Upgrades and Fixes!
The Venture/MacGregor philosophy to boat construction is, simply stated, to give the buyer something that he/she can obtain at a good price while not sacraficing quality. These boats are designed to be pulled with the family Pick-Up/SUV so they are built very light. The surprising thing about these boats is when you get in one for the first time and head out of the harbor, they are very strong and secure feeling. These boats are light but not flimsy.
The upgrades and fixes page is where you will find loads (boat loads, perhaps?) of information on all of the fixes and upgrades that Tom has done to his Venture 25. Because, a lot of the time, the upgrades and the fixes done on this boat are one and the same project, there is no differentiation between the two made on this site.
23 May, 2004
At the moment Tom is working on the sail handling equipment. He's getting things ready in anticipation of the upgraded sails that are coming. Of course, money and time are always obstacles.
02 May, 2004
Ok, the second sea trial and Tom's seacock fix works perfectly, not a drop of water. However, the jib fix didn't work at all. Tom's pretty frustrated with this situation and thinks that the entire rig is to blame. Noting that McGregor no longer uses this furling system on their new boats, Tom has decided to replace the furling system with a newer roller reafing system. Exactly what type of system hasn't yet been decided. Of course adopting a new system means having a new jib cut for it but Tom wants to replace the old sails anyway.
27 April, 2004
Tom has looked into his leaking fitting and found that the problem was worse than originally thought. The offending part was jerry-rigged with a combination of brass and plastic fittings and some adhesive tape. Seeing as this is right at the water line, Tom's gone ahead and upgraded this little beauty as well with a more professional piece of hardware, a metal seacock.
Tom's also re-rigged his furling line to spin the furling drum in the opposite direction compared to how it was last weekend. The idea being that the way it was originally rigged was unwinding the cable inside the foil of the headsail while the wind had the sail filled. With the way the furling drum spins now, the drum twists the foil in the same direction as the turns of the foil cable. Hopefully this will solve the problem of the jib hoist NOT turning as the sail is being furled.
25 April, 2004
Well, we took the old girl out for her first sea trial since Tom's had her and after all of the work he's done on this boat, the one thing he hasn't touched yet has shown itself to be a problem! A fitting in the keel winch compartment is leaking! It wasn't anything that the bilge pump couldn't take care of but still, it's leaking!
Another problem that we've experienced with this older Venture is that Tom is still using the sails that were on the boat when he got it. They're the original sails and are terribly worn and completely blown out! The original jib furler leaves alot to be desired as well.
More upgrades and fixes will be added as they occur. Many upgrades and fixes that have already happened are not yet listed here as of today , May 23, 2004 but will be added to this page as time permits. Stay tuned...
Upgrades and Fixes!