Spring Fever!

A forum for discussing topics relating to MacGregor Powersailor Sailboats
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Crikey
Admiral
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Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2011 12:43 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Washago, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada, Earth, Singularity.Suzuki DF60A. Boat name: Crikey!

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by Crikey »

I'd like to buy the world a coke :!:

:P
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Mac26Mpaul
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Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:36 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Gold Coast, Australia 26M "Little Annie" Etec 50

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by Mac26Mpaul »

:P :P
Well I thank you Mr Coke, you helped make my boat look pretty cool!! 8)
If I'd done it in the yellow arches font, that would be pretty sad........
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Russ
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Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:01 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Bozeman, Montana "Luna Azul" 2008 M 70hp Suzi

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by Russ »

Very envious of you Aussies. Those are some fantastic pics that really make me have spring fever. Or fever to move down under.
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Mac26Mpaul
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Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:36 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Gold Coast, Australia 26M "Little Annie" Etec 50

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by Mac26Mpaul »

Cmon down, plenty of room, and where I live, the Mac dealer won the award for the most Mac sails in the world last year, so it has to be a good place :wink:
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Kittiwake
First Officer
Posts: 255
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:34 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: BC, Canada

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by Kittiwake »

kitcat wrote: .... we reckon we are lucky over this side of the pond to see those temperatures at the height of the English summer, and even then they are tempered by a gentle force 4, meaning heavy duty sweaters, so no T shirts and shorts and especially no swimming! Paul.
Ah but that part of England is very beautiful. We have similar weather here in coastal BC ... which brings all kinds of advantages: no need for airconditioning with those big generators (those southern US and Aussie guys' Macs will probably sink in spite of the flotation), less skin-cancer risk, save big on bathing suits (hm, no those southern US and Aussie guys probably don't wear bathing suits anyway), don't need to put the bimini up for shade (of course there is the rain ...), no man-eating sharks (even saw a photo of a little kid having to wrestle one in MacMPaul's photo library).

Kitcat you are very close to some serious tiger-country (but amazing) ocean. Do you go far offshore and do you wear flotation suits or take any special precautions?
Kittiwake
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Tomfoolery
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Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:42 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Rochester, NY '99X BF50 'Tomfoolery'

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by Tomfoolery »

I think I have to pop "Captain Ron" into the tube again this afternoon. Haven't watched it in a few years, so I'm about due.

When the weather starts wearing on me, I usually watch things with lots of hot weather (Bridge On The River Kwai, Year of Living Dangerously, Casablanca), boat movies (Wind, African Queen, Captain Ron), or silly movies with both (Summer Rental). Jonesing for a fix right about now, though it's a long way from Spring yet.

Great pics above, though. And that water - not like the muddy stuff in Lake Ontario around the Genesee River, or the medical waste in Long Island Sound (at least when I was a kid there).
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Crikey
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Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Washago, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada, Earth, Singularity.Suzuki DF60A. Boat name: Crikey!

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by Crikey »

tkanzler wrote: though it's a long way from Spring yet.
You got that right! What were we thinking?

Oz water is pretty nice, even when it's freezing in the winter season. My daughter and I went wet suit on the Great Barrier for a day's diving and were totally frozen blue by the end. I noticed the home schooling shark training aid, as well!
Tiger I think... :?

Paul, are you required to have the rego numbers so large? (and I do like the name font - going to explore that.)
Ross
kitcat
Engineer
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Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:26 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: South West England

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by kitcat »

"Kitcat you are very close to some serious tiger-country (but amazing) ocean. Do you go far offshore and do you wear flotation suits or take any special precautions?"

I don't know about Tigers, we do have a few big cats loose around here, I saw one myself a few years ago in my garden, around 11pm, but as I was on my way home from the local pub, everyone I've told, tends to discount my sighting for some reason. :?

As for the rest, I would have to say No, No and No in that order. We sail in and around the Tamar estuary and Plymouth Sound at the moment, but there are some interesting coastal trips we can do up and down to various little village harbours, which we will probably do more of this summer. Google Plymouth or even my mooring up the River Tamar at Cargreen, and you will see what I mean. :)

Paul
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Knot Tied Down
Chief Steward
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Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 4:40 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Lake City, MI

The Hardest Hole to drill,

Post by Knot Tied Down »

So with this spring fever in full swing, I've gotten some good boat time in, in the last 2 days. Been doing a bit of dry sailing 8) I've also had dinner on it the last 2 days, with the heater going and lights burning it was super cozy.
I had a pile of parts downstairs burning a hole through the floor, so I installed a few today, which bookmarks today as the day I got over my fear of drilling holes in the boat.
I actually put 19 holes in.
The list goes as such:

Stainless steel pedestal hoop for attaching the mainsheet higher up, and for having a hand hold
2 Handles on the sliding hatch, one on either side of the clinometer that came from home depot
Black sunbrella Fuel locker covers
12v outlet on the starboard side of the pedestool *still need to wire it, but as I was in a drilling mood, I made one last big one*
Mounted my Garmin 62S handheld GPS on top of the Pedestool next to my compass

I polished some of the tarnished metal, Cleaned out the anchor locker and washed it, and tightened the rudders to eliminate some of the slop.
Still working on getting something under the sliding hatch to cut out the grinding away of fiberglass. I found a mod on here which told of a thin hard plastic siding piece from home depot, but they could not find the part with the number listed. So I settled for a plastic corner protector which i will cut in 2 lengthwise and try some glue on it to hold once I slide it in place. On that note though...How do you take off the top hatch?
As far as the hardest hole to drill...I had to drill a hole by hand...err fingers. I wasnt able to get the drill between the pedestool and the fuel locker for installing the snaps for the cover...so I took the bit and rotated for about 30 minutes with my fingers untill I had my hole. Loads of fun the past 2 days, with Gene Mitchell playing on the speaker and progress made!

Cheers!
Dustin
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dlandersson
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Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:00 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Michigan City

Re: The Hardest Hole to drill,

Post by dlandersson »

You're not that far away - feel like working on my boat? :P
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Knot Tied Down
Chief Steward
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 4:40 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Lake City, MI

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by Knot Tied Down »

absolutely! 'cept I need to figure out how to work on my own first. Not to savvy on the wiring bits yet. Forgot to mention I fired up the new Yamaha 1000 watt generator today and put the on board battery charger in there to make sure it all worked together. Like a dream! The biggest issue is how to install everything and make it look right. Thats one reason I'm afraid to drill holes. *in case I screw it up* Not wanting a swiss cheese looking craft :P
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yukonbob
Admiral
Posts: 1918
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 6:54 pm
Sailboat: Other
Location: Whitehorse Yukon

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by yukonbob »

the upside to this of course would be less drag and a lighter boat...you should be on par with a bull hulled mac then :D
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Mac26Mpaul
Admiral
Posts: 1066
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:36 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Gold Coast, Australia 26M "Little Annie" Etec 50

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by Mac26Mpaul »

Man, what a bunch of woosies you cold water types are! I'v been training my boy in shark and crocodile wrestling since he was 2! Actually in that photo where he is training with the blow up dummy, we are not far from Amity point where a woman got taken a few years ago (Amity point mmm wonder if that was named after that other Amity place in the US where that movie was made about that cute little white pointer back in the 70s :D )
Crikey wrote:
tkanzler wrote: though it's a long way from Spring yet.
Paul, are you required to have the rego numbers so large? (and I do like the name font - going to explore that.)
Ross
Yes mate, on stink boats we are. Anything over 7 knots (I think its 7) your rego numbers must be 200mm high. Boats that travel under this (and sailboats), its 75mm. THe Mac comes under the powerboat category. What I have noticed on a lot of other Macs is that other owners either dont know this, or conveniently forget it when they put their numbers on LOL The previous owner had the smaller ones, but I'd rather not give the water police any reason to take my boat dollars away...
Last edited by Mac26Mpaul on Wed Feb 22, 2012 8:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Kittiwake
First Officer
Posts: 255
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:34 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: BC, Canada

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by Kittiwake »

kitcat wrote:"Kitcat you are very close to some serious tiger-country (but amazing) ocean. Do you go far offshore and do you wear flotation suits or take any special precautions? ....
Kittiwake"


I don't know about Tigers, ....
We sail in and around the Tamar estuary and Plymouth Sound at the moment, but there are some interesting coastal trips we can do up and down to various little village harbours, which we will probably do more of this summer. Google Plymouth or even my mooring up the River Tamar at Cargreen, and you will see what I mean. :)
Paul
Sorry, I meant 'tiger country ocean' ... as in 'mean waves/storms and dangerous coastline'. I had pictured your location as along the NW Cornish coast; which I always remember as high and rugged. I see what you mean: the Tamar estuary looks idyllic, peaceful, and (naturally) near-sea-level. As you say though, there are some nice potential coastal trips from there.
My question about offshore clothing etc. reflects my occasional wondering (usually as the wind and waves start to build and I have to sneak through a narrow rocky bit), whether I am truly prepared if things suddenly go down the tubes - the old, it never rains but it pours situation.
Kittiwake
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Knot Tied Down
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Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 4:40 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Lake City, MI

Re: Spring Fever!

Post by Knot Tied Down »

Well west marine will be able to pay their electric bill on my behalf this month!
My tarp broke my windex in half, so I bought a replacement vane, a bilge blower to circulate air down there... to hopefully prevent mold and mildew from forming, from condensation.
Some cleaning products, brushes, new charts, new rudder line, and I bought a load of velcro to put on the hatch to do the "quiet your squealing hatch mod" this uses just the soft side of the velcro to slide on. Now all I need to do is get the hatch back on! It came off pretty easy with a good backwards yank!
And now we are supposed to get a winter storm. Rubbish!

*Edit*

Velcro installed and its so wonderfull and quiet and smooth!!! to get it back on was a little bit of a challenge, but I pushed it forward untill the back of the hatch hit the bump, went down the steps and stood on them to put my shoulders/back on the underside of the hatch and stood up as much as i could...then pushed forward at the same time. This took a couple times, but it wasnt too bad.
As for the bilge blower, I just wired it up real quick to a small black up/down on/off switch I installed on the side of my battery box area, aft of the galley. I put the blower under the galley through the big swing open door, and let er run for a bit with the seats off and covers off the storage areas including in the rear berth which had some nice air flow. Hopefully this will dry it out a bit and tomorrow I'll shop vac all the crud out of there and sponge up any water thats left from last season.

ALSO I had my propane Mr. Heater portable buddy (4,000 btu *low* 9000 btu *high*) going in the cabin with everything shut up, and my carbon monoxide detector on, and it didnt register anything. It has a digital readout to show if any is detected. Testing prior to going out eases the mind a bit.

Cheers

Dustin
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