The slideshow below includes all of the photo
galleries listed to the left. Let it run, you'll
see most of the photos in chronological order, or
go straight to a specific gallery listed by
clicking on it. Thanks for looking at the site,
email me with questions or comments.
The 92 MacGregor 26S is a water ballast,
swing-keel, trailerable sailboat. It may not be a
classy old wood boat, or a big keel boat built for
open bluewater, but it's a cool little cruiser for
the kind of sailing we do. I wanted something I
could trailer, raising and lowering the mast alone
when I need to, but still large enough for several
people to spend several nights out on her. A book
titled
"Sailing Big on a Small Sailboat"
got me interested in the older MacGregors, The
classic Macs being anything before they
changed design to the hybrid-motor-sailer they
manufacture now.
Please email me. I'll be happy to answer questions about the boat. Use the link at the bottom of the page.
Our MacGregor 26 Classic.
Sailing has been a favorite past time of mine for a long time. On a trip to Florida, when I was probably about thirteen, my dad wheeled into a place to rent little Sunfish sailboats. After a few minutes of instruction, from the guy at the rental kiosk, I got the chance to sail solo in an ocean bay. That was it, I was addicted from that very first hit, and within several months I traded an old bass guitar amp I had for a little piece-of-crap styrofoam sailboat called a Sea Snark. Since then, I've bought, sold, traded, and wore out more than a dozen little daysailers.
And then . . . my wife and I, as she puts it now, "found ourselves in desperate need of a sport or hobby we could get excited about together". Yeah, she does dive, but she joins me underwater only if I take her to clear ocean water, like Cozumel or the Florida Keys, and even then only to placate me. She'd be happier on her back in the sand with a Sue Grafton novel shading her face than sitting in the dive boat anxious about the trip out to the reef and the upcoming dive.
We were out camping one weekend, you know, the usual fight for a camping spot in a crowded state park, then listen to someone in the camp next to you blare LynardSkynard from thier pick-up truck 'til they pass-out from Bud light consumption about 3:00am. A cruising sailboat pulled into a cove within sight of our camp. Seeing them anchor on the lake for the night got us to thinking about having a sailboat big enough that we could overnight out on it. Within two weeks I had researched options, decided on the brand of boat I wanted, bought one in North Carolina, and we were staring at the windshield of our Ford Escape, on our way to get our new boat we had bought sight unseen.
The MacGregor sailboat we bought fit the bill of a hobby we could get excited about together and a cruising sailboat we could afford on our very limited budget. Actually we couldn't afford it, but our favorite loan officer at Arvest bank helped us with a little arrangement where the bank owns the boat and we pay out the ass each month for 48 months to use it and maintain it for them. We do that for four years and never miss a payment and only then will they let us think about calling it our own.
The MacGregor puts us out on the water for summer weekends. We love sailing, but maybe more than that, we love overnighting on her. Summer nights in quiet coves with a glass of wine and the sounds of the lake and woods surrounding us have become good memories for us the past few years.
Sailboats are fun, completely different than a motor boat. They keep you busy; they're work; they're therapy; and while gas prices go up, we fill our little 3 gallon gas tank about once or twice each summer. Not because we never use the boat, we're out on it 2 or 3 weekends every month through the season. But because you start the motor to get out of the marina, then after about 3 minutes of running at barely half throttle (mind you this is a llittle 4 stroke 9 hp motor that doesn't use any gas anyway) you kill the motor and raise the sheets. More work than running a motor, for sure, but it's busy work that occupies you while you're out in the fresh air and sunshine, instead of sitting on your butt in a motor boat with a Bud Light tipped up over your face. Then we might run the motor a minute or two when we come in. Gas prices going up? Bring it on. It just means the big loud cigarette boats on the lake will be thinned out.
Any questions or comments please email me. I enjoy hearing from people that have found our web site.
©2006 Marshall Hill
got me interested in the older MacGregors, The
classic Macs being anything before they
changed design to the hybrid-motor-sailer they
manufacture now.
Please email me. I'll be happy to answer questions about the boat. Use the link at the bottom of the page.
Our MacGregor 26 Classic.
Sailing has been a favorite past time of mine for a long time. On a trip to Florida, when I was probably about thirteen, my dad wheeled into a place to rent little Sunfish sailboats. After a few minutes of instruction, from the guy at the rental kiosk, I got the chance to sail solo in an ocean bay. That was it, I was addicted from that very first hit, and within several months I traded an old bass guitar amp I had for a little piece-of-crap styrofoam sailboat called a Sea Snark. Since then, I've bought, sold, traded, and wore out more than a dozen little daysailers.
And then . . . my wife and I, as she puts it now, "found ourselves in desperate need of a sport or hobby we could get excited about together". Yeah, she does dive, but she joins me underwater only if I take her to clear ocean water, like Cozumel or the Florida Keys, and even then only to placate me. She'd be happier on her back in the sand with a Sue Grafton novel shading her face than sitting in the dive boat anxious about the trip out to the reef and the upcoming dive.
We were out camping one weekend, you know, the usual fight for a camping spot in a crowded state park, then listen to someone in the camp next to you blare LynardSkynard from thier pick-up truck 'til they pass-out from Bud light consumption about 3:00am. A cruising sailboat pulled into a cove within sight of our camp. Seeing them anchor on the lake for the night got us to thinking about having a sailboat big enough that we could overnight out on it. Within two weeks I had researched options, decided on the brand of boat I wanted, bought one in North Carolina, and we were staring at the windshield of our Ford Escape, on our way to get our new boat we had bought sight unseen.
The MacGregor sailboat we bought fit the bill of a hobby we could get excited about together and a cruising sailboat we could afford on our very limited budget. Actually we couldn't afford it, but our favorite loan officer at Arvest bank helped us with a little arrangement where the bank owns the boat and we pay out the ass each month for 48 months to use it and maintain it for them. We do that for four years and never miss a payment and only then will they let us think about calling it our own.
The MacGregor puts us out on the water for summer weekends. We love sailing, but maybe more than that, we love overnighting on her. Summer nights in quiet coves with a glass of wine and the sounds of the lake and woods surrounding us have become good memories for us the past few years.
Sailboats are fun, completely different than a motor boat. They keep you busy; they're work; they're therapy; and while gas prices go up, we fill our little 3 gallon gas tank about once or twice each summer. Not because we never use the boat, we're out on it 2 or 3 weekends every month through the season. But because you start the motor to get out of the marina, then after about 3 minutes of running at barely half throttle (mind you this is a llittle 4 stroke 9 hp motor that doesn't use any gas anyway) you kill the motor and raise the sheets. More work than running a motor, for sure, but it's busy work that occupies you while you're out in the fresh air and sunshine, instead of sitting on your butt in a motor boat with a Bud Light tipped up over your face. Then we might run the motor a minute or two when we come in. Gas prices going up? Bring it on. It just means the big loud cigarette boats on the lake will be thinned out.
Any questions or comments please email me. I enjoy hearing from people that have found our web site.
©2006 Marshall Hill
News
21 April 2009
Last year I did the DIY thing with a new bottom coating on the boat. Huge job getting the old ablative off. Lots of pics on the mods page. Then used expensive Pettit Vivid primer and paint. But the paint job didn't fair well.
I think I figured out what I did wrong (no thanks to Pettit or the distributor who I couldn't get to return technical support requests).
This year, I couldn't muster the gumption required to do the job myself again. A guy that paints semi trucks and trailers was slow in his shop and accepted the job for about a third or fourth of what several boatyards had bid. Hard finish this time, paint he recommended. The paint looks great. We'll see how it does. He shot a coat on our trailer as well, for another hundred bucks.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21 March 2009
We're going to try something new for the aft berth bed. We've been pretty happy with the futon mattress you see on the reworks and mods page. It's a hell-of-a-lot better than just a foam cushion like the boat came with originally. But we're looking for every place mold can hide and the futon looks like a likely culprit. Things get damp in a boat and then if something doesn't dry out and can't be cleaned off and taken out in the sun occasionally it's going to give your sinuses fits when you sleep in the boat.
I'm going to try this air mattress I've found (link below). It's like the old style camping air mattresses —rubber and cotton. Here's why I'm thinking what I'm thinking. I can deflate it to reclaim room in the boat. This particular one is sturdy enough for camping, and I think it will be comfortable, but it's depth is only 3 inches, so it will leave plenty of headroom. Most air mattresses would put your nose against the ceiling in the aft berth of a classic Mac — they might work in a X or M. I'll let you know how it goes.
Sevylor® Double Box Rubber / Cotton Camping Mattress with Raised Pillow
March 19, 2009
The new bottom paint (Pettit Vivid) I put on last year didn't work. But I'm 99% sure I've figured out what I did wrong. If you're getting ready to do bottom paint and thinking Pettit Vivid, email me, I don't want to rant about it on an active web page, but I do have some info you may be interested in. The window between last coat of primer and first coat of paint is critical.
So now, we're repainting it. This time, found someone with a paint booth big enough to hang the boat and spray it for me. Not going red, but black. Had them shoot a coat on the trailer as well. I'll put pictures up soon.
. . .
This is just a little blog area, to update once in awhile, not daily, probably not even weekly, but check back if you want to see the latest we've got going on with our MacGregor.
21 April 2009
Last year I did the DIY thing with a new bottom coating on the boat. Huge job getting the old ablative off. Lots of pics on the mods page. Then used expensive Pettit Vivid primer and paint. But the paint job didn't fair well.
I think I figured out what I did wrong (no thanks to Pettit or the distributor who I couldn't get to return technical support requests).
This year, I couldn't muster the gumption required to do the job myself again. A guy that paints semi trucks and trailers was slow in his shop and accepted the job for about a third or fourth of what several boatyards had bid. Hard finish this time, paint he recommended. The paint looks great. We'll see how it does. He shot a coat on our trailer as well, for another hundred bucks.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21 March 2009
We're going to try something new for the aft berth bed. We've been pretty happy with the futon mattress you see on the reworks and mods page. It's a hell-of-a-lot better than just a foam cushion like the boat came with originally. But we're looking for every place mold can hide and the futon looks like a likely culprit. Things get damp in a boat and then if something doesn't dry out and can't be cleaned off and taken out in the sun occasionally it's going to give your sinuses fits when you sleep in the boat.
I'm going to try this air mattress I've found (link below). It's like the old style camping air mattresses —rubber and cotton. Here's why I'm thinking what I'm thinking. I can deflate it to reclaim room in the boat. This particular one is sturdy enough for camping, and I think it will be comfortable, but it's depth is only 3 inches, so it will leave plenty of headroom. Most air mattresses would put your nose against the ceiling in the aft berth of a classic Mac — they might work in a X or M. I'll let you know how it goes.
Sevylor® Double Box Rubber / Cotton Camping Mattress with Raised Pillow
March 19, 2009
The new bottom paint (Pettit Vivid) I put on last year didn't work. But I'm 99% sure I've figured out what I did wrong. If you're getting ready to do bottom paint and thinking Pettit Vivid, email me, I don't want to rant about it on an active web page, but I do have some info you may be interested in. The window between last coat of primer and first coat of paint is critical.
So now, we're repainting it. This time, found someone with a paint booth big enough to hang the boat and spray it for me. Not going red, but black. Had them shoot a coat on the trailer as well. I'll put pictures up soon.
. . .
This is just a little blog area, to update once in awhile, not daily, probably not even weekly, but check back if you want to see the latest we've got going on with our MacGregor.
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Member 1992
MacGregor 26S.
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