December 2005 - montgomery_boats - mailman.xmission.com

North Channel Cruise
by htmills＠bright.net 02 Nov '06

02 Nov '06

I'm planning on a two week North Channel Cruise in mid June. I'll probably drive from Ohio to Tobermory, take the Chi-Cheemaun ferry over to South Baymouth (Manitoulin Island), and then drive to Little Current (Manitoulin Island) on Saturday June 5th. I might end up taking the ferry on the morning of the 6th depending on how late I hit the road. At the present time I'm thinking of making a general counter clockwise spin around the North Channel, launching at Spider Bay Marina in Little Current and going north and then west to the Bustard Islands and west and then crossing south to the west end of Manitoulin and returning east again. Of course, all plans are subject to the weather and whims of the person at the helm! Mid June will probably be a bit ahead of the crowd and still kinda nippy. There is some info on the area at: http://www.continuouswave.com/north-channel/ and here: http://www.continuouswave.com/sail-logs/ If anyone else is planning on a trip up there, perhaps we can meet up! Tod

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Centerboard
by Robert Eeg 09 Jul '06

09 Jul '06

Lets not forget that the older pre 1987 M_15s had steel shot for ballast. While most of these boats are fine, a number of them had (over the years) water intrude into the keel and start rusting the steel shot. As the steel rusts, the keel swells up and squeezes the centerboard. All M_15 centerboards pre 1987 also were fiberglass with steel shot inside. These also could swell up over the years and get stuck in the up position. The weight of all these fiberglass/steel shot boards was close to 45 pounds. Never more than about 47 pounds. All the M_boats after 1987, both in the 15 and 17 have lead instead of steel for ballast material inside the keel and inside the 45 pound centerboard. I doubt that Tom has dirt holding the board up. More likely the board, keel trunk or both has swelled up and is now stuck. Same for you Jim. Once you get the board out it has to be made thinner so it won't be sticky. (sand smooth and carefully remove some of the material on the fat part). We use nothing but pure lead. No rust, no swelling. Fair winds Bob (949) 489-8227 Robert Eeg bobeeg(a)earthlink.net Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.

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Monty pics
by Nebwest2＠aol.com 01 Feb '06

01 Feb '06

Inspired by Bills site....and by no means trying to compete with it!!! Bills site is awesome! We have started a Funtigo site to play around with for the local Montgomerys here in Lake Havasu, AZ. It's just a trial thing and we're just getting started. hoping to convince some of the other locals that we need more Monty's here. There used to be many....then there were none. Were back up to three !! So anyways, if anybody's interested....the website is www.havasumontgomerys.funtigo.com Just gonna post pics of what were up to.

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Recommendations for a Montgomery 17 Bimini Top
by Roger Freedman 09 Jan '06

09 Jan '06

I am in the process of purchasing a 1977 all white Montgomery 17'. Realize this is winter, but since this is in Texas, want to install a good Bimini top sometime soon. Have seen several photos of Montgomery 17's equipped with bimini tops so am looking to purchase a navy/blue one that can be ordered and fitted from an existing manufacturer or vendor - without having to have a custom one made if possible. Any suggestions or recommendations? Thanks Roger Freedman rogerfreedman(a)hotmail.com

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Re: M-15 mainsail attachment and posting woes
by John L. Gonzalez 02 Jan '06

02 Jan '06

David, pretty country that you live in, Northern Idaho. A good Navy friend recently abandoned overpriced San Diego for your neck of the woods, and could not be happier. My mainsail came with (plastic) sail slugs in the luff, and they do a perfect job keeping the mainsail's luff attached to the mast. A boomkicker to keep the boom from dropping sounds great; I use a topping lift, but have forgotten to rig it at times. I don't try to get picture-perfect flaking of my mainsail when rigging my boat for launch or dropping the main in preparation for landing; I just drop the main and flake it in a reasonably orderly fashion as it comes down, then use five or so elastic sail ties to bundle the main. And, that's how I store my boom in my cabin, with its sail-tie bundled main still attached. In conjunction with the sail slugs, I use a Davis sail track stop to keep the sail slugs from inadvertently falling out of the mast sail slot. They're easy to lose, so carry an extra or attach it to the mast. To ease flaking of my main, I installed a home-brew lazy jack system. It worked well, but rigging it added a few minutes to my setup time, and I quickly found that I valued quicker setup more than easier flaking/better mainsail control. Have fun tinkering! Sincerely, John Bella (628)

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M-15 mainsail attachment and posting woes.
by David Hunt 02 Jan '06

02 Jan '06

Hi all. I read often... new to posting hope it works THIS time... thanks to Bill and Keith for the assist (if it works). I've had some woes trying to figure out how to post again... maybe turning off Hotmail's "Rich Text Format" will do the trick. my ?...: Have any of you modified your M-15 (or similar) mainsail attachment system? I love my 1993 M-15 "Poco Rojo" (which I bought from Rachel - who some of you know - several years ago) but most days when I drop the main, I am frustrated by the way the mainsail detatches from the mast groove and piles up into the cockpit... I have installed a simple "Boomkicker", which helps keep the boom from whacking me in the head when I drop the main, but I'd like to keep the main luff attached to the mast and be able to flake and tie the main on the boom more easily as on other larger boats I've owned and sailed. So... I am wondering if any of you have modified your system... such as plastic slides lashed to your main, or bat cars or something along those lines. I always singlehand, and always say to myself... "That's IT!!! I'm going to change this setup".... So with Poco Rojo in the garage for the winter, 4 degrees in N. Idaho and the snow piling up.... seems like the proper time to either refit or head to Baja... Any experiences greatly appreciated. David Hunt (Poco Rojo), Coeur d'Alene, Idaho / Loreto B.C.S., Mexico It is all just stuff and some numbers. A day spent sailing isn't deducted from one's life. Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to meet it.

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Re: M_Boats: New M-15 additions
by LUDLOWD2＠aol.com 02 Jan '06

02 Jan '06

Gary You're right. I did add the jib downhaul after having a problem holding the jib down in strong winds. There are many times I wish I had had Bob install the stern pulpit. Its also a great place to mount your antennas, flag pole, etc but I had concerns with it getting in the way of fueling the Honda and going over the stern ladder. Don

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Re: M_Boats: Early M17 Electrical Panel
by bownez＠juno.com 31 Dec '05

31 Dec '05

Hi Steve, The red item on my 1976 M17 electrical panel is a small pilot lamp. I fuse the main battery positive connection. I seem to recall there is a auto reset thermal overcurrent disconnect glued to the back of the panel. These will trip on an overload and then reset after cooling. Bones

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Stuck Keel Tricks???
by Nebwest2＠aol.com 31 Dec '05

31 Dec '05

Hey everyone. Anybody got any surefire ways of getting a very stuck rusted keel out of a keel trunk, other than bashing it out (delicately of course :-)) from above. Seems as how over the last 45 days our keel which worked fine when we picked up the boat in Fla. has fused to the keel trunk. I have been able to get it maybe 1/3 of the way down but that has involved a lot of force from above and it doesn't seem to be getting any easier! For today its Sean O, Keel 1. I feel kinda sheepish about saying that I put pics on my website, but the number of hits that thing is getting boggles my mind. Almost 800 hits in 20 days, so someone is looking! So.....I put updated pics of the Bottom/Blister/and now Keel Removal saga on the website at www.havasumontgomerys.funtigo.com. Misery always loves company so come check it out!!! I really just want to sail the dang thing. Maybe I can talk Bones into bringing his down here for a winter sail and taking me for a ride! Happy new year Sean

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Keel Stuck
by Steve Shenkel 31 Dec '05

31 Dec '05

Hey Sean, My M17 keel is also stuck, although mine has been stuck ever since I purchased it last August. I can beat on it from the top and get it to drop about 2". However, last Monday I floated the boat back on the trailer about 2' and carefully pulled it up the ramp and to my storage spot at Lake Pleasant. The back of my dry storage spot has a big drop off. From there I was able to pull from the back end of the keel with vice grips and got it a third of the way down, but it was stuck hard there; most difficult to winch up. I could pry the keel a little to port, but it would spring back hard against the starboard side of the trunk. I think Brian Gilbert has a good plan, but as tight as mine is to starboard, I think I may have a little more work to do. BTW, one of the 23's that you saw at Lake Pleasant arrived here this past year. It was reported that the owner had bought it in the Las Vegas area. I have also seen a darker brown boat (hull) in the area that I heard was one of the kit boats. Note: Currently there are two M17's (70's vintage) for sale at the Sailboat Shop (approximately $4600 each). Good luck with the keel work. I will look forward to hearing about your solution. Steve Shenkel <>< _/) M17 # 263 Glendale, AZ

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