+Sailing And Fun
Thank you!

The 26x is fun to sail, but sometimes we want to get there faster with the 50hp outboard (15 knots). It is great for out running storms and water sports, like wakeboarding. Since the boat was designed to be light with a planning hull, it rolls more than fixed keel sailboats, but every boat is a compromise and all the versatility of the 26x outweighs dealing with the extra rolling for us.

+Sailing And Fun

I thought so. That's the boat I'm looking to get one day. I would be interested in a review of your boat, what you like and dislike about it.
How it handles as both a sailboat and a cruzer. And maybe any changes you made or addons.
If you have the time I mean. ;)

It is a MacGregor 26x

+Ed Hall For sure it was there, otherwise we would of had to swim to get anywhere :)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_jbs62tQQvdZ2udNHU3ADA

+dgman smile Thanks dgman! We upgraded our camera to HD and you can check out our newer episodes here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_jbs62tQQvdZ2udNHU3ADA

I acquired one to combine 2 of my boats. While I only had the 50hp on my 26x I found I couldn't get on plane on a knee board and ended up selling it instead of my 26s and a motor boat. I love my 26s wouldn't trade it for anything.

+Bluenoser613 Have you not heard of a Trimaran :)

LouB milepak

Thx for the info

+Dan Crawford rope was on both rudder cleats, centered with a knot- Y shape
Unsure of song title, was on You Tube video manager play list, sorry. Have fun this summer!

you mean less bikini don't you :)

+Violet Meldrum 26x

+StarSloop Thanks!

+Dan Nelson Well Dan, that was quite a monologue you wrote there.  You drew a lot of assumptions in it, but hey that's what most people do.  I have sailed in the BVI's, I've motored from NJ to Lake Champlain Canada.  I've been in big blue before.  One thing I never even implied was that you shouldn't have a good navigational back round.  YOU, on you're rank, assumed a lot.  You're a blow heart sailor, and probably a prick no one wants to be around.  What I was simply saying was, into today's day and age there are a lot more safety features available...   

+highvelocity123 3


"up to the minute weather forecasts, EPIRB, gps, radar, and an engine that will apparently plane the boat off"


A perfect example of the mentality of an arm chair sailor, First of all you're not going to be planing the M26X in off shore swells.


Second only an arm chair sailor or a moron relies on electronics when sailing a small boat off shore where the only thing between you and welfare of your crew and passengers is the failure of a $.03 mass produced Chinese transistor. 


This isn't my first Rodeo, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging but I do hold a USCG Unlimited Master Mariners Certification and I've logged well over a millions ocean miles. In this day of modern electronics whether I'm in command of a Panamax or a ULCC I still don't rely entirely on the ships navigational electronics. I always maintain traditional navigation alongside the electronics using traditional methods such as celestial navigation as well as dead reckoning, in my opinion only a fool wishing to confirm Murphy's law relies entirely on electronics 


My dedication to maintaining traditional navigation alongside it's electronic counterpart has paid off more than once, every single time there's been a discrepancy between electronics and traditional it was always traced to a fault or an error in the electronics, dead reckoning has never once failed me. On the other hand I've seen electronic navigation fail numerous times with sometimes catastrophic consequences.


As for the refuges, All I have to ask is often do we here about raft people being rescued. Oh and the trip from Cuba to Florida is child's play compared to say the trip from California to Hawaii.


Furthermore its painfully obviously you're not an ocean sailor or you would know the difference between lake, coastal and blue water cruisers. 


The M26X isn't a coastal or blue water cruiser. the M26X is a fair weather light weight trailer sailor, Its a light weight party boat designed for protected water day sailing and maybe a bit of protected anchorage boat camping. The rigging and hull of this vessel aren't anywhere near substantial enough for blue water sailing. This arm chair sailor mentality is nothing new,for decades novice sailors with no blue water experience dream of sailing off into the sunset on a circumnavigation with nothing more than a light weight trailer sailor.


Of course the moment they are faced with real seas that attitude changes. It's one thing to sail on protected waters and quite another to face swells that tower far above your mast, This is usually about the point were the mast starts to resemble a wet noodle and said arm chair sailor starts wishing they had bought a more substantial boat.


The M26X is a nice boat for what she was deigned for but she's far to lightly built to withstand the rigors of ocean sailing, Not to mention she is poorly laid out for an ocean going passage and would be very uncomfortable in anything other than fair weather..


I don't expect arm chair and protected water sailors to take my word for it. If you think you are up to the task why don't you offer to crew aboard a boat headed for an off shore passage. I'm sure some real sea time will cure your desire to head out to sea in a trailer sailor. 


As I mentioned sailing around the Keys and island hopping the BVI is nothing like open water sailing even a simple sail from California to Hawaii is much more challenging then Island hopping the keys. Heck the sail from California to Hawaii is considered child's play compared to most other open ocean passages. The pacific puddle jump is considered to be a novice sail for those attempting their first blue water passage  


I once sailed a 53 foot custom built CorTen steal hulled Ketch from California to Antarctica with stops at Rapanui island and Argentina on the way with the final destination being back in Argentina, If you know your geography then you know that meant rounding the cape. 


A few years later I sailed another custom built sailboat from Florida to Norway with stops in Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland just to mention a few of the stops along the way.. Then there was the boat delivery from Texas to Japan with a stop in Hawaii and sightseeing diversions to Johnston atoll and Midway. Or how about yet another Boat delivery from Florida to South Africa yup definitely something I wouldn't advise attempting aboard a M26X..


Like I said don't take my word for it, You don't need to own a boat to get some blue water cruising experience, Boat owners are always looking for able body crew. It's a good way of gaining some blue water experience without the expense of owning a blue water capable boat .


Please don't misunderstand me I'm not trying to bad mouth the M26X, It's a great little boat for Island hopping and lake sailing. But lets be realistic about its designed capabilities, island hopping and boat camping in protected anchorages yes, Blue water passage making absolutely not !

+bajabilly2004 Dan needs to stay home where it's safe. People are still coming over from Cuba on rafts, let along a 26 foot boat with provisions, up to the minute weather forecasts, EPIRB, gps, radar, and an engine that will apparently plane the boat off..LOL

I'm sure you are right. I spent 4 years on an aircraft carrier. And at 22 at that time in 1970 I had perhaps too much testosterone. Sometimes I still think I do but I would come around to your thinking eventually.  Smooth sailing to you.

+Lewis Maker Out of necessity or stupidity maybe, By logical choice made through experience not likely ! Anyone who claims differently obviously is an inexperienced arm chair sailor who hasn't seen a day of blue water cruising in their entire life. Either that or their young dumb and full of XXX. Cruising the Keys where shelter from bad weather is always close at hand is a far different challenge then open water sailing where there is no shelter and rescue is a 1000+ miles away.   

 Let me reiterate something any experienced sailor will tell you, The MacGregor 26 is far from a Deep water sailing vessel, The MacGregor 26 is an extremely light weight trailer sailor intended strictly for protected water sailing. Of course what would I know, I've only been sailing my whole life, Oh and and I hold a USCG  Unlimited Master Mariners certification AKA a Captains license..

 By the way, not any old captains papers. Did you notice the "Unlimited" in the title ? Yeah that's called the class. The unlimited class paper is very difficult to qualify for and the USCG doesn't issue many. I maybe wrong But I don't believe they've issued an unlimited class ticket in over 15 years.. An unlimited class ticket basically means that whether it's a Batillus class tanker an aircraft carrier or a sabot dingy if it floats I can drive it. Now back to sailing small recreational vessels . Back when I was a kid doing boat deliveries I made at least a dozen boat deliveries to and from Hawaii the largest private sailing vessel I delivered was a custom built steel hulled 102 foot Ketch the smallest was a production line Catalina 27.

The Catalina 27 is at least 100x the boat the MacGregor 26 is and after sailing one to hawaii I would never do it again. The boat and its hardware simply could not withstand the rigors of blue water sailing. As well built as the Catalina was it still could not compete  with boats like the Islander or Pearson or Morgan or C&C  Yet back then I was a testosterone filled alpha male who thought he was invincible.

   To tell the truth back then if you paid me enough I would have probably tried to sail something like a MacGregor 26 to Hawaii but with age and experience comes wisdom. And All I can say now is that looking back boy am I glad no one ever tried to get me to do something that dumb because if there was booze involved and a blond in a bikini I probably would have done it.   

 So not having learned my lesson the first time about trailer sailors and coastal cruisers  I took on yet another delivery job this time delivering a Catalina 30 to Hawaii.  And once again almost lost her in mild seas about 1500 miles into the trip after the deck joint started to separate from the hull. Keep in mind that both these vessels are built like tanks compared to the MacGregor 26 yet they still aren't blue water cruisers at best they are coastal cruisers.  Trust me attempting to sail a light weight trailer sailor like a MacGregor 26 to hawaii would be nothing short of suicidal lunacy. Besides there's simply not enough storage space in that small boat to hold all the  beer, booze and condoms you and your bikini clad shipmate will need for a trip like that.

Alot more has been done with less.

You sure ain't sailing to0 Hawaii in a MacGregor 26. The MacGregor  is a nice trailerable fair weather lake or island hopping boat where rescue is but moments away, What she's not is a blue water sailor.   

Lol, reading your comment got me to thinking about a water purifier I'd seen or read some program on (hmm, maybe it was on here) that some college kids had come up with as a cost effective product for people in africa; scoop some water off the road out of a puddle, pour it through and drink it! :). Guess I need to hunt it down and see if its in production, hehehe.

Same topic, different day; Ive been reading through a webpage that has thirty or more different boats listed, Micro Yachts, or micro pocket cruisers, boats from like 19' all the way down to, get this, 3'11", that have sailed across oceans! Pretty freaking awesome... Hang on, Ill get the link...
http://www.microcruising.com/famoussmallboats.htm

...anyway, after reading on some of them how and what they packed for their trips I was wondering what kind of portable (commercial or homemade) desalination units are out there since you obviously cant put a watermaker on a dink like these! Hehe. ....oh, this one could be interesting, doesnt look look like it would be overly cheap though to produce...http://www.technologyreview.com/article/419441/portable-desalination/

Heres one on the market, steam2water. Looks interesting! 200 bucks, looks like it would be easy to make! Wups, looks like it requires a firebox and pressure cooker pot, lol.
http://www.steam2water.com/product/steam2water-steam-water-distillation-kit/

.....just subscribed to the author here, awesome video! Saw a poster that wants to swap boats with him for a season... I'll go a step further, I want to swap lives with him for a few months (well ok, a year;). He can hang out with my wife when she gets off work and enjoy my disability retirement, lounging in the recliner, watching Netflix and anime on CrunchyRoll all day, and I'll cruise the ocean on his motor-sailer, snoozing in the hammock tied off the mast, swimming and snorkeling with his supermodel wifey while I send pictures back to my friends rubbing their faces in my awesome life ;)

+Ron Sparkman  Thanks!!!
Bimini is on the list, see ya there!

+Jason Wulf empty ballast, 50hp at 4500rpm, Thanks!

+Ted Gayer Not based in FL, Thank you though!

Hi Ted I had a N27 for 11 years on san francisco bay and that was one of the best sailing boats i ever had, i loved it. i built a pilot house on it and installed home made self tailing jib and controls to the cockpit and i had hours and hours of pleasure on that boat.

+Dennis Coffey  Its lovely and clear both sides of the Keys. Sailing in 15 feet of water and watching the bottom slide by. Try to anchor in the sandy patches and not the grass.  Enjoy.

I'm sorry.....morning balls! Haha. That cracked me up.

We draw 4.5 ft and it is very skinny on the Gulf side and only a foot of tide to help you off. The Hawk Channel between the Keys and the reef/Atlantic is fantastic and just like this video but not many places to shelter with our draft if the weather turns nasty. We did Miami - Angel Fish Creek; AFC - Indian Key (free mooring ball); IK - Marathon (super place and shelter); M - Key West (ditto) in 4 days.
Wished I had such a beautiful crew on board!