MacGregorSailors.com

Hi All,

I am officially now a Mac owner. If anyone saw the very dirty, white traveling East on I-4 from Tampa to Daytona and then North on I-95 up to Jacksonville on Saturday...that was me. It was a little embarassing because the boat was pretty dirty (lots of spiders and other bugs get all over the boats in Tarpon Springs Lake).

Spent most of the morning today giving it a good cleaning in my Dad's driveway. Don't think the neighbors appreciated the gas powered pressure washer at 6:30 a.m.

Found a bad section of Rub Rail. Probably about 8 inches of it are split open...you can see the seam where the deck is bolted to the hull.

Is there any way to buy like 3 feet of rub rail and just replace a small section? How would one find this rub rail?

First sail this afternoon was pretty good. The old man and I got the boat set up in about 1 hour. But after we got out on the St. Johns River we realized we put the foresail furler on backwards with the opening facing forward. We could unfurl the sail...but we could not re-roll it due to the friction of the line rubbing on the edge of the furler opening...so we left the genoa furled and just sailed on the main. But it was still a very good first time out.

We won't talk about how many tries it took me to get the boat aligned with the trailer when it came time to leave...

Thanks,
Jim

Second Jim's question re rubrail repair, only my damage is less .....port rubrail has jagged notch in upper half, bottom half unbroken. I do not intend to replace the whole rubrail. Am thinking to stitch together (????) the spaced parts, across the notch, and fill the remaining gap with black silicone sealant. Yea? Nea? Ron

Ron,

I just called MacGregor. They only sell the entire rub rail...all 50 feet is $50 plus shipping ($12 to Georgia where I live).

I explained my damage and the guy in the parts department said I would probably be better served by buying the a Bondo product for repairing "bumpers". He said it was a two part epoxy that I could mix and spread over the 8 inch bad area (after cleaning that area up some). Then just touch it up with black paint as necessary.

He also said the rub rail replacement is a 3-man job to stretch it out and get it placed correctly.

I think I will look into the bondo option.

Hope that helps for your situation.

Thanks,
Jim

Just found this in the mods section:

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/cgi-bin ... record=678

This might help with small repairs. My rub rail damage is probably 5-10 times the size of his and might be more than this can handle. But at $6 I might just give it a try.

Jim

This topic was also covered previously here on several occasions.. perhaps the older discussions may be of help (I used the 'search' button above with 'Rub Rail' and 'all words' selected):

http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1218
http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=3527
http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=3672
http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=4898
http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6232

Cheers,
Kevin

Kevin,

Excellent! That's why you are an ADMIRAL and I am a new enlistee . I will get a little more active with the search function before I post repetitive, rookie questions.

And I think I will try and find this bondo material to fix my rub rail damage.

Thanks again,
Jim

Naaah, Jim... I don't have any special talent... I just spent my formative years as an IBM Systems Engineer, where it wasn't as important that you know all the right answers - it was more important that you be able to know how to find all the right answers!

Jim,

Take it from a P-3 guy. I sail my 'X in the St. John's in Jax. The first few times out, in rough weather of course, I had a heck of a time lining up the boat on the trailer to retrieve. After bending my trailer guide rails and putting black marks on my bow, I decided to just walk it up. I now only walk it up, much more controlled, no more damage, and it only takes one shot. Good luck with your new boat.

Travis

Travis,

I am a C-130 guy...pretty similar to the P-3 except that you guys have your engines mounted upside-down !

I would have walked my boat up the trailer except that my backing technique is also in need of some work and I was a little far from the dock. I am going to buy a longer bow line that I can toss to the winch operator who can hopefully help me keep the nose tracking straight if I have to power on again.

Maybe I will see you out there on the river. Next sail is 25 Nov...and I can't wait. That will also be the first opportunity for the spousal unit to see the boat...and hopefully actually go out on it.

Fair Winds,
Jim

re the rubrail repair. Will look for the Bondo product. Thanks again..Ron

Hey c130,

I just listed a mod that might help your Trailer Docking.

While you might need to buy some extra parts; Spare tires are something you should have and two can act as guides and cushions for an errant last second drift while sending the boat home.

Gaz,

Thanks. I have already been thinking about getting a spare tire. Depending on cost, I might go with two in this fashion.

Jim

Very cool idea Gazmn!

C17 guy chiming in here. Up in seattle. C130. . you at Moody? I see Valdosta in your sig. . doing UPT?

Nope. OSS Commander for the ACC Rescue Group. I am an HC-130 driver.

The UPT guys are leaving Moody due to BRAC.

Jim