Expanding Capabilities

Tedd

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Jul 25, 2013
745
TES 246 Versus near Vancouver, BC
We currently have a 1995 Macgregor 26S that we love. It does everything we expected it to do and has been (and probably will be for a while longer) an excellent first boat. But we do find it a bit limiting for longer trips. We'd like to have standing headroom, a pump-out head, and perhaps better cooking arrangements. A better anchor arrangement would be nice, too. It seems like we will probably have to go to something not trailerable to achieve all of those things, but I'm interested in suggestions people have for a boat that's trailerable but has the capabilities I mentioned. For clarity, by trailerable I mean "practical to keep in the driveway and launch each time it's sailed," not "physically possible to tow."
It looks like the Hunter might be pretty close to what we want. Besides that, are there other good choices? We'd be looking at used, not new. I'm pretty certain there's nothing new that would meet our requirements and be within our budget.
 
Apr 8, 2010
1,942
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
Everything depends on your tow vehicle capabilities.
A 70's Ericson 25 would give you much of your want list. Moving down in build, a Catalina 25 would do pretty well. There is setup and take down time to consider, as you have mentioned.
 

Tedd

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Jul 25, 2013
745
TES 246 Versus near Vancouver, BC
Everything depends on your tow vehicle capabilities.
That's a really good point that I should have mentioned. We're hoping to go to one vehicle soon, so ideally the boat would be something that can be towed with a vehicle small enough that my wife is comfortable driving it day to day, which might rule out a full-size pickup. However, if we were happy enough with the boat we might be prepared to have a second vehicle big enough to tow it. (Or, looked at another way, a second vehicle small enough for my wife to drive day to day!)
 

Tedd

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Jul 25, 2013
745
TES 246 Versus near Vancouver, BC
There is setup and take down time to consider, as you have mentioned.
That part I'm not quite so fussed about, so long as there's the potential to improve the rigging time. I have the Mac so we can launch with the mast down (no time sitting at the boat launch) and rig it in a few minutes while we're motoring out. In principle that ought to be possible with most trailerable boats, but the design of some might make that harder to achieve.
 
Apr 8, 2010
1,942
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
If buying a compact pickup truck, shop carefully. There are models with towing options, but you will need to do your research. For instance we owned a Mazda B-4000 for over a decade that (lucky us) did have the factory tow package - larger brakes and a rated gross tow weight of almost 6K pounds. This included a factory viscous limited slip differential. For a two-wheel dive configuration this was a very versatile vehicle. Five speed HD automatic transmission, as well.
Never a major repair in over 180K miles. Ford Ranger (sister vehicle...) should have made a few of these as well.
Good luck!
 

Sumner

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Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
...We'd like to have standing headroom, a pump-out head, and perhaps better cooking arrangements. A better anchor arrangement would be nice, too.....
Can't help you with more standing headroom on the Mac but I did...

... install a pump-out head but we still prefer the Double Doodie head on trips. More here on both ...

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/inside-index.html


I added two anchor rollers and good anchors which all works really well, more here...

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/rigging-index.html

I think you will find that anything that has more of what you are looking for is going to be quite a bit heavier than the Mac requiring a large tow vehicle unless it is short tows. Also there aren't many boats that launch and setup as quickly and as easily as what you have now.

How long are you out for? We love the Mac for 2 week or longer trips and it can be self-contained for those. Been on it over a month with two and I was on alone for 3 months on the Bahama trip. Good luck with your search,

Sumner
===============================================================================
1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...
MacGregor 26-S Mods...
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Canada, Florida, Bahamas
 
Jul 1, 1998
3,062
Hunter Legend 35 Poulsbo/Semiahmoo WA
Back in 1985 we were looking at moving up to a Catalina 25 tall-rig from a Falcon 16 daysailer and bought the tow vehicle, a "heavy-half" F-150. Made the mistake of going to a boat show and got a bigger boat but still have the F-150, but now with classic car plates!

Can sure see the possibilities for destinations to Ucluelet, Tofino, Port McNeill, Port Hardy ...
60mph/100kph up a highway is a lot faster than slogging along at 6 knots. With a bigger boat you'll have more amenities and headroom but you'll miss getting there faster.
IMG_7650.JPG
 

Tedd

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Jul 25, 2013
745
TES 246 Versus near Vancouver, BC
Sumner:

Thank you, very informative, as usual! Where exactly did you mount the pump-out fitting? I couldn't quite tell from the photos.

The longest we've been out for is three days and two nights, which we've done a few times. We had a week-long trip planned in September but I injured myself in August and we had to cancel it. We'll probably do it this coming summer, plus many more over-nighters. I guess we'll know more once we've spent a week on the boat.

Right now the only serious limitation is the port-a-potty. We can live with the headroom and whatnot, at least for a few more years. But, looking ahead to when I stop working, we'll want to spend more long stretches on the boat and we'll be less agile. Perhaps at that point we'll have to get something non-trailerable.
 

Tedd

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Jul 25, 2013
745
TES 246 Versus near Vancouver, BC
Interesting you should mention that, John. In the back of my mind I've kind of wanted a classic pickup. I had a 71 Fargo many years ago and it would be fun to have one like it again. I'll have to see if I can talk the first mate into that!
 
Aug 22, 2011
1,113
MacGregor Venture V224 Cheeseland
Sumner:

Thank you, very informative, as usual! Where exactly did you mount the pump-out fitting? I couldn't quite tell from the photos.

The longest we've been out for is three days and two nights, which we've done a few times. We had a week-long trip planned in September but I injured myself in August and we had to cancel it. We'll probably do it this coming summer, plus many more over-nighters. I guess we'll know more once we've spent a week on the boat.

Right now the only serious limitation is the port-a-potty. We can live with the headroom and whatnot, at least for a few more years. But, looking ahead to when I stop working, we'll want to spend more long stretches on the boat and we'll be less agile. Perhaps at that point we'll have to get something non-trailerable.

I'm with Sumner on the port a pottie. I converted our portable tank type port a pot to a wag bag system.
From the outside it still looks like a usual port a pottie but internally the guts are changed to a 3 gallon bucket with a tight fitting lid.
The wag bags are easy to handle, easy to store when full, and easy to dispose of.
I couldn't stand handling the old tank on the port a pot.

Most of the contents of ours are Admiral by-products....
 

Tedd

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Jul 25, 2013
745
TES 246 Versus near Vancouver, BC
Have you looked at Hake Seawards?
Thanks, I had not heard of those before. They look a bit pricey, but it might be worth it if they can meet all of my requirements at once.
Tedd (other Dragonfly)
 
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Jul 1, 2010
962
Catalina 350 Lake Huron
Concerning Seawards. They meet all your criteria except one. There's no way we would ever consider day sailing ours and launching it each time. For me, it's not worth it unless we can spend at least a week where we are going. Locally, we keep it in a slip and it gets used a lot that way. Great boats otherwise. Plenty of room and sail well.

On the head situation, why not just get rid of the porta potty and put in a composter. When we got our Seaward, I thought the marine head would be the answer to all things potty. Well... a 10 gal holding tank is not large enough. That, and the issues we went through getting the Jabsco head to work like it should. We did finally, and then decided to replace it with a C-head compotser. One of the best things we did to the boat.
 

Tedd

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Jul 25, 2013
745
TES 246 Versus near Vancouver, BC
There's no way we would ever consider day sailing ours and launching it each time.
Yes, I noticed that seemed to be a weak point in comparison to some other trailerables. One person mentioned 1.5 hours to rig one for launching, which I agree is way too much. But I'm wondering what the potential is to improve on that? My Macgregor used to take me 45 minutes to rig and launch when I first got it, but I've refined the system and have it down to a fraction of that. I don't even step the mast on the trailer, I just pull up, launch like a power boat, and rig while I'm motoring out. (Which, to be fair, takes two people, but so far I've always had someone with me.)
 
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Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
I have an idea for a mast raising system that would, if it work the way I envision it, make it much easier and faster. Lifting the mast on and off the tabernacle would be the hardest part. I wanted to make one for Dragonfly first before I showed it off, but I'd be happy to tell you about it if you're looking for something really fast and easy. There would be no parts to setup or break down. It's all part of the boat.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 

Tedd

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Jul 25, 2013
745
TES 246 Versus near Vancouver, BC
It's all part of the boat.
Yes, I'm very interested in hearing about that. The system I have now stays permanently attached to the mast deck fitting, except for the baby stays (which are attached by carbiners and get stowed in the anchor box once the mast is up.) It's still in prototype form and I'm too ashamed of the fabrication to publish pictures. But it should be camera ready in the spring and then I'll post something.
 
Last edited:
Aug 22, 2011
1,113
MacGregor Venture V224 Cheeseland
Yes, I noticed that seemed to be a weak point in comparison to some other trailerables. One person mentioned 1.5 hours to rig one for launching, which I agree is way too much. But I'm wondering what the potential is to improve on that? My Macgregor used to take me 45 minutes to rig and launch when I first got it, but I've refined the system and have it down to a fraction of that. I don't even step the mast on the trailer, I just pull up, launch like a power boat, and rig while I'm motoring out. (Which, to be fair, takes two people, but so far I've always had someone with me.)

All last summer I began mast raising/lowering on the water, and since I mostly single hand now I do it myself. Gets me out of a hot parking lot and away from other vehicles. Takes about 30 minutes at a slow pace. I don't know why I didn't rig to do that much sooner.