Newest owner of a 26X

[OverEasy]

They just last longer where ever ya’ll want ‘ya put ‘em ‘tis’all…

[TheLandlady]

Has anyone got any experience washing the carpets? I took them out and brought them home, not sure if I should just shake out and vacuum them or if they would survive the washing machine or something in the middle, maybe a scrub down with a deck brush and hose off to air dry. Any advice Would be much appreciated. The admiral plans to replace them at some point with something more stylish and easy to clean like a foam imitation teak or something like that, but the carpet is still in good shape just dirty so I want to hold off on spending on that.

[Jimmyt]

I would spray a little greased lightning, or other degreaser of your choice on them, work it in with a soft bristle brush, then hit them with the pressure washer. After that, get out the wet vac and get as much of the water out as possible. Then, put them in a dry place for a week or two.

[OverEasy]

You got carpets?
Me no got carpets

Me sort of like have no carpet to clean.
Wet mop and vacuum or use a touch of mop n glow.

We have cleaned various indoor & outdoor carpets over the years.
On Small carpet sections like what one would expect on a Mac26X generally clean up nicely with a little simple green, a stiff brush, a hose and a good wet vacuum followed by hanging them up in sunlight and breeze.

They would be too small to use a Rug Doctor…

[kmclemore]

I've got carpets in mine as well. Not sure where I got them, but I ordered them about 15 years ago and they're still holding up OK. I've often considered replacing them with a teak-and-holly flooring (I happen to have a 4x8 sheet of the stuff) but I never seem to get around to it. Too many projects!

[OverEasy]

Teak and holly…..
Now that would look nice!

If the carpets fit nicely then you already have your templates! Lucky you!

We’re still so new to our Mac26X that we are still enamored with how easy it is to clean up (sort of like a bathtub just spray-wipe-shine

(Mind you if we ever get to cruise in colder waters on a regular basis we will be quick to change our tune to keep the toes warm! )

[TheLandlady]

Quick project today, between hurricane showers:
I managed to fix something for free!
The aft leads for the furler line didn’t seem to make much sense, the angles left the line rubbing on the fiberglass and the stanchion mounted one didn’t seem appropriate, looked like a block would make more sense. Before I ran to west marine I decided to experiment with relocation before replacement, and it turned out to work really well!










I forgot before pics but the rusty spot is where it was originally located, and the same spot where I replaced the plastic lead with the metal one due to extreme wear. I relocated it up on the fore stanchion in a spot I think fits perfectly, and when threaded thru the three leads the furler line is now out of the way of the anchor locker, out of the way of the foot path forward, and floats above the deck all the way to the cleat. Any tips on how to polish up that rusty spot, and the other spots I have on the stainless around the boat?

Also I inspected the entire anchor system and the locker was full of mud from the last time it was stowed, I took the whole rode chain and anchor out of and hung it to dry and stacked it back in after I was done with the rest. Fits like a glove, line and tackle is in fine shape... I’m surprised at how much I don’t have to do with this boat to feel comfortable for the first voyage.

Also noticed, however, that the mast is missing a cap. Is this necessary?




Cheers!

[OverEasy]

Nice relocation!!!

Elbow grease and vinegar, more elbow grease with water/soft cloth/baking soda, fresh water rinse. Follow up with a very little bit of carnauba wax locally rubbed in, allow to haze, then buff with soft cloth.

Mast cap….. we need one too!
BWY has them…. Just need to get around to order it

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[TheLandlady]

So I may have stated before but I’m a pilot and live in VT but work on the Cape, and I rent a room as a crash pad for when I’m on duty down there. My landlord is a real nice guy, super interesting and involved in a myriad of enterprises. Lots of stuff going on on the property, from scrap metal to horses to a commercial radio tower...

When I first got it, i told him about the Mac, and he says “no $&!+, I didn’t know you were a blowboater, I used to have a MacGregor too, a 26S”

Very cool, small world. I can’t wait to take him out for a spin.
So this week as I was leaving for my last day of work on Monday AM, i was handing him my check for September and finally asked him about the 17” Magma Kettle he had sitting outside the workshop on his property, just gathering dust. He said it used to be on his boat for years. it’s the model before the hinge lid was introduced, and he hasn’t been able to get it working properly, and finally he just says “you know what, It’s yours now” and I asked how much he wanted and he just shook his head and said no charge.

You don’t have to twist my arm, so I loaded it up and went to work, and left for home in VT right as my shift ended around 8pm.

I got home, next morning laid it out piece by piece and found everything to be in good shape, but missing the Venturi and regulator, which aren’t super cheap but available with overnight shipping on Amazon, so I went for it. Also the clamp on the L
bracket is definitely not up to snuff so I got one of those too, and for about $75 and a nice clean up I’m very excited to have a rail mount propane grill for the boat.

[OverEasy]

Sweet!

[Russ]

We love our Magma Grill. Use it for everything from burgers to pizza.

Interesting lid. Has a nice safety line on it. Clever.

[NiceAft]

I've got a rectangular Magma for the rails of Nice Aft. What's really nice are the legs that fold out. Great for picnics ashore.

As to carpets; there is a product called Capture. There is an initial spray, and then a powder to brush in. When dry, you just vacuum.

When I did furniture repair, I would also be asked to do carpet cleaning. I subcontracted all of that work to a fellow (Randy) who was just amazing. He informed me about Capture for my home use. Randy passed away, and I tested another fellow to clean my home carpets. he did a terrible job, and left a brown stain (insurance claim). Afterwards I used Capture to try and remove the stain. I should have listened to Randy.

I also replaced my carpet years ago. The pattern besides looking good, camouflages dirt until shaking out.

[TheLandlady]

~~~~Maiden Voyage~~~~

So i brought the Mac home from the cape last week, and my wife and I left early AM to head up to Mallett's Bay on Champlain to launch on Saturday the 11th. Plan was to go out thru the Cut and spend the night on Valcour Island, maybe grab dinner at the Mariner, and return on Sunday the 12th to de rig and drive home.

we arrived at the ramp around 11am or so after a stop at west marine for a chart and a deli for some snacks and ice. both the lower paved and upper giant dirt parking lots were filled with bass boat pickup trucks, there was a tournament going on that day, but we found a spot up top to experiment with raising the mast. this would be my second mast raising and my wife's first. i had to backtrack a few times but it was ready to go by about 1:30pm.

we trailer it down to the ramp, i back it in the water, and before disconnecting the hook i wanted to start the motor.
so i turn the red switch on and prime the bulb. i turn the key to on and drop the motor in the water.
i try to start it, and get nothing but a quiet whirring sound from inside the cowl.
i take it off, and see the starter is spinning, but not nearly fast enough to engage the teeth on the flywheel.
dead battery! i try battery two, also dead but enough juice left to raise the motor, so i pull it back out and go back up to our spot on the ramp.

my truck has an 115v inverter, and i have shore power on the boat with a battery charger. so, i ran the diesel for a while trying to get the charger to turn green. i think its more for powering a laptop or charging a phone, not a marine starter battery. after about an hour or so without much progress, i called the marina next door and asked them about a jumpstart. and they offered me a jumper pack. we went down to the ramp again, now about 3:30 or so, and the bass tournament was coming back to weigh in, with a flotilla of no less than 50 bass boats waiting in line to return to the ramp. so i just got in line, waited my turn, dropped the boat in and tried to jumpstart it for about a half hour. no luck, but met lots of new people lol. one mac owner as well, a nice lady named Ann with a 19. anyway i had to return the jumper pack and we decided to break down the mast and spend the night at the Lone Pine campground down on the other end of the bay.

we got a site with water and electric, so i figured a real power supply could charge my battery overnight and i could test it in the morning with the earmuffs. so i set it up and detached the boat and we got dinner at the Pickled Perch, came back and had a campfire and spent our first night together in the boat on land, The Landlady. fitting!

next morning, the starter battery was HOT. i unplugged it and removed both batteries and decided to go get them checked out before starting anything. wife stayed sleeping while i went shopping. the deep cycle/starter hybrid from west marine was at about 8v, and it was from 2018, and the walmart marine starter batery had no date on it and was reading 4v or less. so, new batteries. got back, installed them, put the earmuffs on the engine and it fired right up. great! now the plan was to go back and day sail around mallets bay, the wind picked up overnight and some gloomy weather but it was supposed to steadily improve over the day.

we got to the ramp and it was empty, stark contrast from the bass tournament the day before. we were the only ones there, except for a dude who came walking up from direction of Mazza's saying "Hey nice Mac!" and told me he was from albany, he and his wife have a 26D and they sailed it over from plattsburgh to mallets bay this weekend and was about to head back home. small world.

we got the mast rigged again in much less time, got down to the ramp, and started the motor right up. i flooded the ballast, dehooked the trailer from the boat, tied up to the dock, and pulled the truck out to park. came back to the boat, cast off the dock, went to shift to reverse and... the shifter broke and the throttle just revved up in neutral. quick jump back to the dock holding a line and i was back to diagnosis.

i have a 2008 mercury 2 stroke 50, and i opened up the pedastal to see what was wrong with the shifter. i found that where the shifter cable attaches to the throttle arm unit, it has a little black cylinder molded around the brass sleeve of the cable. that cylinder split in half, so the cable would just freely move with the sleeve instead of the sleeve staying put. i jerry rigged it with some duct tape and we were finally on our way!

the boat is so great. we got out to the middle of inner mallet's bay, dropped the rudders, raised the motor, and unfurled the genoa. a gust of wind took my hat over board and we tried to rescue it but its dark blue and went out of sight pretty quick. if anyone finds a blue Cessna hat in mallet's bay let me know! anyway a steady port side beam reach took us right out into outer mallets bay, where the wind started to pick up. foresail only, we were able to get about 7-8kts thru the water. i had put the mainsail on the boom, but sadly it seemed like it isnt in the best shape and i didnt want to shred a sail on my first outing. the genoa is missing some stitching in some spots but it worked just fine as we did laps tacking around outer mallets bay for a few hours.

the sun started getting low and we still had to drive home about 90 minutes once packed up, so we furled the sail and started the motor. the shifter cable again broke, but it was just a failure of the duct tape so i was quick to fix it. while messing around with that, we saw a boat was coming out of the marina next door whose lines looked vaguely familiar. getting closer, i said to my wife "hey thats a 26X..." and sure enough they were coming right for us. within a few minutes we were rafted up with none other than OverEasy, and they broke out some champagne to help us celebrate the maiden voayge. we floated and talked for a few hours about boats and life and dogs and kids and couldn't have had a better ending to the day. navlights on, we split up and headed in to the ramp while they landed back at the marina where they've had a slip for a few weeks. very small world! he helped me demast the boat and rig it for the highway, and it took way longer than i thought but eventually we were back on our way home. such a great day, the boat is wonderful! pics included soon

cheers!

[Russ]

Great trip report! I'd be terrified on the ramp with a bass tourny floatilla.

So nice to meet up with fellow board members. Overeasy has been a great forum contributor.

Kevin recently met up with them also, I don't know if Kevin is still up on the lake.

I have one of those small jumper packs I keep onboard just in case. Sounds like your batteries were beyond shot.

[ris]

Nice story, glad it all worked out.
Richard