Five year lurker "finally" buys a Mac!

[Brian]

Here is my story. I owned an 18' Sea-Ray runabout for about 9 years. About
five years ago I began researching boats for amusement. I enjoyed reading
books, magazines, and searching the Internet for interesting boat articles.
I had been invited for a short sail on a 26X and was intrigued by the boat. I
had always been interested in sailing, but not having much sailing experience
I was hesitant to purchase a sailboat. I saw the 26X with it's large outboard
and thought, this has possibilities... I kept reading about boats, and no
matter how many boats I read about I kept coming back to the X.

Since I already had a boat, and was always busy either with work, or with our
two young children I did not take any action. I did look at a couple of X's,
and even made an offer on one, but nothing ever came of it since the seller
wanted almost as much as a new X would cost (you X guys sure love your boats).
When the new 26M came out in 2003, again I was intrigued, but sill not enough
to take action.

When the new 2005 came out I got even more interested. I really liked the new
interior layout with the sliding galley, and the possibility of adding an even
larger motor like the DF70 interested me even more. So, I decided to contact
the closest Macgregor dealers to see what they could do for me. We live in
Austin, TX, so I decided to contact the Texas dealers first. There were four
Texas dealers listed in the dealer list on the macgregor26.com website, but
when I tried to contact them I was only able to get in touch with two of them,
SailVenture and South Texas Sailboats. I assume that the other two have gone
out of business?

At first I was leaning towards purchasing a boat from South Texas Sailboats,
since Lance at SailVenture wanted to sell me a Mac with a Tohatsu motor, and
the fellow at South Texas Sailboats was willing to hook me up with a Suzuki
DF70. Well, during this time I continued to lurk on Heath's website. I read
about Rolf, and some other fellows re-powering their Macs with TLDI 90's, and
decided to investigate further. After reading the specs I liked what I saw.
The power to weight ratio of the two stroke 90 could not be beat. I thought,
20 extra horsepower from a motor that is both smaller and lighter than the
DF70. I was also intrigued by the Etec 90, but since the Etec with its high
pressure fuel injection has not been around very long I was concerned about
long term reliability. Since many of you have seen many years of trouble free
service from your Tohatsu outboards I decided that the TLDI 90 was the choice
for me.

In the spring of 2005 I took my Sea-Ray home from the marina for it's annual
maintenance. I had in in my garage for a couple of weeks, and in addition to
changing the fluids I got carried away with buffing and waxing, and had the
old girl really looking good. My wife mentioned that this might be a good
time to get a good price for the old boat and purchase the new MacGregor I had
been dreaming about. So, I didn't hesitate. A for sale sign went on the
boat, and an add went into the newspaper. The first person to look at the
boat wrote me a check on the spot.

It was now time to order the boat. I called Lance Beauchamp the owner of
SailVenture and ordered a new white 26M with a TLDI 90, roller furling, shore
power, and dual batteries. Unfortunately, by this time Lance had sold the one
26M that he had on hand, and the factory was behind so I had to wait two months
before my new baby could be delivered. Lance ended up driving all the way from
Baytown, TX to the factory in Costa Mesa, California. He trailer'd the boat
back to his shop. Rigged the boat and delivered the boat personally to my
marina on Lake Travis. With this personal service Lance made up for my long
wait. Plus he did an excellent job rigging the boat. All wires are run
through the pedestal, and the shore power installation was first rate. Lance
even provided lazy jacks for the main sail, and some other nice little features
that I didn't even specifically ask for. It was rough not having a boat
during the months of June and July, but what was I to do. I didn't have space
for two boats. Plus, I wanted to make sure I was able to sell the old boat
before ordering a new one. One other benefit of waiting was that my boat is
a 2006 model instead of a 2005. One of the first delivered I believe. It
actually looks strange in the paperwork because the motor and trailer are both
2005 models.

Anyway, I finally took possession of my new Mac on August 1,2005. This is my
first post. After five years of lurking I guess I was in no hurry to make my
first post. My excuse is that whatever free time I had I was either doing
mods, or enjoying the boat. Yup, I am the guy in the white M sailing and
motoring around Lake Travis with the great big grin on my face.

I would like to thank all of you macgregorsailors' posters for providing all of
the valuable information that made my purchase and subsequent mods possible.
Especially, my favorite poster Duane Dunn for answering my PM to get his
opinion regarding choice of outboard motors for the Mac. Since I consider
myself to be sort of a frugal man (some would even say cheap), Duane's bang for
the buck perspective on things is right up my alley.

I would also like to say "Peace Moe"! Everyone knows your preference for the
X over the M, but I actually like both boats, and see advantages and
disadvantages to both models. Moe makes some very strong arguments, but we are
having so darn much fun on our new M that we don't have much time to speculate.
So, after owning and using the M for almost three months here are some of the
things that I like about the M.

I like the raised helm seat.
I like the rear berth that you can actually sleep in.
I like the sliding galley.
I like the simplicity of the dagger board.
I like the way it looks. I think it's a pretty boat.
I love the TLDI 90. I don't regret that choice one bit.
I enjoy the strange looks on people's faces as I motor along in my sailboat at
20+ mph.

Some of the things that people complain about don't really bother me very much.
For example, the small head is difficult to use. But I don't spend much time
in there, and prefer a cabin layout with as much open area as possible, so I am
glad that not much space was allocated for the head. The small head is a big
improvement over the nonexistent head on my previous boat.

Another complaint about the M is the narrow transom opening. We swim off of
our Mac all the time and don't have any trouble squeezing through the opening,
even with a 90 hp outboard. I am a big fella too, at 6'2" 210#. My kids
enjoy flinging themselves off the deck, and have used the factory swim ladder
hundreds of times already without complaint. As for a large person like me it
gives me some incentive to keep fit in order to get back on board:)

Anyway, regardless of whether you prefer the X or M I feel that the important
thing is to use and enjoy your boat. I'm still not a very good sailor, but I
am having a blast learning, and intend to get much better at it. One of the
great things about the mild climate in Texas is year round sailing. It sort
of makes up for the brutal 100 degree August days we have to endure. I grew
up in the mid-west so I have sympathy for those of you now winterizing your
boats.

Once I have enough experience to feel comfortable I plan to trailer my M to the
Texas Gulf Coast. Probably Matagorda Bay or South Padre Island. I purchased a
couple of cruising guides:

Waterway Guide Southern 2005: Florida, the Bahamas and the Gulf of Mexico

Campbell's Guide to Cruising Texas 2005 Edition

For now I am enjoying planning my cruises, and want to make sure that my first
Mac forays into salt water are both safe and enjoyable. So far my cruising
experiences have been limited to a couple of overnighters on Lake Travis. Hey,
you have to start somewhere... If any of you have recommendations regarding
the best destinations on the Texas Gulf Coast please send me a PM or reply to
this post.

Rhapsody also has me considering Lake Texoma as a possible destination.

Regarding mods, I had no idea how much time and money goes into those things.
So far I have only done a few, bimini, gps/sounder and stereo but I found that
reading about them is one thing, and doing them is quite another. One thing I
did that I have not seen on this board is install a wired remote on the
pedestal for my stereo. I find this to be a great feature and will post it to
the mods page if any of you are interested. Unfortunately, I have become
obsessed with mods...

Since I have my boat in a wet slip the other cool thing I was able to do is use
a 6000# galvalift for my Mac rather than do bottom paint. Since I already
owned the boat lift I used for my old power boat it was actually much cheaper
to have the hoist installed in an uncovered slip than to do bottom paint.
Having wax on the hull rather than bottom paint also compensates for the white
hull being slower than the blue:)

Well, this first post has become a long one. There is no way I will ever be as
prolific as Moe or Mark, but I just wanted to take the opportunity to
introduce myself.

Regards,

Brian

[RandyMoon]

Brian, you just set the record for the longest post.

Congratulations on joining the Mac brotherhood.

I have an M with the TLDI 90 and will be anxious to hear how things go for you. I too refuse to get involved in debates about Ms vs Xs. A Mac is a great boat and it is there to be enjoyed. There will always be differences between models..... who cares.

You have some super lakes in the Austin area. Maybe for a winter floatilla, we all need to come down to your area.

I just had a thought. We need a Big 12 invitational NCAA orientated sail get together. Except for USC (which is an awesome football team), Texas and other Big 12 teams rule college football.

[baldbaby2000]

Congradulations Brian. We really like our 26M too. We have a stereo with a regular infrared remote and it works fine from the cockpit with our stereo in the spot above the mirror. I think I may have posted the mod.

I'd keep an eye the trailer tires. Ours were pretty cheap and started to show severe problems early on. We went to steel belted radials somewhat larger than the originals. Had to modify the fender mounts slightly.

BB

[richandlori]

Welcome Brian,
Great Post! It is always cool to read about people's first Mac experiences. It brings me back to my first night with her parked outside my house, I kept getting up and going outside to look at her and YES I did keep the porch light on for HER

Enjoy.....

[Catigale]

Welcome Brian, and enjoyed your post....will never forget my first season, but as amazing as it was, each year it gets better and better.!!

Catigale on a l...o...n...g flight home with layover in SFO

See you in the morning kids!!!!

[Jack O'Brien]

Congratulations, Brian, on finally getting your Mac, and on the record longest posting. Seems sort of analogous to being constipated for a long time, and then, ..........................................................WHEW

(Got to be careful. I'm starting to sound like Sloop John B.)

Welcome aboard.

Hey, Sloop. How you feeling these days?

[ALX357]

WELCOME BRIAN

and good decision to buy the smarter WHITE hull....

smarter thinkin' and smarter lookin'

the extra .003 knots you give up in "lost hull speed" to the BLOO hull, you get back with using them smarts to sail it better.
.... be passin' those BLOO hulls in no time...

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Welcome to the board Brian..

Except for USC (which is an awesome football team), Texas and other Big 12 teams rule college football.

HA!

Randy,

Let me remind you of a day, almost 10 yrs ago, when in the old New Orleans, Texas got whipped in the sugar bowl by a little known team from SW Virginia. I remember that game well (only time we've ever played Texas), 28-10....could history repeat itself...but maybe a decade later in Pasadena? Did you see Michael's little brother being allowed to run last night for the first time? A pretty sight indeed...kinda like engaging the turbocharger...we will see who rules buddy... Go Hokies!

Dimitri (VT alumni if you didn't guess)

[Beam's Reach]

Welcome aboard Brian...although it looks like you've actually been here longer than me!

[LOUIS B HOLUB]

NICE POST !! I dealt with SAILVENTURE also with my first MAC 26C. Now I've moved up to an MAC X. SAILVENTURE is a great place to do business...always helpful, and knowledgeable !! BRIAN...you need to come to KEMAH, TEX., launch in one of the MARINAs in CLEAR LAKE, do some overnighters as a "TRANSIENT" for some GREAT accomodations near the local BOARDWALK. Awesome area to spend a nice VACATION with you and yours. AND...Sailventure is nearby with many of us MAC owners. GREAT buncha Mac Owners here in KEMAH, visit us at the GULF COAST SAILING CENTER, 1200 FM 2094 !! [/b]

[mallardjusted]

Brian,

Congratulations on the new boat!

I too am a "lurker"! I've had a 26' power boat in the past, a 17' duckboat now, and am gathering info on the Mac for maybe a purchase down the road.

I'm curious ..... did your dealer install the 90hp? Did he say anything about this invalidating the warranty? I thought 50hp was the max, except for some dealers like BWY allowed to do 70hp???

Matt

[Brian]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys. I really do appreciate it. I didn't
realize that my post was so long. Must have had too much coffee yesterday...

Randy, The Highland Lakes in Central Texas are nice. Lake Travis is my
favorite because it has the clearest water. It also helps that it's 15
minutes from my house. A winter flotilla would be good for you mid-western
folks. Although Lake Texoma would me 270 miles closer. The weather is perfect
here right now, with a high of 80, and a low of 60. If you decide to do Texoma
I might meet you up there.

Baldbaby2000, I actually began my stereo mod trying to emulate the mod that
you posted. I ran into a couple of snags though. The first issue I
encountered was that I had ordered 6x9 JBL marine speakers over the Internet
while I was waiting for the boat to arrive. I liked how you installed the 6.5"
round speakers on the left and right above the bow berth. Unfortunately, my
speakers were too big to fit there, so I mounted them under the dinette
seating like bwyachts had done in a different mod. My original plan for the
the stereo was to install a CD player with an infrared remote like you did.
I had already installed one of these units in my wife's Honda and thought it
would work great in the boat. Then, she lost the remote and I decided it would
be better to have a wired remote that is attached to the boat so it can't
possibly get lost. I was still going to install the JBL CD/MP3 player above
the mirror, but the wire from the wired remote in the pedestal was too short
to reach that far so I had to install it in a closer location. It works great,
so I am happy with it.

Louis, Kemah sounds good. My family wants to visit Moody gardens on Galveston
Island. I could kill two birds with one stone on that trip. BTW, my first
sailing experience was on Galveston Bay sailing out of Clear Lake around 20
years ago. That bug never goes away...

Again, Thanks All!

Brian (on his second much shorter post)

[mallardjusted]

Brian,

Is the 90hp + boat still warrantied through your dealer? (70hp was the highest I had seen mentioned before as being "authorized").