Fuel tank & Launchpad for MacGregor 26M in Europe?

[OverEasy]

Hi!

I believe that’s Albania….
Jus sayin….

Music video with a Mac26X as central supporting character!
How’s that!

Now how do I get my Admiral to climb up on the roof deck like that…….
(I was just told “That’s just not gonna happen”…”Ever” )

Best Regards
Over Easy

[Agi]

Thank you everybody for your answers!
What an amazing energy in this group!!!

@dlandersson -> as OverEasy said this is Albania. Nice to see that the MacGregor is even in a music video clip. And thank you for the details of the floating water pads.

@OverEasy -> Thank you for your information. I will be very careful and gain first some experience before doing long trips.

@kurz -> thank you for your suggestions. An autopilot is something that I would like to add in the future for sure.

@NiceAft -> How nice that you were in Athens. Hope you had a great time. Let me know when you will come next time again .


In general I would like to adjust following things in the future:
- launchpad -> thank you dlandersson for the idea with the waterpads -> I like that solution
- bigger fuel tanks
- bigger water tanks -> does anyone have a good solution for this? The current tank takes only 60l
- autopilot -> does anyone can recommend me a good one?
- a mobile VHF -> can anyone recommend me a good and not so expensive mobile one that can be even charges with USB?
- and I would like to change the color an make it instead of blue - silver metallic -> what would you suggest with a membrane or to paint it?
- would you suggest one or two batteries? and what kind of batteries? would you even recommend a solar panel?

Sorry for all these questions, but I am really new in thi field in gerenal

Thanks a lot again
-Agi-

[dlandersson]

I also recommend a 4 step boat ladder - makes it easier to get on and off.

https://www.overtons.com/overtons-4-ste ... 4SEALw_wcB

Thank you everybody for your answers!
What an amazing energy in this group!!!

@dlandersson -> as OverEasy said this is Albania. Nice to see that the MacGregor is even in a music video clip. And thank you for the details of the floating water pads.

@OverEasy -> Thank you for your information. I will be very careful and gain first some experience before doing long trips.

@kurz -> thank you for your suggestions. An autopilot is something that I would like to add in the future for sure.

@NiceAft -> How nice that you were in Athens. Hope you had a great time. Let me know when you will come next time again .


In general I would like to adjust following things in the future:
- launchpad -> thank you dlandersson for the idea with the waterpads -> I like that solution
- bigger fuel tanks
- bigger water tanks -> does anyone have a good solution for this? The current tank takes only 60l
- autopilot -> does anyone can recommend me a good one?
- a mobile VHF -> can anyone recommend me a good and not so expensive mobile one that can be even charges with USB?
- and I would like to change the color an make it instead of blue - silver metallic -> what would you suggest with a membrane or to paint it?
- would you suggest one or two batteries? and what kind of batteries? would you even recommend a solar panel?

Sorry for all these questions, but I am really new in thi field in gerenal

Thanks a lot again
-Agi-

[OverEasy]

In general I would like to adjust following things in the future:
- bigger fuel tanks

- bigger water tanks -> does anyone have a good solution for this? The current tank takes only 60l

- and I would like to change the color an make it instead of blue - silver metallic -> what would you suggest with a membrane or to paint it?

- would you suggest one or two batteries? and what kind of batteries? would you even recommend a solar panel?

Hi Agi!

You are Welcome!
“We’re pulling for you! We are all in this together!”

Bigger fuel tanks are generally a good direction to take when aiming at extended travels as one of the most useless things is knowing there is fuel somewhere ashore but not in your fuel tank when you need it!
There are several threads, topics and Mods on this subject over the years available.
Moeller is a brand of fuel tanks with many different sizes and models available for just about any application or shipping location.
Various marine supply houses around the world stock them.
On Over Easy we installed two 12 gallon (US) fuel tanks and a filter/distribution system on our Mac26X. (See our project in Mods section)
While not directly applicable to a Mac26M it should give some ideas.
Try to only use ‘ethanol-free’ fuel if you can as it will attract less water into your tanks.
Use an external 10 micron ‘separating’ fuel filter with a sight bowl and drain. You won’t regret it… because you’ll not have your engine foul due to water or dirt in the fuel getting to it.

Bigger water tanks are also a good direction to take when aiming at extended travels but that should be balanced to what you’ll actually need. Most folks use 2-to-3 liters of water per day per person as a basis to determine how much water to carry aboard. Some, like ourselves, divide our water supply between bottled drinking water and hose tap washing water. Hose tap water tends to go bad after protracted tank storage time. Seldom can one fully empty and dry out storage tanks in actual practice. We take the cautious route with keeping to separate drinking water being bottled. For our hose tap tank water we disinfect it with Clorox. (To disinfect a gallon of clear water using regular, unscented household bleach (like Clorox), use 8 drops or 1/8 teaspoon of bleach. For cloudy or murky water, double the amount to 16 drops or 1/4 teaspoon per gallon. Ensure the water is thoroughly mixed and allowed to stand for at least 30 minutes before drinking. A slight chlorine odor should be noticeable after this time.) We prefer hard shell approved water tanks as the collapsing type tend to get punctured, crack and leak. (Personal experience ) several smaller tanks or jugs are easier to store, use, fill and clean from our experience rather than a large tank.

Regarding painting….While it’s your boat and your rules might I suggest some hesitation on repainting with a metallic paint. From experience and observation metallic paints can be / are problematic to apply and over time. They tend to need qualified professional preparation, application and equipment to look half decent. They also tend not to age well over time and exposure. Being applied over an aged gelcoat/fiberglass substructure doesn’t help either. Most boats you’ll find are gel coated white for a reason…. It lasts the longest from constant exposure to sun, wind and weather… it’s also quite durable… and white also reflects off solar heating of the surfaces which protects the fiberglass and resin from thermal degradation. It’s your decision.

Now getting to the batteries… personally we chose to go with two lead-acid dual purpose (start/store) 12 VDC batteries that are switch selectable for either or both to be used at the same time. This is an approach that gives us redundancy and simplicity. These batteries are commonly available from multiple sources and generally readily available off the shelf and at a reasonable cost. (Look for our system in the Mod section). Our electrical needs are relatively minor and our primary concern is engine start. This approach provides us with redundancy and flexibility without complexity for our application needs. As regards solar panels it depends upon your own use needs. We run our engine as we operate in ‘motor cruiser mode’ so batteries are charged from the engine. We also tend to have our boat in a slip with shore power available so we utilize an automatic battery charger/maintainer system (also in Mods section). As such the practical aspects of adding solar don’t really have much cost benefit for us. With that said though what I might suggest if you are concerned about your battery(s) going flat during storage and not having shore power available is the use of a small solar battery maintainer that are generally available at an auto parts, hardware, on-line store. They are generally to be had for about $20 to $50 (US), automatic and simple to use. Going to a 100 watt or larger system would make sense if your electrical needs are larger like running a refrigerator while at anchor etc… there are 100+ watt portable solar system one can store away when not needed but easy to setup and use when desired. There are also more permanent options available by several sources if desired but they tend to be bulky and can get in the way.

So there’s our two bits to do with as you please.
Hope this was of some help for you.

Remember, this is your boat and you decide what you want to do with it!
Have Fun! Be Safe!

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[Agi]

Hi guys,

Thank you again for your answer and all the information!

@dlandersson -> thats really great thank you for sharing! that is something that I will need for sure.

@overeasy -> thank you for all the useful tips!!! what do you mean by "Mods section? where can I find this?


Thanks a lot

Best regards
-Agi-

[tuxonpup]

Thank you everybody for your answers!
What an amazing energy in this group!!!

@dlandersson -> as OverEasy said this is Albania. Nice to see that the MacGregor is even in a music video clip. And thank you for the details of the floating water pads.

@OverEasy -> Thank you for your information. I will be very careful and gain first some experience before doing long trips.

@kurz -> thank you for your suggestions. An autopilot is something that I would like to add in the future for sure.

@NiceAft -> How nice that you were in Athens. Hope you had a great time. Let me know when you will come next time again .


In general I would like to adjust following things in the future:
- launchpad -> thank you dlandersson for the idea with the waterpads -> I like that solution
- bigger fuel tanks
- bigger water tanks -> does anyone have a good solution for this? The current tank takes only 60l
- autopilot -> does anyone can recommend me a good one?
- a mobile VHF -> can anyone recommend me a good and not so expensive mobile one that can be even charges with USB?
- and I would like to change the color an make it instead of blue - silver metallic -> what would you suggest with a membrane or to paint it?
- would you suggest one or two batteries? and what kind of batteries? would you even recommend a solar panel?

Sorry for all these questions, but I am really new in thi field in gerenal

Thanks a lot again
-Agi-

Two things - one, I have a 26X not an M, and two, I''ve only had it 10 months.

With that, we've been setting her up to cruise a week at a time on Lake Powell where there are two marinas with gas and water at our end, then a few days sail to the one other marina midway up the 186 mile long lake, and cell service drops out after the first ten miles.

We replaced our original 6.6 gallon Nissan tank with two 9 gallon Scepter tanks, and had to cut a bit of the locker trim to get them in: https://www.amazon.com/Scepter-08667-Re ... r=8-5&th=1

I believe you can fit up to 12 gallon tanks on the M with the hinged lid. We keep a 5 gallon Scepter fuel can under the captain's seat, as it's small enough to carry up the dock a few times to top off the tanks: https://www.amazon.com/Scepter-FSCG552- ... 9hdGY&th=1

23 gallons total capacity for gas.

Similarly, we have a 15 gallon Aquatank2 water bladder in the bilge next to the galley sink: https://www.amazon.com/Extra-Packaging- ... 158&sr=1-1
That feeds a 12V water pump with a shower head on a 25' water line. Works great for washing dishes, washing your hair at the rear of the cockpit, or washing off the deck of the boat with fresh water. We also have a 5 gallon water bladder with the integrated handle as the boat came with, hooked up to the original hand pump sink. Great for carrying up the dock to top off at a sink. So we've got a 20 gallon water capacity, but if we decide to carry more I suspect we'll just add more 5 gallon bladders to the opposite side of the boat's bilge and keep topping off the 15 gallon bladder. It's nice having the large capacity for shower/spray down, but I can really only fill it before putting the boat in, and have to top it off by hand carried water bag on the water.

We've got two batteries, a lead acid starter connected to our 50hp two stroke Nissan and it's alternator, then a 100Ah LiFePO4 house battery connected to a 130 watt solar panel via an MPPT solar controller. Again, we don't have the opportunity to plug-in after the boat gets put-in, so need to self-generate power. Our two systems are currently separate, the motor's alternator recharges only it's lead acid starter battery and the solar panel only recharges the LiFePO4 house battery running the lights, Starlink, chargers, etc. Our solar controller is also a DC-DC converter, so the two systems can charge one another, but we've run them separately up until this point. We're going to double our solar panels and battery capacity next trip to the boat to allow us to run a 12V fridge and Simrad chartplotter/HALO radar.

We have a handheld VHF, but it's the priciest icom they make, not really what you're after.

[NiceAft]

Mods section.
https://macgregorsailors.com/mods/

[kurz]

Do you want to trailer your or not?

[Agi]

Hi everybody,

Thank you for your answers @tuxonpup @NiceAft @kurz

@kurz -> At this moment I am not planning to go with the MacGregor to other places with the trailer. I first want to gain some experience And I want to adjust first several things that you all mentioned. So that I will have all the equipment necessary in the boat to be safe.
Cant wait to have my first experience with the MacGrego in the sea in several months. I am very curious to see how it will feel

Thanks everybody fpr your great support! and sharing your knowledge and experience with me!

[kmclemore]

FYI, a Mac features in another music video as well.

[NiceAft]

FYI, a Mac features in another music video as well.

If I remember correctly, that belongs to a member of this forum.

[kmclemore]

FYI, a Mac features in another music video as well.

If I remember correctly, that belongs to a member of this forum.

Yup.

[kurz]

@agi

I would start with my swing up ladder mod.

Reason: you will have very often to deal under the cockpit. No ladder will help very much... Imagine working in the battery area... Big hassle with the factory ladder.

viewtopic.php?t=28184

[OverEasy]

Just a thought….
While a fancy swim platform that moves with the outboard looks and sounds kind of interesting I think you might want to think about that a bit more when it comes to day-to-day practicality especially when the planned use is in large bodies of open water like you are planning.
The reason is that platform was primarily designed for lake use with relatively calm waters. Once you get into navigating the open waters of a sea one has to contend with quartering and following seas as well as larger waves. These conditions are going to put substantial forces and loading on a large flat fantail of a platform which are the going to be transmitted to the engine mount and the boat stern neither of which were designed to accommodate those forces.

If you are interested in having a swim platform might I suggest and alternative approach that should be workable on either or both sides that are fully retractable and deployable and would probably be more useful and less expensive?
If so you might want to look into this very nice and functional mod that Dustoff accomplished:
https://macgregorsailors.com/mods/index ... em&id=2229





He did an excellent and well thought out modification that has a whole lot going for it!
Just something to consider.

(>>> Great Job Dustoff! <<<)

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[kurz]

Good point over easy.

Problem with both solutions:

They hang very deep near the water.
In mediterranen "römisch - katholisch" docking, you have the docks very often very high over the water line.

So when you are docking backwards you will have first climb up a real effort. Could work of course... But a good solution?

So in my thoughts maybe a Gangway mounted high over the OB could be the way to go. Even cheap.

The challenge would be to fix it that it will not swing right to left before you have docked. So that is stable enough to walk over.