MacGregorSailors.com

kevinkirby wrote: ↑Thu Sep 22, 2022 12:23 pm First, by the end of this day I had decided that if my goal was to have a trailerable day sailor only.....then this wasn't happening. This was too much work to go through to enjoy a few hours on the water. But, this is not my goal. My goal is to have a vessel that I can single sail for multiple days at a time. The 26M can indeed fit the bill.

As I steered Jimmyt's vessel out of the protected area into the jettied tunnel toward the open bay I just knew that when the crosswind hit us it would immediately blow Jimmy's boat directly into the rocks...destroying it and ruining a budding friendship.

Kevin,
Great narrative! Thanks for posting your thoughts. It's helpful to get a fresh perspective.

I think Roger may have understated what the setup and takedown processes are like in the sales info and videos. I wanted you to get a feel for trailer-sailing a Mac - since you were considering a keelboat in a slip as a possible alternative. There is no question that trailer Day-sailing has a price. That tear down in the heat was rough. I still haven't fully come back from my cancer surgery yet, so I really appreciated you and Keith doing the washdown. I was pretty gassed by then. The reality is, the first few times you do the setup/teardown will probably take longer. I have been working at improving the processes since I got my boat.

As I have said before, I don't go unless I can stay out 4 or 5 hours. So, your concept of having a slip to leave it in for days/weeks is likely going to result in more frequent use of your boat.

It was nice to have a helmsman, so I could focus on a few of the things that have been bothering me. I was thinking I needed to modify my mainsail to work properly with my Furler. But, since I could focus on that, we were able to debug what was going wrong and get the sail shape issue dialed in. Also, I was able to get my mast raising shrouds adjusted properly so I don't have to strain to get them snapped/unsnapped.

Best of all, we had a nice sail for several hours. I really enjoyed it!

Don't worry about our friendship, we're good. If I had sensed you were getting in trouble, I'd have helped you out of it. Once the boat is moving pretty good, with a little daggerboard down, you're good to go. The problems usually occur in tight areas at very low speeds, with a strong crosswind. You did a fine job at the helm. Keith and I enjoyed the ride!

Good luck with your boat search!

Yeah, trailer stuff is a drag - in my situation it's a tight squeeze just getting out of the driveway:



We just got back today from a week on the water. Sailed by Roger McGregor's house in Newport on day two and saw the ANTHEM. Day one on our longest leg from Oceanside to Dana Point we got caught in a full on chibasco. It's not the swells or even the strong winds that make trailer boats questionable: it's the CHOP. Big keel boat cut right through the ruff stuff. The wind was 21 knots on the surface with three to four foot chop and whitecaps. Normally I would not motor in such conditions but we were getting slammed backwards a full knot in the current and the sea so I decided to go on the motor so we could make the last 15 miles in a couple of hours in daylight instead of four hours and anchoring in the dark. The chop was so bad the motor came out of the water several times while we were taking down the mainsail, but that was not the worst . . .

Anyways, back to trailering - as you can see I use an electric tractor to get 'boat' out of the driveway:



So, a trailer boat is SMALL. NO SMALL BOAT CAN TAKE THE CHOP! If you go out in the bad stuff you need at least 32 feet of boat to slice through the big chop. Well, no one is putting a 32 foot boat on a trailer, so your stuck at 27 feet or less. If you get caught in the kind of chibasco I got into on Tuesday in a small sailboat your into a battle of many many hours even with the rig reefed. Only the McGregor has the option you need to get out of trouble fast in those conditions and that brings me back to our leg to Dana Point. After securing the main I pulled the ballast valve and ran 'boat' up to 8 knots just enough to plane over the top of the choppy waves. Yes, we got SOAKED with the spray blowing over the side in 20 knot winds and our clothes were dripping wet but we made anchorage after two hours of motoring. No other trailer sail boat can do that - in ANY other 28 foot sailboat your stuck fighting that crap for hours on end trying to make the next port.

You can see that the boat is still pretty long once I get it out into the street:



And let me add I took these pictures as I was moving the boat out of my side yard for THIS TRIP - so you can see that after 10 years 'boat' still looks new. Try to do THAT with a "slipped boat sitting in the water getting eaten alive every day"! (And just a week before 'boat' spent 8 days at Catalina!)

So, despite the hassle - I still would go with the trailer boat over the slip boat if we are talking about anything under 30 something feet.

(PS At our guest slip in Newport Harbor one of the Harbor workers told us the Coast Guard had to rescue the crew of a 30 foot sailboat because of the chibasco) We did not see any boats at all when we were out there from Camp Pendleton to San Onofre then two power boats right at the harbor.)

Hi BOAT

SOUNDS like you had an adventure!
It’s nice to have the options a MacGregor provides.

Those weather events can really make a change in one’s plans…

Not sure that a deep fixed keel boat only 4 feet longer would have faired any better…especially with a much smaller motoring power plant.
Seen several 30 footers in anxious states trying to make their way through chop similar to what you described… plowing bow first when surfing.

Glad you knew what to do and were able to make it to safe harbor…albeit a bit wetter…

Best Regards
Over Easy

Hi OE - You probably already told me before but I forgot - what does NH SC mean? South Carolina? Where is NH South Carolina? (What is NH?)

We were so soaked when we got to Dana Point Harbor it was just as if we had jumped into the water! Our shoes, our underwear, EVERYTHING! We could have gone faster but the slamming would have been too hard on the contents of the boat. Predict Wind app said the wind was 17 knots from the west and we were going north so at 8 knots we got spray at 21 knots over the port side. It came in BUCKETS. If I ever get in that situation again I will force the wife below and I will join her and just steer the boat with the remote for the AP. My wife HATES being below when on power because it makes her stomach hurt (she does not like the motor - she only likes the sails), and she would rather get wet than be below. Next time I will over rule her - I did not like being soaking wet for two hours.

A 30 footer 20 miles north of us called coast guard for rescue - they had enough.

'boat' delivered us to Dana anchorage with no casualties except for one window shade fell because a screw was banged loose during the pounding surf. Easily fixed at anchor.

Since we only ply the ocean we do run into rough conditions more than I would like. I think I will contact Todd at BWY this winter for heavier sails.

Hi BOAT!

I like the idea of steering from inside the cabin with a remote control!

Been soaked a few times but I bet it’s not fun when one has to stay at the helm for hours!
A nice dry cabin and looking through the windows probably has better visibility than from the helm under some circumstances.

We opted for matching Foul Weather Gear after having one too many rain storms.
They consist of loose fit rain proof jacket shells in International Orange and loose fit Black slacks that we can don over heavy insulated jackets and our inflatable life jackets. We wanted something that we could don reasonably easily and quickly as well as being able to shed them when desired. Got to give them a good test run last week on Lake Winnipesaukee! It was nice staying dry even in high spray and rain environments. They are also make great wind breakers too on those cold wind days.

SC stands for South Carolina
NH stands for New Hampshire

We are marginally successful snow birds (sort of by accident of circumstances)
For the past 5 years our intent was to spend winters down in SC (to avoid shoveling and snow blowing snow of the north) and summers in NH (to avoid the heat and high humidity of the coastal south).

So our batting average is running less than 50%.
Three winters up north and they’re summers down south
Seems we’re no very good at being snow birds so far

We’ll see how things and life goes… beats the alternatives!

Best Regards
Over Easy