MacGregorSailors.com

Well looks like I need to change the title of this topic. The guy with the 81' Mac that I was going to pick up on Thursday just sold it to someone else for his full asking price. Just a little more than double what I was giving him for it.

Oh well... Good thing the 86' isn't in really terrible shape. I've been taking a closer look at what we all thought was a crack in the hull on the centerline and I don't think that it is.

Gel coat wore off in places and someone painted it without sanding. Seems totally cosemetic but I'll likely sand her and repaint.

The Admiral is disappoint because this boat came wih zero cushions. She was going to use the cushions from the other boat as a template to make new ones. I imagine we can find the measurements somewhere.

Next up is stripping out everything from inside so I can powerwash, sand and paint the interior. It's a mess!

Well Damn bro! I was ready for a road trip

Find another....you can't have enough...have you read my thread LOL

good luck mate, post lots of pics...some of us are stuck in cubicles all day (NOT ME LOL) and live for the pics

Cheers and good luck

Can fix that nissan right quick....prob can walk you through it over the net....it's a simple motor to work on and very reliable

Dave

mrron_tx wrote:Looking good BTW...Anyone wanting to replace missing ,waterlogged foam.....If You live near a TSC store/ Tractor Supply store.....They will usually have a lot of these big foam blocks used for transporting trailers and stuff. I bought two blocks for $10. Ron

Thanks for the tip - you think they'd just give it away if it's shipping materials. I'm going to get as many of those things out as I can. I've read that many people take them out and don't put them back. I guess they don't care for the positive buoyancy.

81venture wrote:Well Damn bro! I was ready for a road trip

Find another....you can't have enough...have you read my thread LOL

good luck mate, post lots of pics...some of us are stuck in cubicles all day (NOT ME LOL) and live for the pics

Cheers and good luck

Can fix that nissan right quick....prob can walk you through it over the net....it's a simple motor to work on and very reliable

Dave

Yeah - I'm a little bummed, but I think it's for the best probably. I'll fix this one up the best that I can. I'm sure that I'll be happy with it. Just need to figure something out for a better trailer!

I'm thinking of outfitting the inside with beadboard - anybody on here ever done that? Example -


Also - can someone ID this thing for me? I've looked online and can't quite find out what it is. I'm thinking that it is for the geona but I don't understand how it attaches. (don't laugh - remember, I've never sailed anything bigger than about 12' before)


Of course, before I start spending money on fixing her up, I should probably drop her in the water and make sure that the thing floats and that the engine runs. (This was the good engine - supposedly)

Interior ceiling paint really needs to be removed and redone. Think I'll strip out the 28 year old berber carpet on the main cabin ceiling while I am at it.

Also - I think I'll just replace all of the interior wood. This is the worst of it.


Can anyone tell me what this stuff is supposed to go to? I'm guessing the PO stripped the boat before it was sold. I don't even have a compass aboard! Anyone know where to get that stuff cheap?


SCREAMING - WASH ME!

The spool looks like part of a Rolling Furler....someone else will chime in and correct me if I am wrong

the spare cables probably went to a fishfinder or depth finder/gps unit

Compass? I have 3

81venture wrote:The spool looks like part of a Rolling Furler....someone else will chime in and correct me if I am wrong

the spare cables probably went to a fishfinder or depth finder/gps unit

Compass? I have 3

Yes is a rolling furler and the cables mmm antenna?

There is an antenna, guessing it goes straight to the VHF? Also, there's a device the at bottom of the aft end of the boat that I'm guessing measures your speed? Looks like an old watermill paddle wheel but the wheel is about the size of a nickel.

Yes, that's a roller furler. Second doohickey is an antenna: possibly GPS, more likely radio. Just ditch it. The waterwheel is a speed-over-water sensor. What's it attached to? Should end in a Chartplotter somewhere.

Thanks Mastreb-I don't see anything except the radio. I'm not going to worry about it. I'll eventually get some instruments/gauges. But it's going to be a long time before I'm afloat anywhere other than the Potomac or a local lake.

NavySailor wrote:Unfortunately when I lowered the mast for the night the bolt slid right out and my Son wasn't 100% ready and his shoulder got whacked pretty good. But he'll live.

What bolt slid out? The only thing holding the mast up is the forestay, and that's got a clevis and pin. Or is that what you took out?



If I were you, I'd stick a 5 gallon bucket under that OB, filled with water to at least the ventilation plate (the flat plate over the prop), and make sure it starts and runs well before splashing the boat. Don't overspeed it, as you won't get much resistance from that prop when it kicks all the water out of the bucket at high speed. You just want to make sure it starts and runs and doesn't overheat, and forward and reverse work.

It looks to be water cooled, due to the big hub on the prop (through-hub exhaust), which means it has a water pump, which has a rubber impeller, which is possibly old enough to be in poor shape. It's not something you want coming apart inside your engine, as the little (and not so little) rubber bits will get lodged in the cooling passages, making the job way harder when you do open it up to replace the impeller.

Oh, and I think that 5 hp is just about perfect for that boat in protected water. Out in a blow, pounding big waves, it might prove underpowered, but you shouldn't be motoring out in that stuff at this point anyway.

Thanks Tom - I'm going to give that a try. Think I'll use my garbage can. PO said it worked just fine the last time she used it last year. We shall see.

As for the mast - I'm guessing the PO lost the pin and clevis and replaced it with a bolt and a lock-nut. I was having a hard time sliding the bolt out due to the pressure. I tapped it with a rubber mallet, it popped out and the mast immediatley dropped onto my Son's shoulder. It was already there, but just not with so much weight. It just caught him off guard. There's a 2x4 with a notch cut in it but we need something better. Thinking about making something like this -

Lowered


Raised

Also - a question about the windows for you all.

My boat has two on each side but they're covered but they are each covered by one big piece of plexiglas. They've turned that hideous pink color and I want new black ones. I'm assuming that the large plexi is what was installed at the factory and that all the photos I am seeing of boats with a total of 4 pieces instead of 2 have just been upgraded over the years? My HID is MACR4147E686 if that helps. Just want to be sure that I get the right stuff.

Ruddercraft sells these for $150 - I'm OK with seperate windows.


Here's my rig:


Just curious - do you guys think a local glass shop or someplace can cut me some new black plexi (smoked Lexan, whatever) for less or should I just order those?

NavySailor wrote: PO said it worked just fine the last time she used it last year. We shall see.

And so you shall. Last year, huh? Unless the carb(s) was(were) drained, and/or Stabil was used in the fuel, you could be fighting with it. Best to do in the driveway, especially if you have to perform surgery. There's nothing less fun than messing with an OB at the dock, or worse, while you're bobbing around in the open. Just ask Highlander (sorry, John - I just had to say it ).

And on that subject, before you go out, make sure you have all required safety gear (pfd for each soul on board, a throwable pfd, noise making device, and so on - check USCG regs and the zillions of online sources), plus optional but IMO necessary safety gear such as a marine VHF radio that works (handheld is better than nothing, and I always keep one as backup to the main radio). An anchor with enough rode to get adequate scope to actually hold, in case you get into trouble (like an engine that won't start, for instance ) and that is suitable for the typical bottom on your area (common Danforth fluke style, like what's hanging off your trailer coupler in the pic) is useless in weeds, for instance, but effective in sand. That sort of thing.

The time to think about all that is before you need it, as by then, you could be in real trouble. Not to scare you, but wind and water can be unforgiving, and getting blown into a lee shore with rocks when the wind comes up unexpectedly and you're struggling with sails or outboard can ruin your day, to say the least.

Thanks - and I totally understand. I've been out before, just not on my own 25' rig.

I've got PFDs, a horn, flares, anchor with 7' chain and a bunch of line, didn't check how much, but quite a bit (Potomac is just sludgy sand/mud), got the radio but it's inop - so it's useless. Sounds goofy but worst case, it's the Potomac in Northern Virginia - cell phones work just fine for a 1 time check-out.

Also - can anyone point me to a DIY on how to fix these uglies on my bow? It's above the waterline so I'd like to patch them up.


THANKS!!!