Liveaboard Cruising Mods Mac/Venture 25

A forum for discussing boat or trailer repairs or modifications that you have made or are considering.
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Sciencelooker
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri May 05, 2017 6:17 pm

Liveaboard Cruising Mods Mac/Venture 25

Post by Sciencelooker »

I bought my Mac 25 in February. After spending a few hours each day for five months, its ready to be an off-grid tiny house that can cruise the Florida Keys and Bahamas. Here is a link to a video showing some of the mods and a cruise around Biscayne Bay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EwSewrtc-I

For more detailed videos showing how the modifications were done and showing the Biscayne cruise, see the Youtube channel

nine hundred dollar luxury yacht

Honda 2000 generator
Refrigerator/Freezer
Optional deep freezer
optional washing machine
microwave
gas stove
air conditioner
2x 100 amp hour house batteries in addition to 80 amp hour starting battery
3KW sine inverter
Hot water shower
Recessed LED ceiling lighting with two intensities of red and two intensities of white light
All LED running lights
Memory Foam Mattress
Tiller autopilot and wireless remote control for autopilot
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npsrangerchuck
Chief Steward
Posts: 99
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 7:39 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M

Re: Liveaboard Cruising Mods Mac/Venture 25

Post by npsrangerchuck »

Thanks for posting! Amazing amount of work and ingenuity! I watched some of your repair tips and, as a tutorial, they are really good! Enjoy your adventures!
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dlandersson
Admiral
Posts: 4531
Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:00 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Michigan City

Re: Liveaboard Cruising Mods Mac/Venture 25

Post by dlandersson »

Very impressive 8)
Sciencelooker wrote:I bought my Mac 25 in February. After spending a few hours each day for five months, its ready to be an off-grid tiny house that can cruise the Florida Keys and Bahamas.
Sciencelooker
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri May 05, 2017 6:17 pm

Re: Liveaboard Cruising Mods Mac/Venture 25

Post by Sciencelooker »

Thanks for the kind words. The boat survived the hurricane in the keys because it was tied to its trailer. This winter, I plan to put the mast on with some mods to allow the mast raising system from the Mac26. I also need to mod the V-Berth to make a small locker for chain/rhode where the windlass is on the front deck.

The mod that cut off the bunk under the cockpit so the hot side of the air conditioner does not circulate back into the cabin, worked, but in the long run was a mistake. I will make a more difficult partition that puts all of that space inside the air conditioned part of the cabin. This lets the space be used as a spare bunk and also keeps stuff stored there from being cooked by the hot exhaust from the A/C. (I leave the hatch to the under-cockpit storage open when running the air conditioner so the hot air has a way to escape) For all its complications, I like this location for the air conditioner because it doesn't involve a huge unmovable box up on deck. It worked wonderfully on the test cruise.

The Honda 2000is generator fits through the existing hatch to the under cockpit locker like it was designed to go there. It is light enough to easily lift in and out. I really like the fact that I can get it out of the cockpit and lock it up when not in use.

Will definitely post again when more videos of the future mods are available.

Other stuff I do, mostly cinematic gear, is on my other Youtube channel called sciencelookers
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danphilgreen
Just Enlisted
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon May 23, 2011 1:27 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26S

Re: Liveaboard Cruising Mods Mac/Venture 25

Post by danphilgreen »

Hi Scienclooker,
I have a 26S and have been considering putting a 5k AC unit in a hole in the bulkhead between the aft berth and the laz. There is enough room in the laz for the unit (barely) and I figured it would work as long as the laz hatch was kept open. Having done something similar, do you have any insight for me? I have tried in vain to find anyone who has done anything remotely similar to what I am considering. I really don't want to cut that hole in the bulkhead and then find out there is a big problem I did not foresee. Thanks for any input you might have.
JamieJune
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 12:06 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X

Re: Liveaboard Cruising Mods Mac/Venture 25

Post by JamieJune »

Absolutely inspiring! Thanks SO MUCH for taking the time to make the excellent video and share in your adventures of what's possible if a person will just go out and do it. I should be more like you. I really enjoy making mods to my 26X. I spend more time doing that than boating. (Water is scarce here in New Mexico.) Please, sometime, share more of your adventures. Again... Thank you.
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Jimmyt
Admiral
Posts: 3166
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 9:52 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Mobile AL 2013 26M, 60 Etec

Re: Liveaboard Cruising Mods Mac/Venture 25

Post by Jimmyt »

Great work! Thanks for posting. Lots of great ideas!
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Ixneigh
Admiral
Posts: 2225
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:00 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Key largo Florida

Re: Liveaboard Cruising Mods Mac/Venture 25

Post by Ixneigh »

To people considering this option, know that these boats are built to be light. There are better options if you want to
have a lot of comforts like a big fridge and AC and the fuel and generator to run it all for a week. These boats won’t sail well with a lot of weight on them, and there are better powerboats out there if you don’t care about sailing. For off grid living my advice is to keep everything small, limit your need for gasoline. Use solar. Have a small marine freezer that will operate it. Use fans instead of AC or cruise in the winter months. If you really want to cruise farther then a few days from The city and do it under sail, you must be careful not to compromise the boats sailing ability.

Ix
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dlandersson
Admiral
Posts: 4531
Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:00 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Michigan City

Re: Liveaboard Cruising Mods Mac/Venture 25

Post by dlandersson »

Very nice. 8)
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Dougiestyle
Engineer
Posts: 145
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2017 7:18 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Rockport TX

Re: Liveaboard Cruising Mods Mac/Venture 25

Post by Dougiestyle »

nice! I always like ideas. will watch all the videos soon. thx
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