She's all mine!

[BOAT]

where's my pizza?

[kmclemore]

Sorry, Boat... you musta missed it. Mine was really good - thick crust, lots of cheese and I even got my anchovies.

[FlyboyTR]

Congrats on the new boat. I had been searching for a 26s and actually looked closely at the ad for the boat you purchased (the trailer configuration was the give-away). Like you, we did the road trip...except we had to travel a lot further to purchase ours out of Michigan; it's a 91. Same electrical nightmare as yours!.

I will look forward to keeping up with your mods and improvements.

Travis

[BOAT]

Sorry, Boat... you musta missed it. Mine was really good - thick crust, lots of cheese and I even got my anchovies.

Rats! I was too late again.

Hey MM, that's a really good boat you got!

[My Mistress]

where's my pizza?

Hmmmm. I must have missed that. Do yo like Bud or homebrew with pizza?

[My Mistress]

Some pictures from my Mistress:

Generally, she's dirty. She has been sitting for at least 2 years. She is solid though. The biggest issue is that one battery is very weak, and the second is dead.



Good idea: The bracket securing the mast while in travel position.


The old compass dome is crazed and cracked. This will be an easy fix.
The interior is a mess. I'm steadily moving things from one corner to another.


The electrical system will need a major overhaul. Too many redundant switches and connections. A perfect example is the cabin light which is wired through two panels and the red switch to the right.
The radio may go. It's not working at the moment, but I think it may be directly wired to the dead battery. My train of thought is, with todays technology, I should be able to find something smaller that takes less power.
The ship to shore is operational, but there is no receiving station to test it.
The solar panel was a pleasant surprise. I found that when I was cleaning out the forward storage compartments.
The small fan in the picture is actually a 120V desk fan. It only draws 0.2A. I may keep it.

[My Mistress]

The depthfinder appears to be functional, i.e. it has power. I'll have to wait to check it on the water. The bracket definitely has to go.
The blades on the fan in the background shattered when I touched them. Unless I find and easy replacement for them, that be replaced.
The switch above and to the right of the depthfinder is a DPDT switch for the compass light. Heavy duty, but it can be changed out for a SPST switch.
The plastic holders.....well... the Mrs likes them, but they are all over the place. I think they cloned while the boat was not being used.



Another shot of the fan and the 12V>120V transformer. I like the item; don't like the location.



This REALLY excited me! I was worried about the bearings all the way from Colorado, but didn't know these were aboard.
When I found the Igloo under the port settee, I thought I was pulling out a container of 2+ year old Gatoraide. Imagine my surprise when I opened it and found a complete hub with bearing buddy!
Now, Imagine my excitement when I found the second one, packaged the same way! They are packed with the original grease!

[My Mistress]

The trailer axle modification. It moved the axle back to enhance stability while towing, and while the boat is on the trailer. I had her up top 75mph without hint of trailer sway, and I can mount and dismount the boat while she in on the trailer without worrying that she is going to tip back. I actually had tha happen on a MAC 26 I was looking at. We had to put a concrete block under the hull in back to stabilize her.



I wish I had known about those hubs and bearing buddies in the boat. This bearing buddy left us somewhere between Colorado Springs and my home. It still turns smoothly, but I can imagine the wear and tear caused by road grime. Both hubs and bearing will be replaced.



The trailer extension - this adds 8ft to the tongue when going up and down shallow ramps. It dismounts by pulling 2 pin, then mounts on the trailer ball socket and over the trailer center bar. She's solid, despite the looks. Some sanding and an coating of epoxy paint will have it looking nice.

[My Mistress]

Several of the many small dings in the gelcoat. They will be filled.



I am not sure if I like this mod or not. The steel bar slaves the engine to the rudder, but it also means that the engine can't be kicked up in shallow water and it adds some drag while under sail. I like the idea since the engine is directed by the tiller though. Maybe a type of quick disconnect?
Also, all engine controls are on the engine, in the well. That's a lot of bending for someone with a bad back. The owners manual does show a remote unit that mounts in the cockpit.

Now...to see if all this posts. It's been a while since I've been on a board that uses BB code.

Whew! Tripped over that "max number of pictures", but....

[FlyboyTR]

Thanks for the great pictures and details. Today I ran the start/stop button on my 9.9 Tohatsu/Nissan to a momentary-off-momentary, DPDT switch. I want to also tie in the gear shift and throttle for simplicity. It was actually very simple to do the wiring extension.

[Bilgemaster]

Just checking back in to let you know, if you hadn't stumbled across it already, that it looks like the old original Macgregor 26 promotional video for what looks just like your model--at least the windows seem to be an exact match--can be found on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFP3QA9-5GI. The audio's a little wonky at times, but if you didn't feel great about your new boat already, this should do it.

[Curious Sailor]

Congrats! I'm new here and just picked up an old venture 21.
Hope to have it looking like the picture posted on this page soon.. Lol. Good looking boat!

[Bilgemaster]

where's my pizza?

Coming right up!...

[BOAT]

You forgot pizza rat.

[FlyboyTR]

Just checking back in to let you know, if you hadn't stumbled across it already, that it looks like the old original Macgregor 26 promotional video for what looks just like your model--at least the windows seem to be an exact match--can be found on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFP3QA9-5GI. The audio's a little wonky at times, but if you didn't feel great about your new boat already, this should do it.

Thanks for the link. In all my YouTube searching for videos on the 26 Classic, I never saw that one. Good stuff!