Modifications
Fuel Tank
I found that a Tempo 9Gas (9 gal U.S. / 7.5 gal CAN) fits perfectly into the fuel locker. I bought 2 of them, one for each locker.
Stern and Hand Rails, Lifelines
As an extra safety feature (I have a 3-year-old toddler on my crew), I added stern and cabin top hand rails.
I also added 1/4 inch lifelines from the stern to the handrails to the front bow pulpit.
Having the stern rails means that I now also have a place to mount my VHF antenna, GPS, Force 10 BBQ, ring buoy, remote control for the engine and fishing rod holders.
Pop Top
One of the problems with this boat is the hatch cover. It has to be closed if you are sailing or motoring, otherwise it will block your view. If you remove it, there’s no good place to store it (plus the damm thing weighs a ton). The idea of a pop top has always appealed to me so I made my own using 7/8 inch electrical conduit pipes and a pipebender. I plan to go to a canvas shop and get a cover made. You can see the makings of my binimi on one of the pictures below. It will attach to the pop top cover.
Galley
The Mac 19 does not really have a galley. Instead, MacGregor made the assumption that you would never be cooking or sleeping at the same time, so two compartments were made available in the front V-berth to hold a stove and an ice chest. However, I have yet to find a useful stove or ice chest that is small enough to fit in that space.
I did buy a single burner butane stove that is suppose to be acceptable for use indoors. It is small and comes with a nice plastic carrying case. I will probably use it outside in the cockpit. Most of the cooking will be done on the Force 10 propane BBQ anyway.
NOTE: A good source for butane is Chinese grocery stores. I found some there for $1.99 / can as opposed to $7.99 at some marine stores!
For the cooler, I purchased a Coleman Extreme, which is supposed to keep ice for 5 days at 90 degrees F. I plan to store it in the aft berth.
I absolutely hated those stupid 5 gal soft water jugs that came with the water system. No matter what I did, they constantly leaked. I finally did away with them and replaced them with a rigid plastic 5 gal jug. What a great improvement. I mounted the water jug into the starboard compartment for easier access instead of the original location under the V-Berth. I also did not like the idea of the sink water draining directly into the bilge, so I added a drain hose to a thru-hull.
Second Battery
I decided to add a second Type 27 Deep Cycle marine battery to provide power for all accessories and lights, leaving the original Type 24 Starter battery just for the engine. I placed this battery in the compartment that Macgregor had intended to be use as storage for a stove. It’s a nice stand alone locker with the added benefit that there was a cutout on one of the side panels leading into the bilge. To secure the battery, I drilled a hole on the side panel across from the cutout and put in a rubber grommet. I then passed a battery strap throught this hole , under the bilge and back into the locker throught the cutout and secure the strap. The battery is also mounted inside a battery box.
I then routed cable over to the other battery throught the cut-out. This compartment is on the port side so the batteries will balance each other out (if you want to nit-pick and say “Yeah, but a Type 27 is heavier”, I did place it more towards the center than the lighter Type 24 that’s on the starboard side so they should be fairly balanced) and it is further forward under the v-berth, providing additional weight to the front of the boat. I also installed a Perko battery switch between the 2 batteries for charging purposes. The positive from the engine goes to the common on the switch. When starting the engine, the switch is in position 1 so the starter is using battery 1. It is also possible to start the engine with battery 2. After the engine starts, the switch is put in position BOTH, so that both batteries can charged from the alternator. Notice that I had to moved the original battery forward about 6 inches in order to mount the battery switch. I had to do this for 2 reasons. One was that the factory cable from the engine seemed to be attached to something in the bilge and I couldn’t pull it out to connect to the switch if the switch was forward of the battery. Second, there was no room forward of the battery to get my drill with a hole saw into because of the base for the mast compression post.
Electrical
The factory had all the wiring running straight to the battery terminal using in-line fuse holders. The fuse holder were very cheap and had already started to corrode to the point that the cabin light was intermittent if you wiggle the wiring. Since I planned to add some accessories, I decided to put in a fuse panel. I mounted it on the panel below the sink. To monitor the batteries, I also mounted a dual battery checker. I also mounted a 12V socket under the sink and one near the cockpit (for outside use if needed) beside the head door.
Compass and GPS
I mounted a Richie Explorer on the starboard exterior bulk head. This model also has a built in light, but I did not hook it up since the electrical magnetic field would affect the compass when the light was on. It would probably be no big deal to factor in the deviation, but considering that I don’t plan to do any sailing at night, there was no need.
Hummingbird Fishfinder
I mounted a Hummingbird Fishfinder on the port exterior bulk head. This model also came with a temperature probe. I mounted the transducers on the transom to a block of wood. The wood was expoxy to the transom. This avoided me having to drill holes below the waterline.
VHF Radio and Antennae
I mounted the VHF radio on the wall of the head in the aft berth. It’s not the best of places, but at least the microphone is close by whether you’re inside or outside. It also made for easy running of the power cables and antennae coax. Since the radio had a in-line fuse, I opted to connect the power cable straight to the battery. I also didn’t want to take a chance that one day I might forget to turn on the fuse panel switch for the radio and an emergency comes up.
Bilge Pump
I put a 650 gpm bilge pump with an automatic float switch in the bilge under the aft berth. The hose goes to a thru-hull that’s mounted just above the drain hole for the motor well. See the above picture for where I mounted the switch (just to left of microphone cable) for the the bilge pump. It has an Automatic, OFF and ON setting. This is all wired directly to the 2nd deep cycle battery with an in-line fuse.
Head
Even though I will have my boat in a slip, I still plan to take it out and trailer to local lakes sometimes. Therefore, I want a toilet that can be both portable and pump-out. The Thetford 775 MSD met my criteria since the pump-out hose and vent hose connect to a spout that can be unscrewed and removed from the holding tank. You then screw a cap on the holding tank, which is portable and can be taken out. This is a nice feature since you don’t want to be taking the clamps off the hoses each time you want to take the holding tank out.
Anchor
The Mac 19 does not have an anchor locker, so I purchased an anchor rode bag from Genco Marine. The anchor I got is a Super Hooker #8, which is basically an 8 lb. Danforth type. I have 20 feet of chain and 150 feet of 3/8 inch rode. I was walking through Canadian Tire one day when I spotted an electrical cord storage / roller. You wind up the electrical cord into a roller using a crank and it can hold 150 feet. This is perfect for my anchor rode. It’s made of plastic and a little flimsy, but I don’t plan to use it to pull the anchor up, but more for collecting the rode once you pull the anchor up by hand. It also fits nicely into the anchor bag.
Outboard Motor
From the discussions in some of the MacGregor groups, it seems the motor of choice for the Mac 26X is the Suzuki DF-50. The Mac 19 is rated for 40 hp, and Suzuki also has a DF-40, which is basically the same engine as the DF-50, but with a rev limiter on it. It was difficult to find a Suzuki dealer here, so I settled for Evinrude instead (which is still the Suzuki motor). I wanted a remote control throttle in the event that I moved up to a Mac 26X, since I would want to take as much to that boat as possible. I mounted the remote control on the port side stern rail using a piece of pressure treated wood left over from my fence. I stained it to matched the tiller. In this location, it is completely out of the way and does not interfere with or take away from the seating.
Motor Well Cover
To make more usable foot space in the cockpit, I made a cover from cedar boards to cover up the motor well.
Helm Seat
I have had much discussions with other M19 owners over wheel steering. Although I like that idea, I finally decided that it would be too much trouble (and also the steering padestal would take up alot of space). It got me thinking about another way and this is what I came up with (see pictures). The motor tiller is made from 1 1/4 inch plastic pipes (found in plumbing department of any hardware store). This only works for powering.
Trailer
Genoa
I got a brand new Mac 19 Genoa from Minney’s Yacht Surplus in Costa Mesa, California. Apparently, these guys are just down the street from the MacGregor factory. I sure wish I could visit this place in person. I found them very good to deal with.