Help! Sliding Hatch flew off while trailering!

[Wayne nicol]

yup , no problem making a mold-
fill any imperfections with plasticine ( easy to remove afterwards,
then lots of coats of release wax.
unwaxed gelcoat
glass layup
you can go with a little less glass in the mold layup, for a once off part pull, i would put quite a few stiffener braces on the mold.
pop it off after fully cured- then same process all over- lots of wax- gel and layup- this time more glass and no ribs. and you would get a lot of pulls from the mold before it expired- wouldnt quite cost you what two hatches would cost- certainly a lot cheaper than buying anew one- if you could ever find one- look nicer than the repair job- some extra effort though.
feel free to pm me- and i will send you my phone no- and i can talk you through it- if you want to go that route.

i too have been toying with the pilothouse concept for the last year or two- and plan one with my entire rig re configuration- getting all the gear together to get it done.
i advised my mate who built a new fishing boat, to put a side steer lever in his boat- it works really well- easy to get used to , and takes up next to no space- VOILA... inboard tiller!!!!
but with the mac riding bow high- i like to be outside looking for deadheads and other debris in the water ahead of me!- i have great rain gear!

[J7Archer]

Walt, yes I was at Eleven Mile and they filled the tank just short of full. At least it was a good, certain decon.
Wayne, I took the boat and hatch to Calibre Repair in north Denver. I don't know the two Mac 26X owners and it would have been pretty awkward to ask. I'm getting the hatch repaired and several dings in the hull for $1,250. The hatch alone was $900. There was a rub mark down to the black surface of the glass on the starboard side. They called it a "burn through" and said it was probably from long term contact with a fender in a slip.
Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL...if you do, let me know what condition and cost, Thanks.

[walt]

Elevenmile.. Aha! I was up there last weekend and saw your boat in the parking lot, looked like a nice setup!

Wife and I were up there as its the peak of a particularly good wild flower season (I guess no more off topic that talking about racoon stripes. lol)

edit (to compete with racoon stripes on the hatch he he) .. some pictures from the last few weeks up there of the wild flowers http://analogengineering.com/elevenmile ... r2015.html

[BOAT]

What a ya got against raccoon stripes? I LIKE raccoon stripes! Anyways, were you planning to have any raccoon stripes on your new hatch?

[J7Archer]

Wow, Walt! Now that's a small world! Her name is Wind Under Her Wings, or WUHW for short. I drove all the way out to Oregon last month to buy her. I camped on Pueblo Reservoir a couple of weeks ago with a buddy. Hit 7.3 MPH under sail...speed over ground according to the Garmin Chartplotter. Winds were about 15 MPH with some white caps and we were running full main and the 150% Genoa. THAT WAS FUN! Almost washed the windows as we sped along. On the motor we got 16.7 MPH at 4,700 ft above seal level.
Eleven Mile is 8,700' ASL and I barely got 11 MPH there with 4 adults on board. I don't like Eleven Mile much for sailing....too many rocks and water hazards.

[BOAT]

Uh, hate to break it to you dude but the hull speed on the 26m is 6.4 knots and that works out to well over 7 miles per hour. Everyone gets that speed pretty easy under sail.

Sorry to be a spoiler.

[walt]

Good that you have some options on the hatch. I like that area around Elevenmile but agree that the same rocky formations that make the lake interesting also create some underwater hazards. You just have to be careful anytime you are about 50 foot from shore. I know where most of the rock are (my swing keel has a few dents to prove it) from years of sailing there. But that has to be one of the worst places for zebra hassle on the planet so now. I pretty much only sail a Hobie TI up there (26S lives in Arizona). The TI handles the gusty and often higher winds and the inspection is real simple. One thing kind of cool there is an island towards the East end that is a rookery in the spring and has a peak bird population around Memorial day. Some pictures here showing the rocky shoreline plus the island http://analogengineering.com/elevenmile ... birds.html

It sounds like they made you do the decon to take the boat “out” of Elevenmile.. Yikes.. Best of luck with the hatch outcome..

[J7Archer]

Boat, they are faster yet if they are blue hull right?
Walt, we anchored stern to shore in the cove that is protected by the rocky area you are talking about.

[Wayne nicol]

Boat... in theory- should be able to get them to plane though- with or without the bandit stripes.
but 7 mph is pretty good, and good fun eh J7? good job!

[Russ]

Boat... in theory- should be able to get them to plane though- with or without the bandit stripes.
but 7 mph is pretty good, and good fun eh J7? good job!

+1

[Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL]

I've got one. Fairly good shape. A customer that I sold the 26X to had it shipped to Monaco, while he was working there. When shipped back, the mast was on top, unlashed at the aft end, and wore thru the gelcoat to the fiberglass in two spots.

[J7Archer]

Thanks Bill... sent you a PM.
Russ, it was FUN! We covered 16 miles in three hours and with the winds coming and going on inland lakes, that was a pretty good average. By the way, there was an X for sale in N.M. or NV a few years ago name Luna Azul. Was that yours? Did you get an M and keep the name?

[Russ]

By the way, there was an X for sale in N.M. or NV a few years ago name Luna Azul. Was that yours? Did you get an M and keep the name?

Not ours. We bought our M new and it was the first Mac we've owned. BTW, be bought it without ever stepping foot on one because of the info on this forum.

--Russ

[Highlander]

You guys think I'm joking, don't you.

Very nice concept I really like it
But it will either have to fold down or snap off so as u can lower the mast , black or dark windows will be no good for night or rainy days as ur vision would be greatly reduced so now u would have to stand above to oversee where u r going !!

Here,s my dodger its a very low profile
http://vid844.photobucket.com/albums/ab ... utqxg7.mp4

http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... ae95rp.jpg

but yes a nice hard top would look good

J

[tlgibson97]

I watch this guy on youtube. He just posted a new video that made me think of this and might be helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMyNh2bxC0k