Enough Floatation?

[Matthew Engelman]

Greetings all!I am the proud new owner of a 1986 Mac 25. The cabin of this boat has been fairly heavily modified (galley moved, head unenclosed, some scary electrical work etc.) and we have our work cut out for us. Nevertheless she is a fine craft and we are looking forward to rolling up our sleeves. My one question (for now) is this: The area directly underneath the cockpit in our boat is currently used for storage but is not very accessible. It doesn't really look like it's meant for storage and I can't help but wonder if its not supposed to be filled with foam blocks and serve as a floatation chamber. I know the Mac 25 is supposed to be bouyant when flooded. The area under the V-berth is full of foam and there are a few blocks kicking around under the starboard stern quarter...should there be more?Thanks in advance!Matt

 

[Doug Rodrigues]

Styrofoam blocks...

Logically speaking, if your boat doesn't have those styrofoam blocks under the cockpit in the stern, how can it float? I've got a MacGregor 22. Even with all that styrofoam stuffed at both ends of the hull, I'm still not certain that my boat wouldn't sink. Using "eyeball engineering," and not knowing the density of the foam, it looks close to barely supporting the boat weight. As I have access to more foam, I'll stuff it all into every non-liveable space I can find.Anyway, that's my two cents.Doug

 

[Dave West]

Fill 'er up

Someone once showed me a photcopy of some sales material that was originally printed, I believe, for the Venture/Mac 25. I talked about the "unsinkabilty" of the Macgregor and showed a factory rep drilling a 2 inch hole in the bottom and letting it sink under very controlled circumstances. It did float, but the water was at the rub rail and there was only one or two people standing on the deck. There were no waves and there was no heavy gear inside. Macgregor said VERY PLAINLY that this outcome was posible ONLY if ALL the flotation was in place and the keel was locked down. I don't know what constitutes "all the flotation" means, but my '82 Mac came with it in every compartment. I took it all out, inspected it cleaned it and CAREFULLY put it all back and it filled the areas under the cockpit sole and the V berth. Some of the old manuals are posted @ www.moane.com (Macgregor Owners Association of New England)