Off Season, smaller boat?

[Ixneigh]

I have taken my boat out for the off season. (Hot)
Maybe for the last time, as I face a wave of (temporary perhaps) insanity which is telling me it might be time to downsize to maybe a v22.2 again, or similar. I bought the M to live on most of the year but now find that summer is too hot. Do I need all that extra space now that my sailing might be more of a few weeks here and there during the winters type of activity?
I do love my M. She’s really sailing well for my needs now. The inside mods were all well worth it. She’s hard to park in my yard though. Something shorter would make that task a bit easier. The mast raising situation is also an issue. So much so that I’ve revisited optional shorter masts. Hate to give up the performance though.
I’ve taken all of my personal things off the boat in the last few days. An amazing amount of stuff hundred of lbs. 3-400 I think. If I do put her back in, I’m only putting a duffle bag of my clothes books and other stuff back on.
The cabin looks empty. Not like a home any longer.
I want to give everything a good clean, weather it not I decide to keep her. Anyone know how to get rid of the musty smell inside the lockers?
I’ll install the upgraded rudder brackets for sure.
The etec has been reliable. Should I bother to install a new impeller? Anyone who buys this boat will probably want a new motor. Maybe I’ll wait, and do it if I keep her. I can’t afford a new engine right now, myself.
I’ve been looking at smaller boats, none of them really appeal. Once in a while a smaller Mac comes up. I decided the 19 probably won’t sail well enough and there was something else I didn’t care for. Too bad tattoo never built that sweet little 22.
I had the v22 pretty shippy though. If I got one of those again, I think I’d spend the money to have the canvass pop top enclosure redone as nice as possible with roll up sides and good screens.
Never thought I’d looking at boats again. The M was supposed to be my last. I know I could just go the trawler mode too. I really do like sailing though.
Ix

[dustoff]

Have you considered finding a place where you can keep it rigged on the hardstand that will allow you to launch it at a nearby ramp without any setup?
A yacht yard with a ramp for example. I did that for several years, and have found in many instances it was quicker and easier to get on the water than it is getting in and out of a Marina where you are tying and untying up at a piling slip and far cheaper. They even had power and water for quick rinses, keeping the battery charged, and running tools. Less maintenance on the hull in Florida waters, and maybe a bit less wear and tear.
v/r

[Russ]

You'll regret it. Keep the 26M. As mentioned above, there are ways to make storing easier.

[leefrankpierce]

Do you have access to power while in the water?
Many people have put AC in.
Portable = get a dual hose, single hoses are useless.
Window = a Billy Box is something I have considered.

Do a search on Billy Box if AC is a possible.

[OverEasy]

Hi Ixneigh!

We are really glad we added A/C to Over Easy!
It not only cooled things down but also does a great job of drying things out throughout the cabin!
I added a condensate “mini bilge & pump” that minimizes and quickly gets rid of any condensate water accumulation so there isn’t any water sitting in any of the regular bilge areas.

We currently have a single hose A/C which, while not ideal, still does a great job of cooling things down in the cabin.
We add a removable strip of filter foam to the companionway gap to keep the bugs out anyway.
A two hose A/C unit would be ideal but that doesn’t mean a single hose doesn’t work.

The mast raising isn’t something we contend with as yet given we primarily operate in cruiser mode given our locale being rivers and estuaries with tidal currents. Do you have the manual or winch mast raising system? I’ve seen how the winch system really makes raising the mast a lot easier and controlled. In BOTH raising and lowering the mast.
(I’ve been considering adding a pintle post type mast system to our boat but that’s for another day.)

I can relate to the parking challenges. I don’t know what your specifics are and each individual’s situation is unique.
In our case we have two very different situations. One up north and one down south.
We have a driveway up north that is basically parallel to the road and a palisades type fence separation.
This had a standard 10 opening to get in and out to the road way. This was a PITA to “thread the needle” getting in and out with the boat.
We don’t have a marina or slip option up north so driveway parking is primary.

We’ve taken a two part mitigation approach up there.
First we widened the opening to the max our township allows to 20 feet. This by itself is a tremendous improvement!
It’s a whole lot easier and less stressful!
The second is we are slowly modifying our drive way to make it more kidney bean shaped so there is a sort of diagonal level area just for our Mac to slip into. (Our existing driveway is sloped at an angle of about 15 degrees and seriously needs to be redone anyway… so it’s part of the greater plan anyway.)

Down south the driveway is more a normal perpendicular to the road affair. Generally it is 30 foot wide (typical 2 car plus spare width) but the roadway opening is only 10 foot wide and spans a shallow road drainage culvert … sort of another ‘thread the needle’ except the challenge are the ditch edges of the driveway which are out of sight.
Here our primary mitigation is we do use a marina slip for a variety of reasons such as the tidal changes and ramps. We have really been able to get out much more frequently with the slip and truly enjoy it which makes the cost worth it.
Our secondary mitigation is to empty the driveway of vehicles when parking the boat…fewer things to restrict or bump and the Admiral watches the culvert edges as dropping a tire into it is a non-starter. I also moved our mailbox post to the other side of the driveway that didn’t impact our parking. (Big benefit!)
The third mitigation is on the project ‘To-Do-List’ which is to widen the driveway approach to give us a more curved entry to back into. This would require digging out to add a county approved 18” culvert pipe on one side and back fill with knit pack and/or asphalt. That’s a budget issue for later…. I’ve got enough stress on that front with the fix ups of the southern house as it is for now.
Our current situation here in the south allows me enough room to park the empty trailer off to the side of the drive apron. I’d like to make a raised gravel area eventually there…probably when we address the culvert.

I’m wondering what potential options you might have in your driveway situation?
One friend uses a wood ramp he made out of 2x4 he screwed together to help get him up and over the tall curb at his home. We also moved/removed some shrubbery and back filled with a couple bags of gravel to help make the swing backing into his driveway easier. He actually took his empty trailer and backed it in several times (after removing the shrubs) to figure out his ideal path and just how much ramp he needed.

Another acquaintance solved his boat parking challenge by making a ‘wheel pad paths’ on his side yard so that he can park his trailer on the concrete pads (which he got from Home Depot). That way his trailer tires are space away and weren’t sitting on the lawn (making it easier to keep the lawn trimmed without beating up o the tires with the weed whacker). His though is he can always remove them at. Later date should he choose to. Cost was manageable too.

I’ve used a hand operated trailer mover that worked nicely in a storage yard. It consists of two large pneumatic wheels and a hitch ball on a long leverage handle. On level hard ground it was surprisingly easy to use. ( I wouldn’t dare think of using it on a slope). It allowed one to a easily swing the trailer nose back and forth…to get it parallel to a fence. I wasn’t about to try to actually ‘tow’ the trailer . They do make powered ones to do that though but I’ve no ideal about those other than they exist.

I can relate with the stuff accumulations and I try to periodically keep it in check as I go.
With our situation I’ve come to the conclusion that having a Tow Boat membership addresses any on the water engine issues we will contend with … as working on the water hanging over the water precariously with bull sharks smiling up at me isn’t much of an allure. That stuff is best kept at home adjacent to flat stable ground as that’s where I’d be doing any engine work anyway
A roll of wide gutter seal ‘wet application’ tape takes care of any on the water hull patching concerns for the most part along with a tube of 3M 5200 and a tube of underwater stick epoxy…all fit in less than a shoe box. A good pocket multi tool like a marine ‘leather man’ has proven to suffice for most on the water tool needs. I will be adding a little digital multimeter though. We changed out all our fuses for resettable circuit breakers a while back so that got rid of the baggie of various ‘spares’. I must have removed about 40 lbs of tools and related ‘just in case stuff’ from our regular travel stuff. When we do get to travel further afield what we do bring will be in its own tote.
Meanwhile it all sits in the tote in the garage.

Rid Damp is a chemical dehumidifier that you probably already know about. It helps keep things drier.
We wipe down our interior of our Mac26X with a 10-to-15% bleach solution as it has a fiberglass interior.
We spray the under bench, floor storage and bilges with the same solution. That helps a lot with keeping the mold away.
Given you Mac26M has the hull carpeted makes it a bit more of a challenge. Might I suggest a couple cans of spray Lysol as it seems to do a pretty good job of eliminating mold and mildew if the surfaces are wetted with it.

We’ve really enjoyed your adventures afloat exploring Florida’s waters!

Best Regards,
Over Easy