About
These are the adventures of the MosieGrimm family. We started sailing dinghy boats (Laser and Albacore) in 2011. We purchased our first, almost real, sailboat in 2016, a 2002 Macgregor 26X.
In June 2018 we sold our Macgregor and moved to a larger CS34 Sailboat.
If you are looking for expert advice on how to sail or maintain a boat, please move on, these are not the stories you are looking for.
This site will show you our typical approach to learning anything new. We like to first explore all of the wrong ways it can be done and then we usually try doing it wrong at least one more time just to make sure we fully understand it. Eventually, we get it figured out and move on to the next new thing to mess up.
Please comment and provide your support and suggestions! We are always interested in hearing your opinions on how things should be done. Or, even better, share your stories on how you like to learn through trial and error, with a heavy focus on error.
Learn more about the Macgregor 26x
See a timeline of our sailing history and experience
Twenty Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain
August 13, 2018 at 10:16 am
Hi there, I too started off sailing dinghy’s and sailboards. We also had a Macgregor, We had the 26M 2010. Last summer we bought a 1990 CS 34 and sold the Macgregor. I am enjoying your blog. we have come across all the same problems as you so far!
March 31, 2019 at 11:40 am
Hey guys! Looking at following in your CS34 footsteps but have a few questions if you’d email back svp?
March 31, 2019 at 10:48 am
Replied via e-mail.
April 22, 2019 at 9:04 am
Hello, I am looking at buying a CS 34 and was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?
Thank you
Lesley
April 22, 2019 at 8:39 am
Replied via e-mail.
January 22, 2020 at 11:24 am
Hi guys, very interesting blog! I’m looking for a CS34 and was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions. There is so little info on this boat available. Can you send me an email?
January 23, 2020 at 1:25 pm
Replied via e-mail.
May 3, 2020 at 12:31 pm
Same here! I’d really like to understand this boat a bit better, as I’m looking in this foot range.
Can you give me a shout at the email provided?
Really like your blog though! It’s to read about adventures with a particular boat.
May 3, 2020 at 6:16 pm
Replied via email.
May 9, 2020 at 10:21 pm
Hey Shane,
I’m thinking about getting a Macgregor 26 and had some questions! Do you mind giving me a shout on the email provided?
Best,
Andrew
May 13, 2020 at 4:24 pm
Responded via email.
May 14, 2020 at 3:11 pm
Hi there! Just wanted to give you both a quick thank you for writing this blog and chronicaling your successes and your hard lessons learned in such detail. I’m in the middle stages of possibly buying a CS34 and have found this blog to be invaluable. I’m sure I’m in over my head with this boat, but the maintenance posts are really helping me prepare for CS34 specific issues and to calm my nerves (enough to keep me proceeding with the offer process)! Much appreciated!
May 15, 2020 at 8:45 am
Hi John, thank you so much for the kind message! We both really appreciate the feedback.
It is scary buying a boat like this, I still remember the panic that set in the moment the previous owner stepped off the boat saying “she’s all yours now, keep good care of her”. I went down below, looked at the electrical panel, poked in a few cabinets to look at all the pipes going everywhere, went back and took another look at the engine and had no idea what most of it did. My mind was screaming, “what have you done!?”. But the good news is that most of it seems simple now. It’s overwhelming at first. My suggestion, which came from a fellow sailor, is get a quick overview of everything and then each season pick one or two systems to focus on and learn everything you can about it. Rely on the experts to help you with those systems you are not comfortable with, we paid for someone to winterize and de-winterize our engine since we had no clue what to do.
And yes, like us, you will probably make some mistakes. Hopefully those mistakes don’t cost too much and you will learn with each one. Don’t take it too badly, learn to laugh at the mistake and then figure out a way to prevent it from happening again.
August 10, 2020 at 7:11 pm
Hi Shane….Further to my post back in May, I went ahead and foolishly bought (insert make and model of any sailboat ever made in the history of humankind) a CS34 at the end of June. I had to sail her home from a marina near Kingston and ended up spending a night in Cobourg. I spotted Foggy in her slip (on or about Canada Day) and I have to admit I was a bit star struck! As expected, I’m overwhelmed, but I’m taking your advice and getting an overview of all the systems, with a plan of engaging in an in-depth study of a different major system on the boat each year, and I continue to use your blog as a major resource. The previous owners of the boat kept a lot of the literature for the various systems that were either original or added on after market. I’m going to sit down and go through it this week – if I find anything that might be useful to you I’ll send it along. In the meantime, I hope you’re enjoying Foggy as a getaway this summer!
August 10, 2020 at 8:29 pm
Hey John, that is amazing. Too bad we didn’t see you. But glad you got to see Foggy! We are very proud of her. 🙂
We’re happy this blog is helping. I’m still always learning so looking forward to hearing your stories and advice. Feel free to reach out with any questions at any time. The online CS owners forum at csoa.groups.io is also very helpful, that’s where I get most of my information!
October 17, 2020 at 3:02 pm
Enjoying your blog! I have a CS 36T in Bluffers Park. I have a question for you re your rebuild of the isomat boom. Do you experience a lot of friction when reefing? Does the clew lie tight against the boom and the luff come down nicely to the gooseneck? I have heard that it is problematic to get a good sail shape and effective reef with this system. I currently have bull horns on the boom and rings on the sail and go forward to reef. I would appreciate your insights when using it before I set about to take the boom apart
October 17, 2020 at 5:37 pm
Hi Chris, thank you for the comment! Our boat was based in Bluffers when we bought her. Great marina.
We are happy with the reefing system, took us a bit to get it setup right but we find we can quickly reef and get a decent sail shape. We do find raising the main difficult with the friction of the reefing lines. Our method now includes partially raising and then grabbing both reef lines from the end of the boom and pulling out as much line as we can before we continue raising the sail. Other than that we like the system.
October 18, 2020 at 11:29 am
Thanks, I hadn’t considered the additional friction on the way up. I wonder if it would be lessened with only the first reef run through the shuttle blocks in the boom. In my current set up I only rig the 1st reef normally, and add a second leech line if the conditions look like they may deteriorate further. That is relatively simple as it is just a triangle from a deadhead at the end of the boom up through the second cringle in the leech and then back down and hitched around the boom like a strop.