The Official "What Did You Do To Your Mac Today" Thread!

RussC

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Sep 11, 2015
1,595
Merit 22- Oregon lakes
Got tired of having to dig around in the bilge hatches to retrieve storage containers filled with "stuff" so I put in some drawers today. Sterilite 3 weave on Port and the cheepie Sterilite, with beefed up drawers, on the Starboard side. had to use the cheep ones there because of the more limited space on that side. Now I need to order an ice box refrigerator ;)
P1030548.JPG P1030547.JPG
 

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,532
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
Denver (Cherry Creek res) today trying out that inflatable kayak.






 
Feb 13, 2016
551
macgreggor venture 224 ohio river
Looks like it works good. beautiful pictures, my brother lives about an hour west from there awesome views everywhere
 
Nov 30, 2015
217
MacGregor 26S Lakehills, Tx
Dunno about them mountains, Walt. I used to live at the base of Cheyenne Mountain. It could be a beautiful day, but if the clouds on the summit looked like the foam on a latte', we were going to be buried in snow.....
 

Sumner

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Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country


Pulled the CB back out. I'm not real happy with all the play.


The truck is tapered so I doubt there is that much play up inside???? Is it banging while sailing or just on anchor if it is down???

A link to when I removed mine.....
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/outside-40.html

Sumner
===============================================================
1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...

MacGregor 26-S Mods...http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/endeavour-main/endeavour-index.html
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida, Bahamas
 
Nov 30, 2015
217
MacGregor 26S Lakehills, Tx
The truck is tapered so I doubt there is that much play up inside???? Is it banging while sailing or just on anchor if it is down???
It hasn't been sailing yet. I'm going off of the amount of movement I have while on the trailer, and it is significant.

The CB pin is 1" OD, while the hole in the CB is 1-1/4" ID. There is also the play between the pin and the holes in the brackets. The space between the CB and the S/S bracket is 7/16" on either side of the CB

I'm thinking of 2 courses of action here:

1: Fabricate a bushing that fits over the S/S pin (1" PVC tubing fits nicely, but is prone to cracking)

2. Fabricate large washers from delrin to fit between the sides of the CB and the brackets, but still leave enough space so the CB can rotate freely.


Sumner...... your hull looks so nice..... I'm kind of embarrassed at the picture of mine.
 

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,532
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
How is the "width" compared to the CB that broke? I assume that the hole location in the CB causes it to "rotate" to the optimum angle position in the slot - similar to how a rotating mast will favor the correct position. You need a little angle of attack of the centerboard to generate lift, if it were always exactly in line with the hull, the whole boat has to move with some angle of attack with respect to the actual movement through the water. No angle of attack on the CB, no lift. Im not sure if whomever made that CB had this in mind.. but this is a little bit interesting http://www.usa505.org/rigging/gybing-centerboard

FYI, I just put this video on utube. Its from last year sailing in South Park Colorado (Elevenmile) at 8600 ft el
 
Mar 9, 2009
84
Macgregor 26S New Port Richey, Fl
Summer is correct. The trunk is tapered which secures the centerboard when in the down position. When I painted the bottom, interior of the trunk and the centerboard, I had to sand off several coats of paint from the centerboard so that it would drop freely. Remember the pivot pin is just that, a pivotal point and not to act as a preventer for lateral movement.
 

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,532
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
The taper would mean that the CB is likely does "lodge in" at the top. But the taper doesnt mean that it jams up into there when the CB is lowered. The CB still has to rotate a little to secure itself (as already noted. the pivot pin does not take the load). At least.. my 1990 CB sill has a little slop when all the day down. What I assume.. is that the new CB is not as wide compared to the old one - at the location where it jams in the socket (which is likely at the top because of the taper). If you do nothing, this will result in the new CB needing to rotate more to "jam" in the trunk and then operating at a higher angle of attack than the old one. Likely you got what you got because that is just what they had.. but if the CB behaves like a gybing centerboard.. um... well.. Easy to measure the width of old and new.. and specifically the width where the CB jams in the socket.
 

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,532
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
and.. another thought on the CB.. If the lift center of effort was near and slightly fore or aft of the pivot, you might have the CB "jam" in place with some small angle of attack - which could be a good thing as it could also self jibe.

However... the centerboard is about 5 or 6 foot long so the actual center of effort is I would guess 3 feet below the hull. The lift force this far from the pivot is probably going to result in the CB pressed against horizontal surfaces in the socket - on one side at the bottom of the socket and on the other side at the top of the socket. So instead of operating at an angle of attack with respect to the hull, the CB more likely gets canted a little bit "athwortship" or side to side. If the width of the new CB is less than the old, the canting angle would increase. Good or bad?? Who knows.
 
Nov 30, 2015
217
MacGregor 26S Lakehills, Tx
Thanks for all the responses. That motivated me to climb back under "Mistress" and check the board.
When in the full up position, the leading edge has significant play; it moves back and forth over ~1/2". It is not securely nested in the well.
The board itself is the same thickness as the old board, and the pivot hole is the same diameter, so everything appears to be stock.

The gearhead in me came up with a new idea. I fabricated two thick washers from rubber to fit over the pivot pin on either side of the CB, between the CB and the S/S support brackets. These washers are very flexible and (should) crush under the lifting forces of the CB, yet retain their shape and cushion the CB while at anchor.

Thoughts? Am I going overboard on something that really doesn't need to be addressed? I haven't overnighted on Mistress yet, so I don't have the practical experience of being kept awake by a CB knocking back and forth all night.
 

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,532
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
hmm... now you have me wondering how I could modify things and possibly turn my 1990 26S CB into a "self jibing centerboard". If you google that phrase, all sorts of stuff comes up. . I have not really looked at this at all.. just something to "ponder"...
 
Nov 30, 2015
217
MacGregor 26S Lakehills, Tx
hmm... now you have me wondering how I could modify things and possibly turn my 1990 26S CB into a "self jibing centerboard". If you google that phrase, all sorts of stuff comes up. . I have not really looked at this at all.. just something to "ponder"...

From what I understand...at least by the non-technical explanation at this site:
https://www.eskimo.com/~mighetto/murrelet/Wordpress/archives/844
We already have a self-gibing CB.......
 

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,532
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
I convinced myself that the stock setup is NOT self jibing (bottom part of post 1531).. That link has a gif showing the CB set at two different angles but Im fairly sure just outside the picture there is someone manually rotating the foil. There is of course enough slop in the fit (and the oversize hanger hole) to allow this.

However, if you were to simulate the actual lift of the foil by applying a vector force at the center of effort (about 3 foot down) and essentially normal to the foil (ie, in the direction of the lift vector), I dont believe the CB would do like shown in that gif. It would instead move to the side and flat against the surface of the trunk. Apply the force in the opposite direction (3 foot down with the correct vector) and the CB now just cants over to the other set of surfaces. I dont think it will change its angle of attack doing this.
 
Nov 30, 2015
217
MacGregor 26S Lakehills, Tx
I took a break from the bottom of the boat and went topsides today:


In this shot, we can see where the gelcoat is rubbed off by the sliding hatch. There was so much grit and grime under the rail that it took almost an hour to scrub off, and that was after power-washing her down and spraying these area's.



In this shot, the arrows point to the 1-1/2" x 48" 16 gauge aluminum strip that I inserted under the original rail as a rub surface.
Yeah, you have to look closely since the rubrail itself looks the same color as the boat.....
It was a real simple mod. The original screws were replaced with 1" long screws to accommodate the extra thickness. I believe that all the screws except the one furthest aft could be re-utilized. Those 2 are 3/4" in length, and are just too short for the additional thickness.
I would have liked to use aluminum strips in 2" width, but it was way too thick for the intended purpose.

On a side note - I installed the CB with the rubber washers. Side to side motion is reduced, and there is enough space for the CB to swing freely
 
Last edited:
Feb 15, 2015
22
Venture 25 Memphis, TN
Today I finished up installing a 2000 gph bilge pump. It can run automatically with a float switch, or on command. It was a bit frightening drilling through the hull on the starboard side behind the cockpit bulkhead head, but I hit the bullet & let 'er rip. When everything was hooked up, I threw the garden hose in the 'bilge' & waited. Everything worked as designed. It'seems very quiet, I may install a pump alarm on the auto side so i'Lloyd know when it's running.
 
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Feb 13, 2016
551
macgreggor venture 224 ohio river
I did the same with the alarm and put a small 500 gph on other side of keel hump but after taking out the original speed and depth finders and sealing over with fiberglass I havnt needed and hope I dont
 
Nov 30, 2015
217
MacGregor 26S Lakehills, Tx
What I haven't done over the last couple weeks is to put "Mistress" back on the water. The torrential rains in Central Texas have pushed the water levels in the local lake up over 6ft. As of yesterday, the lake is at 100% capacity. Unfortunately, flooding brought other problems: