That does sound serious ... I'll defer to Jerry if he weighs in ... It sounds like the boat in question was subjected to extreme stress of some kind ... I have hull 389 with the metal toe-rail, and though I have a little hull-to-deck separation near the starboard bow, I have nothing like the cracking you're describing. I lost my boat and trailer off its hitch in 2001, the whole assembly sailed down a 10-foot embankment and well into a field where it was eventually halted by tall grass ... The boat suffered no damage whatsoever ... I merely broke the winch post. Monty 17's are indestructible, but it sounds like this one was hit by a train or something ... ----- Original Message ----- From: krahnke@comcast.net To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2005 12:45 PM Subject: Re: M_Boats: Hull-deck joint Thanks for the reply. The boat has a metal toe rail. Inboard of the bolts, where the hull begings to curve downwards, there is a crack that, as I said, runs pretty well all around the perimeter of the hull. It appears as a balckened (dirt? mold?) cracking and is visible in much of the interior as a simple crack in the glass, with leak marks in a few places. The more I think about it, it seems pretty serious to me. Since the cracking is below the bolts, it would seem to indicate major structural weakness in the hull, just below the joint. Odd in a well-built boat. How could this happen? Karl Krahnke Ft. Collins, CO krahnke@comcast.net _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats