I'm hoping we'll get to see pics of this boat if you buy her, Rachel ... She sounds unique ... Iron shouldn't be much of a problem for an external ballast keel, should it? --Craig ----- Original Message ----- From: Rachel To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2005 1:53 PM Subject: Dutch boatbuilders (was: Blisters) Connie, It is the boat you're thinking of, a Rhodes-designed Seafarer Meridian, hull #48, built in 1962. They're 24'9" long, with a 7' beam, and were touted as the minimum package that still had everything necessary to be a proper cruiser. One thing I've noted is that in all the literature for the Meridian, they say it has a lead ballast pig (it's externally mounted, with keel bolts), but all the Meridians I've ever seen (or heard of) have an iron pig, and I've never seen nor heard of one that actually got lead. That being said, a boatbuilder who's recently done an extensive restoration on one, reported that it was a very well-done iron casting - much higher quality than he'd often seen. Perhaps they changed it from lead before ever building any since the Meridian was supposed to be the "most affordable" of the cruising boats, providing (according to a 1961 advertisement) "Full cruising accommodations for four persons - in divided cabins!" At any rate, they sail quite well from reports I've heard, so I guess the iron worked out, although I prefer lead in principle. Interestingly, the Meridian's big sister, the Ranger (28'), was made with two optional ballast plugs the first few years: You could get an iron keel that weighed about 1800#, or a lead one that was about 2700#. I noticed that after a few years (around 1964, I think) they came out with the "Ranger II" that seemed just about the same but had a lead keel, no iron option. I think 1800# must have been a bit light for that boat, at about 7000# or so total weight. I realize this is totally non-Monty at this point - and I considered writing back-channel - but then I know that for myself, it drives me a bit nuts when someone starts an interesting thread (okay, I'm a boat nut so it's all interesting :-) on-list, then takes it back-channel and leaves me wondering what the rest of the story was... Thanks for all the interesting information, Connie. I'm going to save it in my Meridian file - it's not all that easy to dig up info. on the early years of fiberglass in Holland. I mean, certainly no-one else has ever brought up the point of "needing two Heinekens" to get past the fumes at the exhibition hall. Luckily, I'm sure they were readily available ;-) I guess you probably weren't there as early as 1962, or perhaps you would have seen #48.... I think it's kind of neat that the boat is my exact age ... too bad *I* can't be Awlgripped ;-) I'll keep you posted, --- Rachel Fatty Knees 7' dinghy Former owner, M-17 #334 Former owner, M-15 #517 Rhodes Meridian #48...? _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats