MacGregorSailors.com

Hi All,

My Mac 26s did not come from the factory with the optional canvas pop top cover, however, I have one from a different 26s. It seems to fit ok, but my boat does not have any of the snaps on the deck. Does anyone have pictures of a factory installation? I am a little nervous about putting little holes in the deck for the new snaps, and would like to get it right the first time. Maybe someone has fitted a cover on with some other method. Any advice would be apreciated!

Fairwinds,
Dave

I don't know, but I'm interested in the responses because I'm about to buy an S myself...

Sumner has done an extensive mod...or should I say his wife did an extensive mod...but I don't know if that's the level you're interested in...

I saw Sumners awsome mod, but I think thats a little more effort than I wanted to go thru, although it IS really cool. I can pretty much figure out where the snaps are supposed to go, i would just like to get some kind of second opinion before i get crazy with the battery drill.

I installed a dodger on my . Not the same thing, but I did have to drill holes for the snaps. I just mounted the frame, added the canvas, saw where the snaps lined up and drilled a hole. Applied some 5200 around the hole and screwed in the snaps. Be careful with the 5200, in can be messy and I ended up getting some on the canvas! Maybe someone else has a better method of applying the stuff. Really pretty easy to do.

Russell

Think about taking it to a canvas shop and seeing how much it would cost to add the skirts on the sides and front.

The time consuming effort for Ruth was adding the screened windows to the front and rear. Ours I think was stock, but didn't have snaps, but rope down each side at the bottom.

Ours has worked very well, but down here in FL (where we are now) the mosquitoes must be smarter as some got in 2 nights ago. Last night we lined the bottom with towels/clothing around the insides and only had one or two mosquitoes get through.

We (Ruth ) will add inner skirts in the future along with screened/plastic side windows for more air flow,

Sum

Yer down here now? Woo hoo!!
You made it out just before the big storm...right?

vizwhiz wrote:Yer down here now? Woo hoo!!
You made it out just before the big storm...right?

We've been in the water since last Wed and made it to Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa Sunday after motoring 25 miles from up near the top of Charlotte Bay. That wasn't a fun run with fairly large waves coming in on the beam for the first 12-14 miles and the boat rolling a lot. We had the centerboard down, but couldn't really raise the sail with the wind on the beam. Ruth got seasick, but came through that good and was happy at the end of the day. We could of sailed, but we just needed to get to Pelican Bay.

We went back out into Charlotte Bay yesterday, but there was no wind so we just floated around south of Boca Grande, but it was still a great day.

We are going to dinghy over to Cayo Costa in just a bit and go to the beach on the ocean side. It has been hot and humid for us and we probably wouldn't of made out very well if we would of gotten here in Sept. or early Oct.. We will hang here for the next couple days as the anchorage is pretty sheltered and it is beautiful. Then we will probably head south in the direction of Sanibel.

We are having a great time,

Sum and Ruth

Alright Sumner, we're expecting some updates on your web page now.

Glad to see you made it to FL. As a fellow desert dweller, the humidity is rough for us isn't it?


--Russ

Thanks for all the replies folks, gonna take Sumner's advice and take it to a canvas shop.

BTW Sumner, congrats on making it to FL. Have FUN! Too bad its not June now or you could trail over to Pensacola for the B.E.E.R. cruise.

Fair Winds,
Dave

If I could make a suggestion print this photo out.....



and show it to him/her. As I said before we will add inner flaps to the sides also after this series of trips like here.....



and I suggest that you show that to him also.

Good luck and maybe someday B.E.E.R. might be in the plans, but we aren't use to the heat/humidity at that time of the year.

Last night the winds picked up here pretty good as we went to bed. Then we awoke about 5 and it was dead still. We liked that, but should of know what was coming from past experience. A few minutes later the front hit and the winds switched direction and it rained and blew pretty hard. Hard enough I turned the chart plotter on to keep track of our position (the anchor alarm had been set on the GPS all night). I got dressed and went out to check things. The claw held and I measured just a tad under 25 mph winds and it had been stronger than that when the front first hit. I told Ruth that we had the heavier (better??) Manson Supreme just sitting up there on the bow and we should of put it down the night before knowing what was coming from the NOAA reports. It is about 9 am now and the winds have died some and the sun was actually out for about 15 minutes. We are suppose to have over 20 mph winds at times over the next 24 hours. We will probably move a few hundred yards to a more protected spot later. We went to the coast side beach yesterday. Nice walk over there and the beach was great.

c ya,

Sum and Ruth

Sumner wrote:Last night the winds picked up here pretty good as we went to bed. Then we awoke about 5 and it was dead still. We liked that, but should of know what was coming from past experience. A few minutes later the front hit and the winds switched direction and it rained and blew pretty hard. Hard enough I turned the chart plotter on to keep track of our position (the anchor alarm had been set on the GPS all night). I got dressed and went out to check things. The claw held and I measured just a tad under 25 mph winds and it had been stronger than that when the front first hit. I told Ruth that we had the heavier (better??) Manson Supreme just sitting up there on the bow and we should of put it down the night before knowing what was coming from the NOAA reports.

Hey Sumner,
That 22lb claw is some serious anchor. I have one too and it's the same size anchor I had on my Hunter 34 which held that boat in some mighty winds. Our light 26' Macs will do well with that anchor. Unless you are in some weird bottom it's a strong anchor. Compared to our lakes, the bottoms you are anchoring in are probably much better.
The main concern would be a 180 shift and the anchor getting uprooted. The claw (and Manson) are excellent at resetting themselves. Sleep soundly.

How's that chart plotter working out for you?

Still no updates on your website. Waiting to hear about your trip.


--Russ

RussMT wrote:....That 22lb claw is some serious anchor. I have one too and it's the same size anchor I had on my Hunter 34 which held that boat in some mighty winds. Our light 26' Macs will do well with that anchor. Unless you are in some weird bottom it's a strong anchor. Compared to our lakes, the bottoms you are anchoring in are probably much better.
The main concern would be a 180 shift and the anchor getting uprooted. The claw (and Manson) are excellent at resetting themselves. Sleep soundly.

How's that chart plotter working out for you?

Still no updates on your website. Waiting to hear about your trip...--Russ

We have had some pretty strong winds the last 3 nights (around 25-30 at times). The claw has held every night we have ever used it (Idaho, Canada, Utah) and we have been using the claw every night on this trip, almost. The first of the strong wind 3 nights ago we had the claw down and no problem (mud bottom here). The next day I told Ruth we have the 25 lb Manson Supreme and should be using it when we know the wind is going to be high. So the next night I put it down for the first time and it held no problem, but it had really dug in overnight and was a lot harder to pull up. So last night I went back to the claw. If the wind is going to really be high I'll go back to the claw or both in the future.

It is no fun messing with that stuff out in the dark in a storm at 2 in the morning. I went up on all our anchoring gear to anchors/rodes for boats like you had. I don't see any down side. I have 3/8 line and 1/4 inch chain and shackles on the claw and went up to 7/16th line and stronger chain and shackles on the Manson. Both rodes have 30 feet of chain and I put out more than the recommended rode, a lot of times almost 9-10 to one. I see no reason not to make yourself as secure as possible when you can. We anchor every night so we want good stuff, but even if someone only anchors occasionally how do they know that one of those nights they won't be in trouble with light gear.

We also have another complete rode on board ready to go and a Fortress 11 that is broke down and another 300 feet of anchor line for shore line and another spare chain. Overkill, but if we loose and anchor we are set.


The double bow rollers now have me completely spoiled. It is so much easier putting the anchors down and retrieving them than before. I can't believe the difference. I'd strongly recommend a bow roller or two to anyone who anchors. The coolers as rode bags also work flawlessly. I've never had a tangle with the anchors going out and can stuff the line in them as fast as I bring the anchor in, so there is never any line or chain on the deck.

The computer/chart plotter has worked even better than I envisioned. I can plot a route in just a minute with the large 9 inch screen and download the points at any time to the handheld in the cockpit. It is wired always to the computer and gets power from a cigarette plug, so forget changing batteries. With the NOAA charts I can zoom in and we have been able to get back into some narrow channels past other boats with a lot of precision. Lots of shallow water down here.

When we are back in the tight stuff I just turn the monitor and stand at the bottom of the companion way and give Ruth directions. We can see where we are to a few feet. Also down here you can't really see land marks like we are use to in the west. I'm good with maps, but would of had a hard time visually navigating us from the head of Charlotte bay 25 miles down here to Pelican Bay. I do also have large paper charts on board.

I've monitored the power for the computer. With no disc activity and the computer on and monitor on it is 1.8 amps. About 2.2 when the hard disc is accessed. Then with the router and Bullet 2HP radio on it goes up to about 2.8 amps. So total watts for the whole deal is under 40. Real happy with that also.

Right now I'm hooked up to some Marina with free wifi up in Boca Grande that is at least 2 1/5 miles from us and maybe up to 5 miles from us. The other night with the big winds we move 200-300 yds away on the other side of some trees and I lost them.

I'm working on the trip report and have a little up, but no link to it yet. Nothing on down here so you aren't missing anything.

We like it down here, but the wind and cold have had us pinned down for the last couple days. We hope to move about 12 miles south in the morning to Captiva. Not sure if I'll have internet there or not.

c ya,

Sum