New to Forum, new to larger boats, and new to us Mac 25

[ntzman28]

Hello all,

My wife and I are relatively new to keelboat sailing. Took the ASA 101 course down in Corpus Christi last year and loved it. I've owned a sunfish-type boat and a 13' Chrysler Pirateer in prior years. Last summer, we bought a long-sitting '84 Mac 25 with the intention of getting her in ship-shape ourselves. Learned a ton from this forum and about a month ago realized that I have more money than time Although it pained me greatly to do it, I travel for work and realized i'd never get around to doing all that needed to be done, so we turned her over to a boat yard near Dallas and will pick her up tomorrow. We had a full bottom job done, the rudder reglassed, and the keel ground down and refinished. We also had them go through the standing rigging and run the running rigging kit I purchased from Cajun rope.

With all the functional pieces now reconditioned, we're ready to move onto some more cosmetic concerns. Has anyone had the cabin cushions recovered in blue sunbrella fabric? If so, how much did you pay to have the work done? Did you go to an automotive upholstery shop or use someone who specializes in boat upholstery? The v-berth cushions are in good shape, but everything else is threadbare and needs recovered. Has anyone found and made use of a full set of replacements? Sorry for all the questions but we're excited to get her back and are hoping someone on the site has some experience with.

ntzman28
Eagle Mountain Lake
Azle, TX

[SENCMac26x]

Welcome to the site, I just recently picked up an 87 Mac 25 i'm doing a little work too myself.

From the sound of it, she sounds ready to get in the water!

(note: Do NOT forget to put in a cotter or clevis pin in the tiller bracket...that's not fun when it comes off )

We're looking at getting out cushions redone as well, if you have more money than time there are online outlets you can send your demisions too and they'll send you brand new high density foam cushions with the cover of your choice. I think it'll be about 200-400 per cushion depending on size.

Otherwise find someone with an heavy duty sewing/upholstery machine...luckily my MIL has one.

Question, are you thinking about putting in side carpetting or a headliner in your cabin?

[ntzman28]

Ouch! $200-$400 per cushion would rapidly put me back into the more time than money bracket . Guess I better start checking with upholstery shops. Hadn't thought about putting in a headliner, but had noticed that the underside of the deck is pretty rough. Lining it with carpet is not a bad idea. My Dad's old cabin cruiser was lined that way and it held up well. How would you adhere the carpet if you went that route?

On the sides, don't think I'll do anything other than finish scrubbing them down with a brush and some tilex. Have done one side already and it cleaned up nicely.

Thanks so much for the reply!

ntzman28
Eagle Mountan Lake
Azle, TX

[DanInCanton]

Welcome to world of Mac 25s. I am in the later stages of rehabbing my own Mac 25 and have faced many of the same issues.

My wife is handy with a sewing machine, so I had her make forward and aft dinette seat cushions only out of marine grade vinyl. I sleep in the vee berth and she prefers the quarterberth behind the galley, so we opted to simply cover those bunks with fitted sheets rather than going through the hassle and expense of making covers. A twin sheet fits over the quarterberth nicely and a queen sheet works well in the vee (after tucking the excess material under the narrow end. It’s not the most elegant option, but you have the added benefit of being able to remove and wash the sheets between voyages.

The original Macs came with carpet glued to the headliner, which became a mildew nightmare over their 30-plus years of service. If your roof is rough it may be because a PO tore it out and left the dried adhesive showing. I had good results just sanding the rough surface down and painting over it with a good oil-based paint. If you want a more finished look, I've seen some good mods on this site and elsewhere where padded cloth has been tacked over a thin sheet of plywood and then screwed in place. This, I think, would be the preferred way to add a finished headliner as opposed to gluing carpet, from which there would be no going back if you didn’t like the results. Keep in mind that there is a lot of deck hardware through-bolted into the roof that will need to be accessed from time to time for maintenance...you won’t want to cover them with carpet.

Best Wishes,
Dan Resch
Sailorguides.com

[Sailing Virginia]

Congrads on your boat and a warm welcome to the site.

[ntzman28]

Well, we got her back today, and she looks great! Purchased new battery, charger, fire extinguisher, and fuel line and bulb. One of the things the boat yard guy told us was that he removed and sealed off a leaky thru-hull fitting below the waterline where a PO had put in a bilge pump. He advised us not to put in a bilge pump, and was wondering what others had done in regards to. I have an Atwood water buster to bring along, but all my power boats have always had bilge pumps and my inclination is to put one in. If you have one, where did you mount it and where did you put the thru-hull?

ntzman28
Eagle Mountain Lake
Azle, TX

[Tomfoolery]

One of the things the boat yard guy told us was that he removed and sealed off a leaky thru-hull fitting below the waterline where a PO had put in a bilge pump. He advised us not to put in a bilge pump, and was wondering what others had done in regards to.

Bilge pump thru-hull below the waterline?

There was a thread recently on a bilge pump for a 26S. You might want to give it a read.

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... =8&t=21563

Someone made the (excellent, IMO) point that most of these small sailboats have no penetrations to speak of, like inboards do, and about the only water you get inside is from rain leaks. They don't even have what you might call a real bilge. But I suppose if you wanted to have a pump anyway, there's no harm in it. Just put the thru-hull as high as you can, or at least above the waterline, to prevent siphoning back into the bilge.

[THE CUSCUS]

A hand operated bilge pump (kayak type) and a 5 gal. bucket are what I keep aboard. With these boats, simplicity is the way to go. Sail them often, enjoy them, and don't spend all you time and money trying to make them into a "big boat".

[yukonbob]

I've tried using the manual bilge pump twice and getting it out and setting it up isn't worth the quarter cup of water I could get. I use a large sponge and a bucket twice a season and throw some bleach in to keep everything smelling fresh. The water on the m doesn't sit in one spot anyways, it sits in five in small amounts. There would have to be a significant amount of water for it to be pumped out of the low spot in front of the batteries. Ours stays pretty dry except for the beginning and end of the season when it's cold out and we heat the cabin so we get lots of condensation.

[DanInCanton]

I’ve never considered my Mac 25 as having a bilge, since I store a lot of gear and provisions under the seats and I need them to stay dry. The only place where any measurable amount of water (and by this I mean 2 or 3 cups) seems to collect and stay put is at the aft end of the forward vee berth, so this may be as close to a functioning bilge as the boat has. Macs tend to be extremely dry, and what little splash or rainwater sneaks in is easily taken care of with a sponge. If a 25 collects enough water to be deep enough to make a bilge pump worthwhile, it’s got a serious leak somewhere that needs to be addressed.

Vagabond did come with a bilge pump and float installed by a PO under the cockpit near the centerboard cable with a thru hull mounted high up on the starboard transom. It’s about a six foot hose run with a two foot rise, which the little 500gph pump handled with ease. I tested it by submerging the pump in a bucket of water and it still worked, so I left it in place. It would only be useful if a serious leak popped up around the centerboard pivot bolt or cable (these are the only thru-hulls below the waterline) or the hull was somehow punctured, but it could make the difference between sinking or floating if it came to that.

Best Wishes,
Dan
Sailorguides.com