MacGregorSailors.com

just speaking from a womens point of view. The one thing that is definitely an extra that has made our boat more enjoyablable ...full enclosure and electical shore power ability. As a family we enjoy sitting in our boat with candles in the cockpit fully enclosed in the winter and cool monterey summer nights. when it is cold our space heater warms things up perfectly. I personally love sitting in the fully enclosed cockpit when its raining out... it also adds a great sleeping room addition. whenits hot out the fans or small ac cools and drys things out. I like the custom table made for the pedistool to set the candles and wine and cheese on.

my husband would say... electrics, furling jib and geniker, larger potty, attached grill, black bottom paint, 2 battery's and a small honda gernerator and a battery charger.

we have an 99 x we bought used that was well stocked with everything that would cost a fortune if we were to start a new!!!

Welcome to Mac ownership We hope you love it as much as we do!
Colleen (and Chuck)

My Admiral will echo the enclosure and power as significantly adding to comfort levels. When at a slip, its one of the few times she can get that beautiful head of hair dry with a hair dryer too!!

Scott wrote:In regards to Bill E's suggestion, If you do overnighters and have a bigger motor.....

Its really a pain after a night of pure bliss running all of your 12v accessories not to mention the boats lights only to have to pull start your motor in the upright position in the morning!!

We tied up our Mac X at a State Park Lake site, and overnighted on shore. Next morning I returned to the boat for a day of pulling water toys, and sailing, but the engine went click, click, click--no battery (Yep..the kids left the cabin lights & running lights on all night). I dont have a pull start on my 50HP, and we had to pull a vehicle battery with jumper cables to get things going.

I definately would like having a "pull start" set up on my Nissan in cases like this.

On your 50 it does not have a rope channel on top of the flywheel??

Our does and it is not hard to pull start but anytime I go to the boat I throw this into the truck!!

Thanks to all of YOU! I will take all to heart in the next couple of months before I order. Some of the suggestions I had thought of others I had not. Lots of deciding to do But oh so exciting to do so. And the Lab situation has been thought out. We had read numerous articles on sailing with pets before we got our puppy and yes there will be a couple of home made mods to make aboard, but we are both real dog lovers. Thanks again everyone and I hope that in the near future I can contribute to this group, this clan, this family of MAC sailors.

Allan

Scott wrote:On your 50 it does not have a rope channel on top of the flywheel??

Our does and it is not hard to pull start but anytime I go to the boat I throw this into the truck!!

I just went out and checked the engine (thinking maybe I overlooked it). But, no rope channel. The flywheel has a plastic cover, and the elect. starter sits on the side in an upright position.

I plan to get one of those portable units also. Seems, theyre mentioned a lot by fellow Mac-ers.

Love MACs wrote:Thanks to all of YOU! I will take all to heart in the next couple of months before I order. Some of the suggestions I had thought of others I had not. Lots of deciding to do But oh so exciting to do so. And the Lab situation has been thought out. We had read numerous articles on sailing with pets before we got our puppy and yes there will be a couple of home made mods to make aboard, but we are both real dog lovers. Thanks again everyone and I hope that in the near future I can contribute to this group, this clan, this family of MAC sailors.

Allan

You might ask your dealer about delivery schedules. Some may not be able to get you a a boat very quickly and you could miss a big chunk of sailing season before yours arrives.
In other words, it might be time to order NOW.

Louis - have a look under that plastic cover before you give up hope on pull starting

The Merc BF requires you remove a plastic cover to access the flywheel pulley for rope starting btw.

My "Must have" list of mods and add-on currently sets at 16 And thanks again for all the suggestions. A couple of more questions. What is the name of the power unit shown in this thread? And I read in some other forums about "salt water O/Bs" and 90hp is the smallest that is made. Can a regular O/B not be used in Salt Water? Just that new that I don't know the answer.

All of the above should give you plenty to think about. Here are more, and I think they are important

A portable battery jumpstart. I use this! Remember what Scott was cuing you into.

Portable lights, such as Coleman lanterns, so you don't use up your batteries (do have two). I use this I have two. A smaller one (it has been discontinued ) for below deck, and this one for use as an anchor light. Yes, you will need an anchor light also

I believe that really good cockpit cushions are needed I had custom one's made of Sunbrella fabric. We won't leave the slip without them in place. What can I say We love our comfort

Which brings me to another on the list. A slip If you are going to be going to one lake quite frequently, you want as much time as possible on the water. After your first year with the boat, think it over about getting a slip. It's much better to walk down a ramp, step into your boat, go off sailing as opposed to what ever time it takes to rig her and then go sailing. That time can be anywhere from 30 minutes to 120 minutes. Then do it all over again when you return. Once you have found a lake you like, and there is a marina available, get a slip

Are you starting to get the idea that the old adage of "a boat is a hole in the water in which you throw money" is true:D


Ray

P.S. Any motor you purchase for your new Mac will work in both fresh and salt water. It's just that after you use it in salt water, you should wash it down with fresh water. Hey! That's another item on the list. A water bladder connected to a shower in the "motor well" so you can wash her down. I'm 58 also, and the mention of bladder is too much for me. There's a 58 year old prostate involved also .....gotta go....sorry.

Welcome LM,

As it's been stated the motors you're talking about work in fresh and saltwater - just flush as you can.

However, I think you're referring to the E-tec brand of outboards which is a newer technology 2-stroke. It has certain maintenance advantages as it doesn't need to be serviced for 300hrs. Which could mean forever if you actually sail

If you're in an appropriate climate where winterization is needed seasonally, you can do it yourself in less than 5 minutes just adjusting the throttle according to a script. So maintenance is minimal on a problem free engine.

Lastly, there is a Saltwater version of the E-tec engines which uses more corrosion resistant parts; I forgot which parts in particular, but the steering linkage comes to mind The Saltwater models are white in color as opposed to dark blue for the regular engines.

White goes with everyything - Especially [somewhat] white hulls...


Try this site for info and order the DVD, if you're interested

When I purchased mine, 90 hp was the lowest available in the Saltwater... No problem- It was what I wanted

But I thought I saw someones signature here with a 60 HP Saltwater. This may have recently come available.

Good Hunting
-Gaz

Gazmn,

That white looks great on the stern.


Ray

Terry wrote:... anchor, upgrade it from the get go.

+1

Getting a "real" anchor, and a decent anchor roller, was one of the
best mods done so far. Had lots of hassles getting a Fortress to
set reliably in lakes with grassy bottoms. Switched to a 15lb Bulwagga
(keeping the Fortress as backup) and haven't had a worry since. The
Bulwagga is amazing. Sets instantly (almost too quickly, I'm sometimes
not ready for the near immediate tension on the rode

Have used it now in grass, soft sand, hard sand, and mud, ocean, lake,
and river, and it has worked perfectly in all locations. Highly recommended.

I have a Delta Anchor (14lb). I have never had a problem either. I have a fluke as a back up, but I have never used it.

Ray

I recommend you use the boat for a season and find out what you personally are missing, i.e. the things that would mean the most to you. Quite often, money is spent up front for things one could have done without, or worse yet, could've done better, sometimes meaning repairs to not only screw holes, but larger holes as for compass, gauge, or speaker locations, etc. as well.

There are some options you can buy and install later, but some you need to get up front if you might ever want them, like the aluminum trailer with surge brakes, ladder, and anti-corrosion. You can buy the mast raising kit later, but unless you're one tall, buff man, I wouldn't try to raise the mast without it, especially if you opt for roller furling.

You will also need a steering linkage bar for your outboard motor installation. I don't know if the MacGregor one detaches like the one you can buy from Bluewater Yachts. Ours on our X would, but I never felt like I needed to disconnect the outboard and felt safer, where I could deploy it quickly if needed, with it connected. Many owners feel the 26M has marginal or inadequate rudders. While it may add a slight amount of increased drag, leaving the outboard tilted down adds some steering authority to the boat. I sailed our 26X once with rudders up and only the Suzuki DF50 outboard as a rudder.

You also need a foresail. You can buy one or more of the cheap MacGregor foresails or you can put that money toward a quality one from a reputable sail loft. The MacGregor powersailors are very tender boats and if you're going to start out with only one sail, I recommend you make it a working jib. While being undercanvassed for the current wind may be boring, being overcanvassed can be scary, if not dangerous.

Many take the up-front path of roller furling with the optional CDI Flexible Furler 2. This is something you can buy and add later, by having a sail loft add luff tape to a hanked on foresail. With a downhaul line led aft, and a foredeck sail bag, hanked on sails can be almost as convenient as roller furled. Not having the weight of a furler and foresail makes mast raising easier.

Some put the 150 genoa on the roller furler up front, planning to "roller-reef" (partially furl) down to working jib size. The problem with this is that it makes the foresail get baggy, and thus more powerful (for its size), right at the time you're reducing its area to try to make it less powerful. If you go that route, at least have a sail loft add a luff pad. This takes up more sail in the middle, reducing the bagginess.

Surprisingly, MacGregor offers neither sail covers nor UV protection on the foresails, but they are available elsewhere. With roller-furling, some opt to have UV protection sewn on the foresail foot and leech for a high level of convenience. For this, some use heavier Sunbrella, which affects sail shape but lasts longer, others use lightweight sacrificial and replaceable Dacron strips. On our C-18's new genoa, I chose the latter for weekends, but still use a sock to protect it during the week and when trailering. Even though it was roller-furled, we used only a sock on our 26X.

MacGregor has cherry-picked the most popular options for their dealers to install, and if you're a DIYer as many here are, you can install them yourself. These are the porta-potti and the stove. Unless MacGregor has changed the mold, the 2005-later Ms have a molded step with a shelf over it. Because of height, this pretty much limits you to the smaller 2.8 gallon pottie. I've had both the Thetford Porta-Potti and the Sealand Sani-Potti (which MacGregor ships for dealers to install) and there are things I like better about each. Overall, I think I prefer the latter.

The optional MacGregor stove is the high priced Origo alcohol single-burner stove. While it isn't quite as fast as a small butane or propane stoe, its safer for permanent installation. I'd also find and buy the Origo potholder for it, installed so as to keep the pot from sliding when the boat heels (you can install it at the side or the back of the stove). It does require a cut-out in the galley top. We don't have room for one in the little C-18, so we use a small (and much less expensive) butane stove either in the cabin or in the cockpit. Some do the same in MacGregors.

The boarding and swim ladder is another popular MacGregor option, but it doesn't go deeply enough into the water and has no treads on the ladder rungs, making them painful on the feet. You can do better.

The cockpit seat cushions and other canvas options are cheaply made, with the seat foam giant water sponges. While adequate, you can do better in the aftermarket. There's a canvas dealer on this forum who's getting quite a reputation for quality and value, but I can't remember his company's name off-hand.

One glaring omission for owners who anchor out a lot as we do is the anchor light. Hella Marine makes an inexpensive 10 watt one to get you started. On the M, you have to cut a channel through the mast floatation foam for the wires. Search the forum for methodology. The easiest way to power it at night is to drill another hole in the mast for the wire, get another Perko plug half and plug it in to the deck plug for the masthead (steaming) light.

That should get you started on modifications for the season. There are PLENTY of other things you'll need to spend a LOT of money on, in addition to the outboard and its controls and gauges. I recommend:


A PFD for everyone aboard to be worn when underway and when going forward on deck. I prefer inflatables w/integrated sailing harness, but also carry at least two of the cheap Type II ones for inspection purposes (most inflatables don't count if not worn). We equip our PFDs with whistles and strobes.

Not just the one required, but two throwable PFD cushions because they make excellent back rest cushions for lounging against the cabin in the cockpit.

If you're in Canada, you'll need a 50' minimum throwable line that floats. Not a bad idea in the US either.

A means of emergency communication suitable for the area operation. That can range from a cell phone, to a handheld marine VHF radio, to a fixed marine VHF radio, to a satellite phone and/or EPIRB.

Any US citizen operating a marine VHF in Canadian waters needs a US-issued Restricted Radio Operator license. I assume the same is true in Bahamian or Mexican waters. Technically, by ITU regulations, since the required treaties to not require it was put on the back burner with 9/11, you also need a US-issued voluntary ship station license in Canadian waters, but best I can tell that isn't enforced there. I don't know about the Bahamas and Mexico. You can buy these licenses from the FCC website. The RR is good for life and the SA good for 10 years.

A primary anchor suitable for conditions in the area of operation, with 25' of 3/8" galvanized chain and a 200 foot, 3/8" diameter Yale "Brait" anchor rode (you'll thank me for that). Even if you don't intend to anchor out, you need one for safety. In some areas, two primary anchors are called for.

A backup/lunch hook/stern anchor, chain, and rode.

At least four 3/8" diameter dock lines, at least 15 feet long and at least two of which are 25 feet long (for spring lines).

At least three, preferably four, fenders (aka "bumpers"), preferably 6" or larger in diameter and about 2 feet long, equipped with fender whips (ropes to tie or otherwise fasten them on).

An extending boat hook.

A few easily accessible (preferably worn or carried) sharp, serrated knives for cutting yourself out of running rigging should you become tangled in it.

At least two 1A:10BC USCG-approved fire extinguishers, as well as a bucket on a rope for class A and alcohol fires.

A sounding device, such as a canned-air horn.

A first-aid kit.

A couple of flashlights and/or head-strap light

Identification

We use an orange, waterproof emergency box with:
- The required 3 day/night flares
- 3 orange smoke flares (easier to spot in daytime)
- The required emergency flag
- Signal mirror
- Whistle
- Spare air for canned-air horn
- Manual air horn
- Spare prescription medicine (such as asthma inhaler)
- Spare eye glasses
- Spare feminine hygiene products
- Recharge kits for inflatable PFDs
- Spare Off! sunblock/insect repellant combo
- Boat registration and insurance papers in a gallon zip-lock bag
- Waterproof matches
- Combination wrench for removing flywheel cover that doubles as a handle for the attached pull-start rope (for the Whaler and 26X)
- Spark plug wrench and spare plugs (for the 2-stroke Capri 18 )

I'm sure there's something I've forgot, but that will get you started.