I just wanted to thank everyone for their help and advice while on our journey to pick-up our 26x. A big thanks to Duane for taking time to show us how to set-up everything and some little tricks in Seattle. Also thanks to Eric3A for the info when my trailer was cracked in Kemah, TX. I did end up having a new trailer built (used and modified) and we have made it safely back to Mazatlan, MX.
To say the least, the trip was quite the experience. After 64 days and a little over 11,500 miles, I can honestly say me and my Mac are getting to know each other very well. She is sitting in front of the house right now getting ready for a new dinning table, complete galley remod, new pantry in head, aux motor mount, along with several other improvements. We had several unique learning experiences durring this trip. From almost getting run over bay a ocean liner in dense fog, to the tounge collapsing on my new trailer the very first time I tried to launch. But no harm no foul. No injuries to report other than me hitting my head on the ceiling countless times (6'2" tall). I will post the details and encounters of the trip later with some pics, and hopefully some pics of new mods soon.
So far I can say I am very pleased with the overall performance and functionality of the Mac and can't wait to get it into the Sea of Cortez and head to San Carlos for some diving.
Once again thanks to all for you help and timely replies, the people who are Mac owners are truely a unique breed (kinda like the Mac itself).
Dano
Made it home to Mazatlan
-
Duane Dunn, Allegro
- Admiral
- Posts: 2459
- Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 6:41 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Bellevue, Wa '96 26x, Tohatsu 90 TLDI and Plug In Hybrid Electric drive
- Contact:
Glad to hear you made it home. It was a pleasure to help you get started with your boat, it was a fun afternoon and evening. My wife however later ended up regretting the endless glasses of wine you bought during dinner.
That the rusty Mac trailer made it back east and then south as far as Texas is a testament to the often bashed single axle design. What ended up breaking? From what I saw when the boat was off the trailer in the water I would guess the rusted mounts for the spring shackles were the weak point.
That the rusty Mac trailer made it back east and then south as far as Texas is a testament to the often bashed single axle design. What ended up breaking? From what I saw when the boat was off the trailer in the water I would guess the rusted mounts for the spring shackles were the weak point.
Nothing completely broke on the origianal trailer. However after pulling it out of the water in Kemah, TX. I had a guy come and look at it to see what our options were, and after a three minute inspection he said their shop wouldn't even work on it because of liability. He then showed me a large crack on the tounge under where the brake hook-up was, and basically told me he would not even drive it around town. I knew was wasn't lying because this guy didn't even try to sell me a new trailer, he was just looking to make some money doing some welding on the side.
What we ended up getting made was and aluminum EZ LOADER trailer with all new galvanized cross beams and tounge. I had him put dual axles on and the trailer is rated for 6600 lbs. That was going to take three days, so we decided to head up to Pasedena, to visit the Original Gilley's Bar. So after map questing it I thought I knew where we were going. Finally after 45 minutes of searching, to no avail, I swallowed my pride and pulled over to ask for directions. Now even though I have lived in Mazatlan for a year I don't speak fluent Spanish. So after three gas stations and two convience stores with no luck, I stopped at a hotel and asked an older English speaking woman who was more than happy to help me out. She knew exactly where it WAS, and proceeded to tell me some of the history about Gilley's and some of the events that transpired there. Needless to say, as some of you may already know, when I finally asked how to get ther from here, she said it burnt down several years ago. Time for a cocktail!!!!!!!
So we drove down to a town south of Kemah, San Leon, and stayed until the trailer was done. On the morning I pick-up the trailer, we had a plan. I was going to put the boat in at the pulic launch in the early AM, Merrilyn would stay with the boat and I would go get the new trailer and drop of the old one. It sounded like a good and a simple plan, and we would be on our way to our next destination. So after arriving back at the launch and loading the boat on it's new trailer, as I was pulling it up the ramp Merrilyn yells for me to stop. I get out a find that the fender is almost touching the front wheel. So I pull up on level ground to evaluate the situation. Yep, there is definately a problem. The back of the truck is much lower than normal and the front fender has about a 1/4 inch clearance from the fender. Now is where things get unique, as we like to call them (weird). We even have pictures for proof.
This gentleman walks over as I am standing there perplexed, and he says "that don't look right, my name is Jack". I explain that I just picked-up the trailer and that it looked like to me the hitch on the truck needed to be raised and maybe both axles moved forward slightly. He told me he was on his way to Bible Study (it was Sunday) and that he came down to the park to review his lesson in the beauty of Galveston Bay, but he had about 20 minutes and he might have something to help me out. So we walked over to his truck, which you will have to see pictures of. On the back was a full size diesel generator, welder, vise, tools and metal parts and pieces all over. After digging through a couple of boxes he pulls out this huge 40 lbs homemade trailer hitch that he traded a guy for some other tool. The way it was configured it would signifacantly raise the ball on my truck. So we took some measurements and agreed that it would work. One small problem the ball on it was 2 5/16" so, no big deal we will just swap them out. So he slides out a piece of 10" I beam that has a huge vise mounted on it and we are in business. Now Jack had never taken the ball off of this and couldn't remember how long ago he had gotten it, so needless to say there was a little rust from all that wonderful salt air. So it started with a little penetrating oil, and then a large pipe wrench, then more penetrating oil and a larger pipe wrench, then more oil and a cheater bar. Nothing it wasn't going to budge. In the meantime we were starting to attract a crowd. This guy sitting in an old Suburban decides to come over to investigate the situation. His name is Tom, and come to find out he use to be with the Merchant Marines and did welding, however for the last 5 weeks he was homeless and living in his vehicle, but he was willing to give a hand. Then over came Ron, a gentleman who taught autobody at the highschool. Ron had just come down to check out the waves to see if things were right for kite surfing, his favorite pastime. Jack decided that he needed some shade so he pulled out this huge canvas umbrella that even had an adjustable swinging arm mounted on the truck an put it into place. We now had me, Jack, Tom, and Ron beating on a nut with a 24" long metal punch and a 15 lbs sledge hammer. Meanwhile Merrilyn is just laughing and taking pictures. Jack was a guy who liked to show people his toys, he had built this work truck himself and at one point we had the generator fired up so he could get his grinder out to sharpent the point in the punch, full welding face shield, coat, hat and gloves.
This has now been going on for more than 3 hours and we still have not got the nut loose. Tom (homeless guy is bumming cigs), Ron is telling Merrilyn about his hobby, and I am holding the punch while Jack swings the sledge and hopefully hits the punch and not me, but at least we have shade. At just over 4 hours into this event we finally got the ball off. We changed them out and told everyone we wanted to buy them lunch and drinks for all their help. The new hitch did make a difference but the axles still needed to be moved forward. So Ron suggested that 4 miles down the road was a boat launch at a restaurant/bar called "Topwater", we could put the boat in, quickly adjust the axles and have some lunch and cocktails. Once again, sounded like a good, simple plan. So when backing the boat down the ramp, I hear a big clunk and the sound of metal dragging on cement. Ron yells stop!!! The tongue had bent in half. The boat was half way in the water so I proceeded to put it the rest of the way in and pulled the trailer around to the parking lot. Are we having fun yet? So now we definately need a cocktail. We all had lunch and some drinks, and talked about some life experiences. The owner of the restaurant/launch said I could keep the boat there while I was trying to fix my trailer situation. So I called George, who built the trailer, and of course it was a cash deal, with no receipt. Well of course George told me that it was my fault because my boat was to heavy. After some heated conversation, and then a threat that I was just going to let my lawyer handle it he agreed to give me my money back, or get me a new, stronger tongue. We stayed on the boat that night and made several calls the next day only to find out that a new trailer had a 2-3 week lead time, and about twice the cost. So I contacted George back and went over to look at this supposedly stonger tongue, which was also 2' shorter. After much rationalization, and limited options, I elected to go with the different tongue.
After changing tongues, and one more night on the boat, we started back on the road again. I can tell you that the new trailer NOW pulls extremely well. The dual axles make a huge difference, no wag what so ever. But anyway this was just a small exerpt of our UNIQUE trip through 18 states, 11,500 miles and two countries, more interesting experiences to come.
Dano
(still searching for Gilley's)
What we ended up getting made was and aluminum EZ LOADER trailer with all new galvanized cross beams and tounge. I had him put dual axles on and the trailer is rated for 6600 lbs. That was going to take three days, so we decided to head up to Pasedena, to visit the Original Gilley's Bar. So after map questing it I thought I knew where we were going. Finally after 45 minutes of searching, to no avail, I swallowed my pride and pulled over to ask for directions. Now even though I have lived in Mazatlan for a year I don't speak fluent Spanish. So after three gas stations and two convience stores with no luck, I stopped at a hotel and asked an older English speaking woman who was more than happy to help me out. She knew exactly where it WAS, and proceeded to tell me some of the history about Gilley's and some of the events that transpired there. Needless to say, as some of you may already know, when I finally asked how to get ther from here, she said it burnt down several years ago. Time for a cocktail!!!!!!!
So we drove down to a town south of Kemah, San Leon, and stayed until the trailer was done. On the morning I pick-up the trailer, we had a plan. I was going to put the boat in at the pulic launch in the early AM, Merrilyn would stay with the boat and I would go get the new trailer and drop of the old one. It sounded like a good and a simple plan, and we would be on our way to our next destination. So after arriving back at the launch and loading the boat on it's new trailer, as I was pulling it up the ramp Merrilyn yells for me to stop. I get out a find that the fender is almost touching the front wheel. So I pull up on level ground to evaluate the situation. Yep, there is definately a problem. The back of the truck is much lower than normal and the front fender has about a 1/4 inch clearance from the fender. Now is where things get unique, as we like to call them (weird). We even have pictures for proof.
This gentleman walks over as I am standing there perplexed, and he says "that don't look right, my name is Jack". I explain that I just picked-up the trailer and that it looked like to me the hitch on the truck needed to be raised and maybe both axles moved forward slightly. He told me he was on his way to Bible Study (it was Sunday) and that he came down to the park to review his lesson in the beauty of Galveston Bay, but he had about 20 minutes and he might have something to help me out. So we walked over to his truck, which you will have to see pictures of. On the back was a full size diesel generator, welder, vise, tools and metal parts and pieces all over. After digging through a couple of boxes he pulls out this huge 40 lbs homemade trailer hitch that he traded a guy for some other tool. The way it was configured it would signifacantly raise the ball on my truck. So we took some measurements and agreed that it would work. One small problem the ball on it was 2 5/16" so, no big deal we will just swap them out. So he slides out a piece of 10" I beam that has a huge vise mounted on it and we are in business. Now Jack had never taken the ball off of this and couldn't remember how long ago he had gotten it, so needless to say there was a little rust from all that wonderful salt air. So it started with a little penetrating oil, and then a large pipe wrench, then more penetrating oil and a larger pipe wrench, then more oil and a cheater bar. Nothing it wasn't going to budge. In the meantime we were starting to attract a crowd. This guy sitting in an old Suburban decides to come over to investigate the situation. His name is Tom, and come to find out he use to be with the Merchant Marines and did welding, however for the last 5 weeks he was homeless and living in his vehicle, but he was willing to give a hand. Then over came Ron, a gentleman who taught autobody at the highschool. Ron had just come down to check out the waves to see if things were right for kite surfing, his favorite pastime. Jack decided that he needed some shade so he pulled out this huge canvas umbrella that even had an adjustable swinging arm mounted on the truck an put it into place. We now had me, Jack, Tom, and Ron beating on a nut with a 24" long metal punch and a 15 lbs sledge hammer. Meanwhile Merrilyn is just laughing and taking pictures. Jack was a guy who liked to show people his toys, he had built this work truck himself and at one point we had the generator fired up so he could get his grinder out to sharpent the point in the punch, full welding face shield, coat, hat and gloves.
This has now been going on for more than 3 hours and we still have not got the nut loose. Tom (homeless guy is bumming cigs), Ron is telling Merrilyn about his hobby, and I am holding the punch while Jack swings the sledge and hopefully hits the punch and not me, but at least we have shade. At just over 4 hours into this event we finally got the ball off. We changed them out and told everyone we wanted to buy them lunch and drinks for all their help. The new hitch did make a difference but the axles still needed to be moved forward. So Ron suggested that 4 miles down the road was a boat launch at a restaurant/bar called "Topwater", we could put the boat in, quickly adjust the axles and have some lunch and cocktails. Once again, sounded like a good, simple plan. So when backing the boat down the ramp, I hear a big clunk and the sound of metal dragging on cement. Ron yells stop!!! The tongue had bent in half. The boat was half way in the water so I proceeded to put it the rest of the way in and pulled the trailer around to the parking lot. Are we having fun yet? So now we definately need a cocktail. We all had lunch and some drinks, and talked about some life experiences. The owner of the restaurant/launch said I could keep the boat there while I was trying to fix my trailer situation. So I called George, who built the trailer, and of course it was a cash deal, with no receipt. Well of course George told me that it was my fault because my boat was to heavy. After some heated conversation, and then a threat that I was just going to let my lawyer handle it he agreed to give me my money back, or get me a new, stronger tongue. We stayed on the boat that night and made several calls the next day only to find out that a new trailer had a 2-3 week lead time, and about twice the cost. So I contacted George back and went over to look at this supposedly stonger tongue, which was also 2' shorter. After much rationalization, and limited options, I elected to go with the different tongue.
After changing tongues, and one more night on the boat, we started back on the road again. I can tell you that the new trailer NOW pulls extremely well. The dual axles make a huge difference, no wag what so ever. But anyway this was just a small exerpt of our UNIQUE trip through 18 states, 11,500 miles and two countries, more interesting experiences to come.
Dano
(still searching for Gilley's)
-
Chinook
- Admiral
- Posts: 1730
- Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2006 7:20 pm
- Location: LeavenworthWA 2002 26x, Suzuki DF60A
Hi Dano,
An amazing tale, which reinforces my belief that Macs are happiest when in the water and under way. Speaking of which, we hope to trailer ours down to San Carlos in March, and then spend about 8 weeks on the Baja side, down as far as La Paz. If you make it across in the spring, it would be great to meet up somewhere. Send me a PM if that might be in the cards.
Happy sailing, and trailering, Mike - Chinook
An amazing tale, which reinforces my belief that Macs are happiest when in the water and under way. Speaking of which, we hope to trailer ours down to San Carlos in March, and then spend about 8 weeks on the Baja side, down as far as La Paz. If you make it across in the spring, it would be great to meet up somewhere. Send me a PM if that might be in the cards.
Happy sailing, and trailering, Mike - Chinook