I am the proud new (FIRST TIME) owner of an '82 Macgregor 25. I have it in the water at Lake Lanier (Atlanta). I have the mast up but haven't put the boom on yet. I'm worried about tuning the stays and shrouds. Do I need a tension gauge? I want to mount a Davis Windex 10 and I have a 36" stainless steel antenna I want to mount up there too. One friend says drop the mast right there in the marina slip, do the work, and raise it back up. Another friend says to use ascenders and go up the mast and mount everything and be done with it. Can you go up the Mac25 mast? I am not sure I can get the mast back up by myself. What advice is out there for someone like me who is such a newbie!! I am so proud to have a Macgregor. I think people don't know how cool these boats are. It's no wonder it's in the Hall of Fame. Give me a year and I will have a showpiece. Don't tell me the purse and sow's ear junk because I'm not hearing it. LOL
'82 Mac25 mast work...step or climb?
- Thread starter morningdewman
- Start date
Welcome!!
I remember that day. These boats are a blast. Had mine dancing on Buzzards Bay last weekend.
It is easy to drop the mast. I do it every time I sail. Use your jib halyard to secure it while you release the fore stay. Make sure your crutch is in place. With two people it is easy but I do it myself a lot too. You kind of look like the guys raising the flag in Iwo Jima! I put a Windex 10 on mine and a two foot whip antenna on top. I use the Mac Manual (available on this site) and Rodgers advice for tensioning the rig. I always disconnect the back stay when raising the mast. Too tight and the boat just gets skinnier. There are some great posts on it here. Lots of mods and experience. I have posted a bunch myself. Some of them are new winch, led bulbs, two batteries, new wiring, lift off trailer, new motor mount,grill mount, rebed windows three times, remove interior ceiling and paint interior and refinish wood, new compass, new chart plotter fish finder, remove and refinnish keel twice, rename boat ceremony (important) rebed all through deck hardware, rewire mast and all lights, replace all running and standing rigging. It goes on and on.
Happy Sailing!!
Ken B.
CMDRE - North East Trailer Sailors
I remember that day. These boats are a blast. Had mine dancing on Buzzards Bay last weekend.
It is easy to drop the mast. I do it every time I sail. Use your jib halyard to secure it while you release the fore stay. Make sure your crutch is in place. With two people it is easy but I do it myself a lot too. You kind of look like the guys raising the flag in Iwo Jima! I put a Windex 10 on mine and a two foot whip antenna on top. I use the Mac Manual (available on this site) and Rodgers advice for tensioning the rig. I always disconnect the back stay when raising the mast. Too tight and the boat just gets skinnier. There are some great posts on it here. Lots of mods and experience. I have posted a bunch myself. Some of them are new winch, led bulbs, two batteries, new wiring, lift off trailer, new motor mount,grill mount, rebed windows three times, remove interior ceiling and paint interior and refinish wood, new compass, new chart plotter fish finder, remove and refinnish keel twice, rename boat ceremony (important) rebed all through deck hardware, rewire mast and all lights, replace all running and standing rigging. It goes on and on.
Happy Sailing!!
Ken B.
CMDRE - North East Trailer Sailors
Welcome aboard. I have been up my mast, but my boat has a proper masthead (not blocks attached to the sides of the mast) and I used some hi tech line as a temporary halyard to ascend on. It would be far easier, and safer, to back your boat into your slip, lower the mast, then position the boat in the slip so the end of the mast is over the dock. These boats are good sailing and easily customized to ones preferences. Checkout my u-tube channel for lots of Mac videos. Sailingwiththecuscus
Ditto, you don't want to try and do that work at the top of a mast when you don't have to. The Mac is so light that if you do it the boat will probably be rolling all over the place and hopefully you don't end up like in the Mac info video where they are holding the boat on its side in the water with the mast down on the dock. Maybe just do that to work on it....just kidding!!
I bought a Mast Mate Climbing System ..
.... to climb the Endeavour's mast and ..
... even using that it is very hard to hold on and get anything done up there and ...
... it is a long ways down. This is on a boat that is on stands, weighs 20,000+ lbs. and isn't rolling around on the water.
I wanted to change the anchor light to LED, and had intended to do it myself, but once up the mast this past spring to look things over and I wasn't looking forward to that. Jon who was working on his boat next to me and is half my age and makes his living as a tree trimmer offered to do it. I took him up on it and in return did some glass work on his boat for him and his wife. I doubt, seeing him do it, that I could of pulled it off. The old light had to come off and a couple new holes had to be drilled and the wires cut and spliced back together and the new light secured. A lot to do when you also have to hang on and this with a system that has added benefits over using ascenders (I had considered them also).
Drop the mast and do the work at ground level, even if you are on a short ladder there. You won't regret it.
I bought a gauge to tension my standing rigging and was surprised at how light I had been tensioning it before and that was pinning the forestay and then tightening up the turnbuckle. I'll guarantee if you can pin it and leave it like that it isn't tensioned that high, but still hundreds sail their trailer boats that way. I personally make sure I don't have any slack in the shrouds under any conditions. Some will say that if the shrouds are a little slack on the lee side that is ok. Mine aren't but that probably is a personal decision, so you will have to decide what you want,
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
That is one of the many reasons my boat is at Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage. Owned and run by sailors
,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, Wyoming, Canada, Florida, Bahamas
Okay. I have to share with you how good it feels to own a boat that puts me in touch with such great folks. Thank you! Thank you for the replies. I have started to put together a raising system. I have a 2x2 steel tube with a winch and a grooved caster mounted on it. I am not sure but I'm thinking about mounting a chromed U-bracket to the deck just aft of the fore hatch opening to hold it when in use. It's what they use to hold bathroom stall partitions to the walls and looks nice. I'm hoping that all that's left is to rig it to the bow and sides. I will report on the outcome. I'm going to mount a Davis Windex and a 3' steel VHF antenna along with some maintenance work. Next is the bottom and the rudder.
Have you seen the factory setup for the S and maybe the D also? I have pictures of it here....
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/rigging-2.html
If it looks like it would work on the 25 then maybe copy i,t as it is a proven system,
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