New Macgregor Owner

[njbaker]

I have just purchased my first Macgregor, a 1978 Venture 2-22. It is in desperate need of a restore but is a complete boat, minus the rudder. The hull does not look cracked or have any major damage that I can see, but I know that once the sanding begins I know we will find some things in need of repair. I am doing this on a budget. If anyone can give me an idea of how to begin, I would love to hear it. I was going to hoist the boat, pull the trailer, and begin by lowering the keel and replacing the cable. The boat has sat on a trailer for the last six years. Should I remove the keel entirely? I thought that then I would sand the entire hull. What product can I use to then seal what I have sanded? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

 

[Nik]

Congratulations...

Congratulations on your new boat. First off, why would you want to sand the entire boat? That is probably not necessary, but then again, maybe. My first reccomendation would be to find a nice spot, say the transom (It's small and flat) and with soap, water and a green scrungy (3M scouring pad) see how much of the oxidation you can take off. Then give the spot a good going over with white polishing compound and then a good wax that doesn't contain silicone. See how that looks and make your decision. For the compound and wax you will need a buffer. I say all these things because it will eliminate about 2-4 sanding steps. You may want to post your question on the ask all sailors part of this board as well. There are a bunch of really good folks here.

 

[MrMikey64]

Welcome new owner!
I would have to agree with Nik on the sanding issue - it seems a bit extreme.
I acquired a Mac 22 that was on a trailer for almost ten years. It was full of leaves and debris, and had all kinds of tree sap and other "debris".
I ended up using a car wash soap and a stiff scrub brush to remove most of the surface dirt. Next, I used a polishing compound- applying, agitating it with 000 or 0000 steel wool, and wiping off with soft wet cloth, followed by dry cloth.
(I figured if it this grade of steel wool was good enough for fine finishing between coats of varnish, it could do little harm to the gelcoat. Besides, I figured if I discovered the gelcoat was too far gone, I'd probably have to sand it anyway).
This process, though it took some time, did a great job removing most of the oxidation, as well as tree sap, bird droppings, etc. I still need to apply a good wax to it to seal things up, but it looks very good after these first two steps.
My advice: before you go to the extreme of sanding and repainting, give this method a shot first - what have you got to lose, except a little time, and about $10 in materials??
When I get a chance, I'll put up some "before" and "after" pics.
The trailer, on the other hand, is another story... probably, like yours, fairly rusted and delapidated...

 

[Doug J]

Why not try an even easier method?

There are many products available to remove heavy oxidation, if that's what the problem is, you didn't say in your initial post. Is the bottom already painted? If not, I'd try using some available products, even before using a scubbing pad or steel wool.

When I got my boat, the bottom wasn't painted but had some tough stains and dried on growth. I did try scubbing pads and a couple products that didn't work very good. I thought I'd have to sand the bottom, but I ended up not needing to do that.

For the bottom I ended up using On & Off Hull and Bottom Cleaner, amazing stuff! What I thought I might need to sand off, came off with little to no scrubbing. It is a pretty strong acid, but it doesn't damage the gel coat at all. I used 3M Restorer & Wax for all the rest where the gel coat was chalky. Then I applied a good carnuba boat wax. FSR, Fiberglass Stain Remover works good on most stains, I use it to touch up spots almost every time I wash the boat.

Anyway, I'd recommend trying some products available before taking drastic labor intensive steps. My thing has been to try and preserve the original gel coat finish the best I can.

Here's a pic of my boat bottom after I cleaned and waxed it.

 

[JDK]

I'm not sure if you have tannin stains too, but if you do, Captain John's Algae and Stain Remover (available at West Marine or direct from www.captainjohnsboatbrite.com) is a great way to remove them. The ramp we use to access the Gulf is on the Pithlachasotee River, which has a lot of stain in it. We sprayed on the stuff with a pump-up sprayer at the car wash, waited two minutes, and rinsed it off with clear water. Couldn't have been easier.

JDK

 

[Nik]

In a previous post, someone mentioned using steel woll.... """DON"T"""... If you are going to go that route use brass, bronze or SS wool. The regular steel wool will shed and leave you rust stains that are next to impossible to remove. Scotchbrite (and other) scrubbing pads work great and they are available in many grades. Used wet they last a long time.

 

[MrMikey64]

In a previous post, someone mentioned using steel woll.... """DON"T"""... If you are going to go that route use brass, bronze or SS wool. The regular steel wool will shed and leave you rust stains that are next to impossible to remove. Scotchbrite (and other) scrubbing pads work great and they are available in many grades. Used wet they last a long time.

I would have to agree that steel wool will shed and create rust stains, if you're not careful. When I did it, I did one section at a time, using the steel wool wet, and immediately wiping off with wet rag followed by dry towel. I did not leave it on long enough to create rust - but definitely noticed the rust in discarded pile of used pads. If I end up ever having to do such extrensive work again, I'll probably go with the ScotchBrite.
The main point is to try other methods that are less drastic than actual sanding, unless you have no other alternatives.
The pics speak for themselves.

 

[Timo42]

First things first, you don't have to drop the keel to change the cable. You would probably be ahead of the game to replace the winch at the same time. Check the archives to get a link to Northern Tool for the winch, and for length and materials for the cable. The keel pivot bolt is above the waterline, so I would worry about that later. Standing rigging should be checked carefully for broken strands, replace anything that looks questionable. Check the spreaders and replace the tubing if they are cracked or corroded. the tubing is a standard size. Running rigging will most likely have to be replaced, look for 5/16" Sta-set or similar on sale and learn how to make an eyesplice for the shackles. It's easy to learn and saves money. Check the sails and repair any rips or frayed areas, check Sailrite for supplies. The rudder is an issue, if you can afford it the Idasailor kickup rudder is a big improvement over stock, comes with a nice tiller, and is ready to drop into place. Otherwise check the archives for ideas, Pheobe1 is building one now, check his thread. Plywood isn't a good idea since half the plies do nothing for strength. Polishing the hull is something to do when you have nothing better to do at this point, the idea is to get it in the water. I would consider painting the antiskid for safety's sake. Cover the foam blocks with plastic sheeting and duct tape to keep it cleaner below. The original electrical system is lamp cord and should be on the list. Add a bilge pump and the list goes on and on. But get it on the water as soon as possible.

Tim

 

[MrMikey64]

Good advice, Timo! I'm still trying to get it in the water...
I had to get it clean first, though, just to be able to see what I had to work with. The dirt and debris hid cracks around the stern rail and such, and there was so much debris in and around the keel that I could not get it to budge at first. Unfortunately, the last person who used it raised the keel entirely, so the boat sat with its entire weight on winch cable and support structure for about 10 years, which I'm sure didn't help things much.
The cockpit was full of leaves, so much so that it clogged the drain, so 10 years of rainwater caused some to seep into the cabin. I noticed watermark on the floor to a height of about 5 inches - and I believe the extra weight helped conribute to the hull buckling on one side where the trailer bunk ended.
Thanks for the checklist - I've made sure to print out a copy so I can verify all is in good order.

 

[Brent25]

I'm in the process of restoring a 25 MacGregor that belonged to my Father. It has been sitting at my brothers house for the last 7 years. I have really enjoyed all of the above comments and appreciate the information on this thread. Any suggestions on how to make the paint stripe under the rubber bumper guard shine again?

 

[MrMikey64]

Brent, you might want to try any of the suggestions mentioned here. Most likely, like the rest of the boat, the paint stripe is oxidized, and just needs to be buffed out and rewaxed. So long as the paint isn't too far gone, you should be able to bring a shine back to it.

 

[Doug J]

The blue stripe is not paint, it's gel coat too. I just use some wax that has the ability to remove oxidation, do that once or twice per year. It's very easy to go around the boat while on the trailer.

The boot stripe is supposed to be gel coat too. If you've ever seen the factory 26s video, the process is explained. But for some reason on my boat the boot stripe is just striping tape, I wish it was gel coat.