MacGregorSailors.com

I would very seriously consider buying a 26D rather than an M if I were in the market for a used boat and had as you've professed a desire to see how the boats perform against one another. You'll save a ton of money and have a better sailing boat. Depends I guess on how much you like the big motor.

I have used http://claz.org/ to find classified ads
You can go to a special category, set by price, select a search radius. Not as much as CL, but a lot of the original ads. And not so much spam

mastreb wrote:I would very seriously consider buying a 26D rather than an M if I were in the market for a used boat and had as you've professed a desire to see how the boats perform against one another. You'll save a ton of money and have a better sailing boat. Depends I guess on how much you like the big motor.

We used to own an "s", great sailor but my wife did not like the interior. She is a little claustropohobic. We've never really slept aboard in part because of that. The larger headroom aft birth of the might help - so I will do whatever I can to make sure the admiral is happy, which will make us able to get on the water more, and that makes me happy.

I also have young kids and we put a great deal of importance on the ability to get back to shore as an emergency measure, for the future ability to tow a toy...and it also helps us put them to sleep. It's kinda like putting the kids in the car until they sleep. Oh, and when one of them is in a total freak-out crisis, home port is never that far off and the motor is almost loud enough to drown out the crying and wailing

taime1 wrote:

mastreb wrote:I would very seriously consider buying a 26D rather than an M if I were in the market for a used boat and had as you've professed a desire to see how the boats perform against one another. You'll save a ton of money and have a better sailing boat. Depends I guess on how much you like the big motor.

We used to own an "s", great sailor but my wife did not like the interior. She is a little claustropohobic. We've never really slept aboard in part because of that. The larger headroom aft birth of the might help - so I will do whatever I can to make sure the admiral is happy, which will make us able to get on the water more, and that makes me happy.

I also have young kids and we put a great deal of importance on the ability to get back to shore as an emergency measure, for the future ability to tow a toy...and it also helps us put them to sleep. It's kinda like putting the kids in the car until they sleep. Oh, and when one of them is in a total freak-out crisis, home port is never that far off and the motor is almost loud enough to drown out the crying and wailing

Hmmmm..

"Honey - if we get the 140 HP we wont have to listen to the whining..."

Try http://www.adhuntr.com/
Searches all of criags, ebay classified, kijiji etc

Do a search for "Nationwide Craigslist".

Once there, refine your search specifically to Macgregor 26M. You will be amazed by what you will find there.

I found my 26x using that method and found at least 40 other boats that I considered before buying mine.
T

I have a 26X for that reason.

I have found that the kids are happy to watch Disney/Dora/Batman cartoon while in the slip - and the "tube towing" capability is a big hit.

taime1 wrote:

mastreb wrote:I would very seriously consider buying a 26D rather than an M if I were in the market for a used boat and had as you've professed a desire to see how the boats perform against one another. You'll save a ton of money and have a better sailing boat. Depends I guess on how much you like the big motor.

We used to own an "s", great sailor but my wife did not like the interior. She is a little claustropohobic. We've never really slept aboard in part because of that. The larger headroom aft birth of the might help - so I will do whatever I can to make sure the admiral is happy, which will make us able to get on the water more, and that makes me happy.

I also have young kids and we put a great deal of importance on the ability to get back to shore as an emergency measure, for the future ability to tow a toy...and it also helps us put them to sleep. It's kinda like putting the kids in the car until they sleep. Oh, and when one of them is in a total freak-out crisis, home port is never that far off and the motor is almost loud enough to drown out the crying and wailing

Does a 26S sail ALMOST as well as a 26D? I like the safety factor of the swing keel.

mastreb wrote:I would very seriously consider buying a 26D rather than an M if I were in the market for a used boat and had as you've professed a desire to see how the boats perform against one another. You'll save a ton of money and have a better sailing boat. Depends I guess on how much you like the big motor.

I am now a owner! I used the Craigslist national search thing and found one in my price range with some of the things I wanted. I was limited by budget and distance, but I think we did ok. Not great, but ok. Probably could have waited a little longer and hoped for more, but this one checked off what we wanted.

The hull is in very nice shape, it has a new "Float-On" trailer with dual axles and was a single owner boat. I think it was mainly used as a powerboat. I haven't had much time to play with it, but I'll have a few mods to do. I haven't figured out how all the running rigging was used. In fact, I haven't even put the boom on (no time!). The standing rigging is loose and that will have to be adjusted before I put sails up. IIRC, upper shrouds should be about 300# and lowers 270#?

We picked it up in Cape Cod on Saturday. We spent the Friday night at the in-laws, left the kids there while we did the 600km trip. We left at 5:30am and got there at about 12:30pm (after a couple of wrong turns). Did the inspection and ran the motor on earmuffs then signed off the paper work. I met the owner and chatted with him a little. Seems like a nice guy, he was happy to see his boat go to a young family. We left Cape Cod at about 2:30pm and got used to the trailer quickly (tows very, very well). We stopped frequently to check the boat and axles and lucky for us, the owner had done a tremendous trailering prep job. In fact, he did a better job than I would have. The ride back was otherwise uneventful.

We hit Canadian customs at about 10:30pm and that went smoothly - showed them the paperwork and paid a big fat pile of tax. Then half an hour later, we were back at the in-laws.

We drove home the next afternoon, and I went right to the marina to put her in. Only had time to put up the mast and get her wet, did a short turn around the bay and into her slip.

I think the sailing setup isn't as nice as I'd like. The PO installed cleats on the deck instead of clutches and there seem to be 2 halyards and 2 other mast lines that I haven't figured out their purpose. I will as the PO, once I get some pictures and remember clearly the colors and location.

It also has pressurized water with a transom shower, another pump in the aft compartment (probably a bilge pump), two batteries, older Garmin GPS, boarding ladder, anchor roller (galvanized and painted, not stainless steel), 4 different anchors, a bunch of extra parts including a rudder and two rudder posts, bimini with an extension that covers the cockpit, and a bunch of other things I don't remember right now. We're pretty happy with it...would be happier with more time to play with it!

First things first. You do know you have to buy the pizza?

taime1 wrote:I am now a owner!

I thought that only applied to new members! I'll have to factor that into my future boat purchases...and figure out what the difference in costs are between Canadian pizza and American pizza...

mmmmmmmmm.....pizza....

dlandersson wrote:First things first. You do know you have to buy the pizza?

taime1 wrote:I am now a owner!

taime1 wrote:I am now a owner! I used the Craigslist national search thing and found one in my price range with some of the things I wanted. I was limited by budget and distance, but I think we did ok. Not great, but ok. Probably could have waited a little longer and hoped for more, but this one checked off what we wanted.

The hull is in very nice shape, it has a new "Float-On" trailer with dual axles and was a single owner boat. I think it was mainly used as a powerboat. I haven't had much time to play with it, but I'll have a few mods to do. I haven't figured out how all the running rigging was used. In fact, I haven't even put the boom on (no time!). The standing rigging is loose and that will have to be adjusted before I put sails up. IIRC, upper shrouds should be about 300# and lowers 270#?

We picked it up in Cape Cod on Saturday. We spent the Friday night at the in-laws, left the kids there while we did the 600km trip. We left at 5:30am and got there at about 12:30pm (after a couple of wrong turns). Did the inspection and ran the motor on earmuffs then signed off the paper work. I met the owner and chatted with him a little. Seems like a nice guy, he was happy to see his boat go to a young family. We left Cape Cod at about 2:30pm and got used to the trailer quickly (tows very, very well). We stopped frequently to check the boat and axles and lucky for us, the owner had done a tremendous trailering prep job. In fact, he did a better job than I would have. The ride back was otherwise uneventful.

We hit Canadian customs at about 10:30pm and that went smoothly - showed them the paperwork and paid a big fat pile of tax. Then half an hour later, we were back at the in-laws.

We drove home the next afternoon, and I went right to the marina to put her in. Only had time to put up the mast and get her wet, did a short turn around the bay and into her slip.

I think the sailing setup isn't as nice as I'd like. The PO installed cleats on the deck instead of clutches and there seem to be 2 halyards and 2 other mast lines that I haven't figured out their purpose. I will as the PO, once I get some pictures and remember clearly the colors and location.

It also has pressurized water with a transom shower, another pump in the aft compartment (probably a bilge pump), two batteries, older Garmin GPS, boarding ladder, anchor roller (galvanized and painted, not stainless steel), 4 different anchors, a bunch of extra parts including a rudder and two rudder posts, bimini with an extension that covers the cockpit, and a bunch of other things I don't remember right now. We're pretty happy with it...would be happier with more time to play with it!

That was a pretty fast round trip except for the trailering trip back home. What town on the Cape did you visit to buy the boat? I don't think I would have had the energy to launch the boat at home the next day after all that driving.

WASP18 wrote:
That was a pretty fast round trip except for the trailering trip back home. What town on the Cape did you visit to buy the boat? I don't think I would have had the energy to launch the boat at home the next day after all that driving.

Yes, it was a pretty long drive all in one shot. We could maybe have stayed overnight on the Cape or something like that, but hadn't really planned for it. Besides, I had the idea that the boat would be launched the next day and can handle long drives fairly well. It's been a long week though - that back and forth, the thrill of buying the boat, launching it and all the questions that pop through your mind after making a big money decision make for a tiring few days.

The boat was located in Pocassett. Just over the bridge and shortly after the round-point. Was easy to get to and get back from. The only harrowing thing about the drive are the short on-ramps that cars zoom out of seemingly blindly and fail to notice the giant boat sitting on the trailer behind my vehicle. I think people don't realize how difficult it is to manoeuvre with long and heavy loads.

We didn`t do any visiting, unless you count rest stops as visiting. There was a very nice rest stop in Vermont that had a memorial and green water treatment facilities, which is as close to a visit as we got.

Just FYI if you had made that trip before the US Labour day holiday it would have been a traffic nightmare.

The Cape traffic is pretty amazing during summer.