced. From a dealer. Still waiting for the response and losing sleep It's super clean, always stored indoors, has only had one owner, and barely has a mark on it....even on the outside. Trailer is in fine condition, has a stove, pump out option (a must for us), a few extras. Nissan 50hp, also a 1999, runs perfect and recently tuned. Fresh water only. Sails are in fine condition.

Our second choice (and sometimes first depending when you ask us, ha ha!) is a 2000 which is pretty much directly on our route back home. The Motor is a Nissan, but is a year older than the boat....a 1999. Will be tuned up before it sells. This is the cheapest of the three. It is sold directly from the owner (he was the only owner) and he has maintained it well, and says it is 'immaculate'. It has no stove, but has the pump out option. The trailer is in good condition with a spare. The outside of it has an extra stripe of color to match the red on one of the sails. It's very original and beautiful. The pictures however, aren't great (bad quality), and while I know they can lie....I am pretty good about seeing through them;-) It has been stored in a fully enclosed garage completely wrapped up every winter. Fresh water only. Seems a lot of extras are included with this one. Sails in great condition.

The third choice is the second most expensive, but not by much. Seller is motivated!! This one is a 2001, however, and it is located IN Canada....actually 20 min down the road from us in the summer. It is in rougher shape. Not bad, but not as lovely as the other two cosmetic wise. It has been stored under shelter wrapped up every winter, but this winter it is wrapped up unsheltered outdoors at a boat sale yard. The man selling it (not the owner) is super cool and seems very honest about things. The bottom needs paint. The inside needs cleaned a bit to be perfect. There is a apparently a barely visible scratch on one side from a buckle of some sort, really don't care about that. It has the pump out option but with a toilet instead of a PP, which is nice. Motor is a 2001 Honda which the owner says runs fine (will be one of the many conditions). Fresh water only. Sails are with the owner and are in fine condition.

So those are the three we are working on. Since we are in Florida with the RV right now, we are going to see if we can have someone look at all of them before we decide. There will be conditions put in for whichever one we decide on....

Anyhoo, will update as things progress. If anyone has any idea on the hull issue for the 1999, let me know:D
Thanks again, and hope to be a part of this forum moreso in the future!
Cheers!

[Catigale]

Hello Cat ...from another Cat...

The big change in 1999 ish was the change from Al rudder brackets to Stainless steel. You can make this mod yourself if you want, the folks at Blue water yachts have the parts

Make sure you know all the tricks for bringing a boat across the border, the boat and trailer are two separate transactions. You should be able to search the posts here for some help.

TO is a great sailing venue ..I've done the Wilson NY to TO crossing a few times in decent weather in my

[Tomfoolery]

The third choice is the second most expensive, but not by much. Seller is motivated!! This one is a 2001, however, and it is located IN Canada....actually 20 min down the road from us in the summer. <snip> It has the pump out option but with a toilet instead of a PP, which is nice.

Canada has some interesting laws regarding porta-potties vs heads with holding tanks, which may be why this one has a real head/tank. You probably want to educate yourself on that topic before making any decisions.

The engine in that one, being a Honda, is probably the BF50, which is much maligned by many folks, but I pull my full-grown son on a wakeboard with mine without a problem, so I don't know. <shrug> It's not a ski boat, but it's fast enough for that, and compared to a real sailboat, with a displacement hull, it's greased lightning. I get about 16 mph with no ballast and three men onboard.

[Ixneigh]

I would not let minor cosmetics be a factor in a decision. These boat age quickly unless they are seldom used. One rough launching can furnish a new battle scar. An anchor mishap can ding the hull. Towing the boat will filthifie it quickly and cruising anywhere for more then a week opens all sorts of threats to a perfectly waxed finish. And even the best care can't prevent spiderweb cracks due to hull and deck flexing. It's not a classic car. Get the one with the best equipment engine ect. I'd go newer engine/scruffy hull not the other way around.

Ixneigh

[kevinnem]

Hi Cat!

My name is Kevin, pleasure to chat with you.

I guess I am technically a mac owner, though I have never seen my boat - I should have it in my hands in about 3 weeks.

I bought a 1996 26x, with old 50 HP engine on it. I got it for a good deal, and within my budget.

I will be bringing my boat across the boarder to Canada on Feb 18th, and will let you know how it goes. I plan to do a post on here "buying my mac" on all the stuff I learned. because I had a few issues, and the advice I got on here, was good advise, and likely stopped me from making a big mistake.

Four things I would look at form the start:

1) Boats in the USA are often MUCH cheaper then in Canada. Also you get charged 5% GST when you import the boat in to Canada. Boats further south seem to be cheaper then north. Buying in Florida might be best. Pennsylvania seems to have a disproportionally high number of boats (effectively priced) for some reason.

2) The value of the engine is a large part of the boat, so either make sure your getting the engine you want, or not paying too much for an engine you don't want.

3) Sails can be expensive, compare the sail set that comes with each boat. mine comes with a full jib/Genoa/spiniker/main set. Some only come with jib/main, and it can cost 1300 +/- for the other sails.

4) Like engines, consider the trailer it comes with. It sounds like you will be doing a lot of long distance hauling, and a like load up the mac with a lot of weight, and you should read up on the trailers. It sounds like you might want to have a dual axle trailer. You should also be aware ALOT of the trailers that have drum brakes, have rusted out (90+% in my searching). You could buy a single axle, and add a second, you can replace it completely with a new trailer. You can replace drum brakes with disk brakes. What ever you chose to do, I think it is worth putting some thought in to it. It might very well be worth it to buy a more expensive boat, if it comes with a top -of-the-line trailer. Just think about it is all.

Lots of smart people on here, so ask questions if you have them.

[StarSpun]

Hello everyone, and thank you for the advice and responses:-)

Catigale....we are all about mods and have no problem doing 'em. Well hubby doesn't. I just buy the stuff and tell him where to put it all, hahahaha! I'm the creative director, he's the labour guy. Tee hee!
Was reading up on the trailer and boat being two different transactions, very interesting!

TKanzler, was reading about this too....so I wonder if porta-potties would be a bad idea even with the pump out option. If it's something we need to mod after we cross that's one thing, but it for sure makes the one in Toronto look even more easy than before;-)
I had no idea bout the Honda thing. How do people consider the Nissan?
16mph, that's amazing!

Ixneigh, good point. I know I am going to go nutso cleaning and fixing it up anyway! Ha Ha! I'm a total neat/clean freak. Actually it is interesting what I found out about the one I put an offer in for....will put it at the end of this post....for sure want your opinon on this matter:-)

Kevinnem, congrats on your purchase! You must be so excited! The process of research and stuff is so much fun for me, but I do look forward to finally finding 'the one'. I will for sure keep an eye out for your post, and wish you well during the crossing. When we started RVing, we bought a new 5th wheel in Toronto. Once our truck lease ran out, we decided on a moho....ended up getting an older 1997 Damon in Michigan. Gutted it, redid the entire thing, and had the experience bringing it through the boarder. We had everything in order but found it was a piece of cake....hopefully it goes as smoothly for the boat/trailer as well, if we do decide to buy US. I've been looking for them all over, but it seems people never write back, or they are simply just sold. Many do not have the pump out option. I actually have a chart made up of potential boats, with options ticked off.
Thanks for the advice on the trailer, I will be more focused on them when I talk to the sellers from now on!


And now, for the results of my research last night. I put the serial number in Google for the 'immaculate, and perfect stored indoor it's entire life, one owner and not a scratch on the outside or inside, clean 1999' option. Here is what I got:

A video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn1jQ5cyjdU

And a report....it was auctioned....I don't like the sound of stress cracks....
http://www.auctionpipeline.com/CarRepor ... #condition

Do you guys think the seller is full of you know what about it's condition and history? Also, if it was in fresh water it's entire life, then why is the plate rusted so badly? And from the registration on the front of the boat, it shows RI....which to me means OCEAN salt water.

Hmmmmmm....

Any thoughts or am I over reacting?

Thanks again everyone:-)
Cat

[robbarnes1965]

I have no idea about rules but I have the 5gal pp with the pumpout option here in Montreal, bought new in Hamilton. Works fine. Regular head with holding tank would likely be larger capacity and the head a little lower which is nice if you are tall.

Rob

[Tomfoolery]

And from the registration on the front of the boat, it shows RI....which to me means OCEAN salt water.

The registration number starts with "WN", which is Washington State. I don't know what kind of lake sailing there is out there, but here in the Great Lakes area, you stand a good chance of a boat never having seen salt water, but of course, there's no way to know for sure. Being that it's an original (steel) trailer, I doubt it was in salt water, though, as that's a trailer killer, and the original trailers aren't known for holding up in a salt environment.

[StarSpun]

And from the registration on the front of the boat, it shows RI....which to me means OCEAN salt water.

The registration number starts with "WN", which is Washington State. I don't know what kind of lake sailing there is out there, but here in the Great Lakes area, you stand a good chance of a boat never having seen salt water, but of course, there's no way to know for sure. Being that it's an original (steel) trailer, I doubt it was in salt water, though, as that's a trailer killer, and the original trailers aren't known for holding up in a salt environment.

Interesting observation! Hmmm....
So is a stress crack a huge deal then?
Everything seems to have been fixed up.
Still not sure about the history, though the seller at this auto sales place says one owner and always stored indoors....

[StarSpun]

I have no idea about rules but I have the 5gal pp with the pumpout option here in Montreal, bought new in Hamilton. Works fine. Regular head with holding tank would likely be larger capacity and the head a little lower which is nice if you are tall.

Rob

Heya Rob, thanks for the info. A larger holding tank is always good:D Ha ha!
Checked our your blog btw. If we get our Mac maybe we'll run into ya out there somewhere! Not literally though, I hope....

[aya16]

I assume from your pix, you can take a little kidding, first mod I would do is a wine rack and a fireplace in the mac.

I have found that a boat either grabs me or it doesn't, Love at first sight kinda thing. If that happens and the boat is in great shape you have a winner.
Boat is a labor of love, you have to love it and it requires lots of labor. Just go with the boat that makes you feel you have to have it, then go from there.
Mike

[Crikey]

Cat, considering the possible smallish differences in the TO boat (#3) and the US boat (#2) + border taxes and levees, I might be tempted to consider the 'motivated' owner in this case. Cosmetics aside, and discounting sweat equity it's a newer boat and engine - but I would personally want to have a second professional opinion about the engine condition. Hard to do a proper test at this time of the year, and it is one of the prime areas an owner's lack of maintenance, or incompetence, can cause big problems down the road!
The final sales receipt on which you'll do calculations for the tax department can be a thing Scrooge would be proud of. We (my whip bearing Admiral, and I) bought our new over the border at substantial savings, even after taxes - but that was what we wanted and not the same as your desire to have bigger savings on a 'used goods' deal.
Keep your eyes open for some group Lake Ontario activity this year - thinking 'Port Credit Shuffle' weekend.
Ross

[K9Kampers]

...the 'motivated' owner in this case. Cosmetics aside, and discounting ...

Pun intended? ... considering the OP

{I just wanted to do a color-highlighted quote response... it's been a while!!}

[Crikey]

Why, me?

Never!

[StarSpun]

I assume from your pix, you can take a little kidding, first mod I would do is a wine rack and a fireplace in the mac.

I have found that a boat either grabs me or it doesn't, Love at first sight kinda thing. If that happens and the boat is in great shape you have a winner.
Boat is a labor of love, you have to love it and it requires lots of labor. Just go with the boat that makes you feel you have to have it, then go from there.
Mike

MIKE LOL! You are SPOT ON!
On our redone RV, I put in a fireplace. No wine rack, but there are quite a few bottles lined up in the hallway:P Empty ones actually, go figure! I think I will have to look into this for the Mac....lots of wallspace....hmmmmmm!

I am the same way, sometimes there is just 'something' about it. That's what happened with our RV, and my car, my cat....pretty much everything. Oh my hubby too I guess Still working on him. Bwahaha!

I think this time I am becoming so overwhelmed because there are so many of these for sale....it's clouding my judgement, and driving me bananas!