MacGregorSailors.com

Can i get a job where you guys work? Plastimo bags aint cheap...

Yah but brainstorming is and you never know where an outlandish idea may lead. Probably how the X and M came into being. (You want a power boat and a sailboat with standing headroom, yah, right)

parrothead wrote:

Probably have to line the bilge first so the fiberglass doesn't rip the plastimo bag.

I you really wanted to do this, Plastimo bags would be a good choice because they are actually a bag-within-a-bag. The outer bag of woven nylon material protects the inner PVC bladder - so no extra lining of the space should be needed.

You mean to tell me you have not sanded and gelcoat painted your bilges yet??? Shame on you lazy swab!
Mine are painted white and smooooth
Yes I know about the double bag feature as I have one but additionally even with sanded/painted bilges I put one of those rubber mats off the roll around the bag for added protection from the top edges under the aft berth as they are still a bit rough and also contribute to the reduced space for 6" diameter PVC pipe. This makes for less room to fill the bag but at least I have not had to patch it yet.

I lined the area under the front berth on my X with a couple of the blue rollup sleeping pads. Since I use the collapsible water bags in there, I wanted to protect them and stop them from sliding around much.

You mean to tell me you have not sanded and gelcoat painted your bilges yet???

Actually, we have. White epoxy paint, not gelcoat, but the same idea. Probably counts as our first "improvement", before we ever put the boat in the water. The Admiral did all of the bilge spaces except under the rear berth [where we never store anything], as well as the interior of the sliding galley. Not only are the surfaces smoother, it's much easier to see what's there, and to keep them clean. It also was very effective in killing the "new fiberglass" odor.

Our Plastimo water bag is the 27"x27" model, ~ 13 gallons. It fills the compartment under the galley quite nicely, so it really doesn't have much room to move about -- has a small electric pump underneath that feeds the sink faucet.

When I pulled the foam out of the space between the dagger board well and the starboard deck side, it took a kitchen garbage bag and a paper grocery sack to hold it, But if it is not under water as the picture on the web site would lead you to believe, is it just added weight?

Compared to foam blocks, or the insulating sheets behind paneling, how does the expanding foam compare for buoyancy and resistance to water absorption (he ask curiously)? Could it be used to fill all sorts of tiny unusable spots like between the cockpit sole and the head liner?

What if you ran wiring and cable through PVC pipe channels and sealed the ends with goop of some kind, would they qualify as floats?

If money is no object, there are flotation bags that mount to the deck and deploy if you start to sink – I can’t remember where I saw them.

But back to the M, I like those spaces around the dagger board for Mods also, I saw someone had put the electrical panel on the port side and radios etc on the starboard. So I am not sure I will be putting those blocks back in a hurry either. But I do see the issue of turtling if the buoyance is to low and the mast fills or its floation is not adiquate.

What about air mattress instead of plastimo flex water tank?

hvolkhart wrote:What about air mattress instead of plastimo flex water tank?

Because that is too easy to think of.
Now we're talkin, not a bad idea, cheap enough anyway and they could quite possibly fit under that rear berth area especially if you get some small child size ones.

Now your thinking.
I'm sure if you used wal$mart the whole pilot system could be installed for less than a movie for two.

Im not that concerned with the boat turning turtle and all that. If it stays afloat you have a something to hold onto, you can be seen, and you have a chance of recovering it if you are holed of course.

Tan - thats exactly the question I posed - what is the effective buoyancy of foam. Polystyrene foam denisty ranges from 25-200kG per m^3, which is about 1-10% the density of water, respectively. If water cant soak into the foam, essentially, its air.

In fact, you can put any inflatable “toy” into any unused space on the boat. Behind the rear berth above the ruder through puts is plenty of “un-used” space to ductape some smaller inflatable toys.

Terry wrote:

hvolkhart wrote:What about air mattress instead of plastimo flex water tank?

Because that is too easy to think of.
Now we're talkin, not a bad idea, cheap enough anyway and they could quite possibly fit under that rear berth area especially if you get some small child size ones.

That's a great idea. Cheap air mattress UNDER the rear berth.

Does anyone use this space for real storage anyway?

And again that would give me another argument for a heavier (ie more HP) engine for the backend. Maybe I'm just grasping but that darn 50 HP Tohatsu won't quit and I would like a bigger engine.

Facts about the display of the Mac in the video, floatation test. That is just what it looks like, a test! I was there. No one knew just how it would look flooded ( well, Roger did from his computer sim). He said it woul float just exactly where it floated, with those bodies on it. The ballast tank was full. The mid-section floatation is still in reserve ( not yet under water ). This boat is very safe even when flooded. Don't worry about your supplies being too heavy, plenty of reserve.

Mike Inmon

mikelinmon was there a full 24 gal of gas and a 70horse 4 stroke on the boat and 3 anchors and basic tools?

How did you pump out the water after the test?