Friends' boat just went down

A forum for discussing topics relating to MacGregor Powersailor Sailboats
User avatar
Russ
Admiral
Posts: 7543
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:01 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Bozeman, Montana "Luna Azul" 2008 M 70hp Suzi

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by Russ »

Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL wrote:Hi BOAT - Head into the wind slightly to take tension off of the sheet. Sheet in. head back out. Repeat if necessary.
I gotta say this is how I do it most of the time. What are those winches on the deck for? :?
User avatar
Brian
Engineer
Posts: 107
Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:17 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Austin, TX 2006 26M "Soñador" white hull MACM0852G506 TLDI 90

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by Brian »

Back to the original topic. What happened to the partially sunken boat? Were they able to recover it? It happened in fresh water, right?

A few months back a Catalina 22 almost sunk in it's slip because of a leaking through hull at our marina. It was in about the same position as the boat in the picture when I happened to walk by and see it. The bow was submerged, but the power head of the outboard was still out of the water. I was going to try to use my two pumps to save the boat, but as luck would have it the boat tow guy passed by at exactly the right moment and I was able to flag him down. He had a big pump which was able to save the boat from going to the bottom. The owner of the boat arrived about 30 minutes after we called him and calmly closed the valve on the through hull. Apparently the hose had broken and he had forgotten to close the valve. He was very cool about the whole thing. He dried the boat out the best he could and was back sailing the next weekend like it never happened. He told me later that the boat tow company claimed salvage and charged his insurance company $100 per foot. In other words $2,200. He also told me that his boat had sunk once before in about 20' of water, so this was the second sinking for that Catalina 22. He was very nonchalant about the whole thing. I doubt that I could have been so cool about my boat sinking... Also glad that our Macs don't have through hulls...
User avatar
kurz
Admiral
Posts: 1165
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 9:07 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Zürich, Switzerland, Europe

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by kurz »

Brian wrote:Also glad that our Macs don't have through hulls...
don't know what mac boat you have... but my :macm: has a trough hull that goes to the motor well and the sink.

If it will break water will enter... step by step more and more... :evil:
User avatar
Russ
Admiral
Posts: 7543
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:01 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Bozeman, Montana "Luna Azul" 2008 M 70hp Suzi

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by Russ »

kurz wrote:
Brian wrote:Also glad that our Macs don't have through hulls...
don't know what mac boat you have... but my :macm: has a trough hull that goes to the motor well and the sink.

If it will break water will enter... step by step more and more... :evil:
We do have thru hulls. Although the thru hull is above the water with ballast out, mine is fully submerged just below the water with full ballast (normal state) and heavy outboard and fuel.

--Russ
Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL
Captain
Posts: 994
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2004 7:28 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26D
Location: Oconomowoc, WI

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL »

RussMT wrote:
Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL wrote:Hi BOAT - Head into the wind slightly to take tension off of the sheet. Sheet in. head back out. Repeat if necessary.
I gotta say this is how I do it most of the time. What are those winches on the deck for? :?
The only thing that I've used my winch for is to tighten up my hammock on the foredeck
User avatar
Catigale
Site Admin
Posts: 10421
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2004 5:59 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Admiral .............Catigale 2002X.......Lots of Harpoon Hobie 16 Skiffs....Island 17
Contact:

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by Catigale »

Most beginner sailing programs move the serious young student pretty quickly into racing.
Probably true across all sports for kids now.

When my two were middle school, and we started seriously Sailing, the Admiral wanted them to strengthen swimming skills - we could not find a learn to swim program that was not race oriented in an MSA of 1.0M people.

Everything was either adult (not good for them) or kids in diapers starting their Olympic careers.
DaveC426913
Admiral
Posts: 1791
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:05 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Toronto Canada
Contact:

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by DaveC426913 »

Brian wrote:Back to the original topic. What happened to the partially sunken boat?
Not partially. It's in about 70 feet of water.
Brian wrote: Were they able to recover it?
Not yet.
Brian wrote:It happened in fresh water, right?
Yes.
Brian wrote:A few months back a Catalina 22 almost sunk in it's slip because of a leaking through hull at our marina.
That happened at our club a month ago. It did sink at-dock. Some thru-hull failure.
Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL
Captain
Posts: 994
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2004 7:28 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26D
Location: Oconomowoc, WI

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL »

I suggest that anyone that has a Mac, or any other boat that is kept in the water to check/recheck/recaulk their thru-hulls.
I once had a new 26M come in, and then we had a lot of rain. I went aboard and there was several inches of water inside the boat. So, I started pumping the water out into the cockpit. The water level inside the boat was not going down. It was going into the motor well and running right back inside the boat because the hose was not caulked correctly.
The hose fitting going from my motor well to my thru hull on both my Mac 19 and 26X have failed.
In my opinion, there is no good reason to have the motor well drain thru the inside of a boat.
I plugged the hole on the bottom of my motor well and put thru-hulls in the transom.
Anyone that keeps their boat on the trailer and finds water inside their boat, I suggest they check both ends of their motorwell drain tube.
This is easy to do. Fill the motor well up with water and see if the water level goes down. Go inside the back of your boat, crawling on your belly like a reptile. Look for any leaks; even if it's just drips. If it it, re-caulk both ends and maybe replace both hose clamps.
Or, better yet, plug the hole in the bottom of the motor well and put thru-hulls in the transom.
~ Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL
User avatar
1st Sail
Captain
Posts: 676
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 11:58 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Moline, IL '06M 50hp Etec
Contact:

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by 1st Sail »

I chased a rain link for months. Then finally I sat in the cabin during a hard rain and watched water run down the inside of the transom. My M has a piece of aluminum angle stock that runs across the transom edge where the outside of the transom wall meets the upper deck. Needless to say it was never sealed. Rather than pull the motor and start over I was lucky and sealed it with 5200. I shot 5200 under the angle stock where I could and laid a bead along the forward edge. 10yrs later still holding up. This year is the year to reseal everything whether it needs it or not. I used 5200 on everything and it has held up for 10 years (granted I store in a heated warehouse for 6 months in the off season). All the OEM factory caulk on the jib track bolts is dried out and is starting to leak and crumbles to dust when touched. Anything I can unbolt will be rebed. Anything else will get a top seal 5200 surface bead like last time.

I'm pulling and either rebedding or applying a surface bead seal to everything:
windows
top and bottom rub rail to hull joint
pulling the jib track and resealing the track to cabin bolts (dropped the cabin ceiling in front of the mirror this summer.
hatch cover guide cabin top bolts
deck electrical connector
apply bead around stanchion plate
apply bead seas around bow pulpit and deck hardware ( I don't think you can pull the forward stanchions and bow pulpit to rebed)
User avatar
Highlander
Admiral
Posts: 5982
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:25 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Maccutter26M 2008 75HP Merc. 4/S Victoria BC. Can. ' An Hileanto'ir III '
Contact:

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by Highlander »

Yes I,m thinking of raising my thro hull above the water line with full ballast likely buy a a bronze ones a small one for the motor well to go directly thro the transom no hoses & a larger one for the sink with a shut off valve
then remove the original plastic one & plug & fiberglass in the hole .

Another location to check is the rudder brkt,s mine r starting to seep very slowly with rusted bolts as seen in this pic so this spring I,ll b removing them this spring let the transom dry out for about 5 days maybe get side gussets welded onto the sides of the rudder brkt,s where they spread , clean out the bolt hole & reseal && install with new longer bolts as the ones on there r only flush with the nylon nuts :o
Image

J 8)
User avatar
kurz
Admiral
Posts: 1165
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 9:07 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Zürich, Switzerland, Europe

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by kurz »

Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL wrote: I plugged the hole on the bottom of my motor well and put thru-hulls in the transom.

Or, better yet, plug the hole in the bottom of the motor well and put thru-hulls in the transom.
~ Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL
Hi Bill
Like your idea.
Do you have some pics to show how you did it exactely?
THANKS
User avatar
kurz
Admiral
Posts: 1165
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 9:07 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Zürich, Switzerland, Europe

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by kurz »

by the way: would the trough hulls including a non return valve work properly for longer period? Anybody has experiance with it?

Image
User avatar
NiceAft
Admiral
Posts: 6157
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2005 7:28 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Upper Dublin,PA, USA: 2005M 50hp.Honda4strk.,1979 Phantom Sport Sailboat, 9'Achilles 6HP Merc 4strk

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by NiceAft »

That looks like a simple flap that closes when water is applying pressure against the surface of the flap.

I had a similar setup in my Phantom sailboat. It was what the factory installed to prevent water entering the cockpit. It did not work well at all.

Image

You can see the black flap that is in the open position. When water entered the through hull opening, the flap is supposed to close. The seal was never good enough to prevent egress.

Ray
Estate Sail
Deckhand
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 8:43 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by Estate Sail »

Like many of you, the sink/transom drain through hull is underwater with the ballast is full. Since I do not use the sink drain, my solution to this concern is to buy a cheap rubber adjustable plug from my local ACE hardware store and install it externally at the transom drain. If I need to drain the transom, I just reach down and remove the plug to drain the transom well and then reinsert it. So far, this seems to work for me and give me some peace of mind.
Roger
User avatar
Catigale
Site Admin
Posts: 10421
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2004 5:59 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Admiral .............Catigale 2002X.......Lots of Harpoon Hobie 16 Skiffs....Island 17
Contact:

Re: Friends' boat just went down

Post by Catigale »

Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL wrote:Sailboat racing is not racing. Trying to beat .51 cal tracer rounds out of a hot LZ is racing.
My neighbor ( combat in Anzio, Korea, and two tours in VietnNam shut down the VFW with “ if you don’t have a CSM you aren’t a vet you were a government worker “

Ouch, that’s harsh. Didn’t argue it with him
Post Reply