finished the cabin mods - macgregor 26s

[breweraz]

After a month of work the cabin is finished. We wanted to dress her up a little and and make it more comfortable for overnight stays. I posted more pic and decriptions of the mods in my album section. To view click on my user name and then view the albums located on the right side of the profile page.

Tim

 

[Blake]

It looks great! I would like to see more pics. What is the stainless steel thing in the aft birth?

 

[breweraz]

Thanks

Those are stainless bread boxes from IKEA. We use them as storage. Additional pics are in my album on this site.

 

[oreana123]

Hi Breweraz

Your work looks great. I have a question about the plumbing of your sink. Do you have any idea if water will intrude and if so what have you done to prevent it? I am thinking about moving my sink outboard as well. Any problems with the height differential and draining? Thanks John S

 

[breweraz]

John,

To connect the sink drain I used the standard drain down tube, connected to a flexible rubber coupler, then a PVC fittings with threads and a 90 degree elbow to step down the sink down tube to the hose size required to fit to the starboard drain. I placed silicone around the joints before tightening with hose clamps. The 90 degree angle is required to make the turn to align with the hull drain tube and not kink the hose. It is a straight line with no check valve. I used the reinforced tubing, less than a foot. The sink actually drains better than before due to less tube for the water to travel through. Tight and sealed couplings is the key.

We do have a rubber plug in the sink that is used to hold water for washing dishes. We leave it in place when sailing. We have sailed in some high winds with heavy heel to starboard with no breach. I tihink it would take a lot of pressure for water to make its way up that high, push out the drain plug and splash. So far, no such problems and it works great.

My challenge with a swing keel was getting the position right to cut hole and not impact the keel line and block. I do not know D cconfiguration or if that is an issue. I did not want to relocate the keel line. The best sink to use would be one without the pre cut holes. I could not find one in town but have seen them online. I think they are 15 inch square.

Hope this answers you question.

Tim

 

[Robspan]

I agree. The mods look great.
I see, though, that you have the stock companionway step. I got the larger one from Idasailor, and love it. It's an extra seat, and a shelf to keep items like flashlight, water, etc. handy when you're sleeping in the bunk. It's also easier to stand on a bigger step.
http://www.idasailor.com/catalog/pr...d=714&osCsid=78d77824922c8aa3f4bcdbf863c5e8ff

And in case anyone asks, no, I have no affiliation with Idasailor except as a satisfied customer.

 

[Doug J]

Oh Yeah! Now that looks great! Very nice work! And inspirational! I like your cushions, especially the storage box/armrest, good idea I haven't seen yet. That's something I need to tackle, our settee cushions are sad. Nice woodwork, it really warms up the interior.

I think I'm gonna have to pirate some of your ideas. :~)

 

[Blake]

I love the breadbox! I have been considering wood flooring as well. Did you use a Lowes type snap together laminate? We would also like to recover our cushions - yours look great!

 

[Jansen]

Your rear queen bed looks like carpet instead of cushions. What did you do there? I've thot of using a queen blow up bed instead of cushions.

 

[breweraz]

The futon is rolled up and is the white pillow looking thing you see. The base is carpet. I understand that the blow up will be a better option for areas that have high humidity. In AZ we run 8% - 12% so things dry out and mold is not a problem.

 

[breweraz]

to Doug

If you need any help or more details let me know.


to Blake:

The flooring is laminate plank. The planks are rubber backed and "waterproof" The brand we used is from Home Depot and is called Traffic master. It runs under $50 for 23 sq feet, more than enough for the 26s sole. Each piece is a 4 inch by 3 ft plank that attaches to itself with a sticky adhesive. There is no glue on the side in contact with the sole so it can be easily removed as it wears or is damaged.

It is easy to put down. Just stagger the planks, lay and stick together. You have to make some fiitment cuts but easily done with a sharp blade.

Tim

 

[walt]

Looks really nice. I like the dark color wood..

Just curious if you did the cushions yourself (they also look great). Cusions will probably be my next major project..

It also looks very clean!!! My boat typically looks like picture (including the cushion falling apart) - the dog cant even find a soft place to pass out.

 

[breweraz]

Thanks, Yes we did them ourselves. My admiral's sewing ability was required to make it work. If interested I can send pics of how I built the cushons...no help from me on the sewing part though.

The cleaniliness and organization is the admirals requirements and far be it from me to question the admiral's orders....especially when I have my list of "required" rigging expenses coming up. Our deal she handles the inside I handle the outside...it seems to work best that way.

 

[Blake]

I was also impressed with the cleanliness of you boat, Tim. I have to admit that mine tends to look more like Walt's, dog and all!

 

[beamreach]

Jansen: We tried inflatable cushions, both doulble bed size and two single bed size. The two single bed size ones worked best laid side by side fore and aft only half filled with air as to conform with the curvature of the hull. However we have given up sleeping there altogether and use that big area for storage of for sails, life preservers, bug screens and other miscellaneous things. I widened the setee seats and lengthened the starboard one to ver seven feet and had new cushions made. We really like this arrangement! Completely clears up the Vberth too. I posted pictures of it and other mods I've done in "my album" on this sight and it's open to anybody to see if interested and can get to it. Great looking cabin, Breweraz and great looking dog, Walt!

 

[Blake]

Beamreach, I just reviewed your "my album" photos. Like Breweaz, you have an enviously neat boat. I have seen your gas tank cover before, but forgot who it belonged to. Very nice mods! As to the mattress thing. we use a Cabela's 2 person camp mattress. It is filled with open cell foam and is inflated, like a Thermarest backpacking pad. It is only about 2" thick, but very comfortable, and it gives you more clearance in the tight space of the aft berth than a cheap inflatable air bed type mattress. We keep a large cooler in the space where you extended the starboard settee, which makes crawling out of the berth on that side a particularly contorting exercise. By the way, the starboard settee looks like it was factory installed. Very nice work!

 

[Gregg9020]

Here is a little od what I did this

Winter, I added a bulkhead to the v berth, and a catch all in the head area.

Thanks

Those are stainless bread boxes from IKEA. We use them as storage. Additional pics are in my album on this site.

 

[breweraz]

Well we just got the boat finished and were enjoying all the creature/features and then came trouble...I and eventually the admiral contracted the bigger boat disease. It can be a depilating disease for the weak of mind.

I was not really looking for a new boat as we thoroughly enjoyed our Mac26 but we are always walking around checking out other boats...for ideas. I think we contracted the disease when we came across a decked out Hunter 260 and were invited aboard... once afflicted the disease comes on fast.

As a public service here are the early symptoms:

Loss of sleep
Irrational thinking
Loss of common sense
Wandering aimlessly at the marina docks or mast up lots
Addiction to internet searches

It only get worst from there.

I searched the forums and found this is a common disease among sailors. The only known cure...buy a bigger boat...so we did.

One of those too good to be true deals came along (post: bug bit hard) on Hunter forums) and we now own a big sister to our Mac26, a 2000 hunter 260, fully decked out. We hesitated to tell our Mac about her new big sister, as we did not want to hurt her feelings but, eventually the admiral broke her the news. Not sure how she took it, she is hard to read at times.

So the bottom line we have posted the Mac26s for sale (Texas sailor and locally on Phoenix craigslist) and promised to find her a good home.

Tim