Hello Allen Congratulations on your ownership of a Monty, I know you and your wife will enjoy it as I do mine. I know of a M17 is/was kept in the water at Seabrook Marina south of Houston named Willie, this must be the same boat. Had a picture of Willie the Whale on the stern. Where do you keep her ? Sounds like a typical maiden voyage a few glitches and maybe a suprise or two but overall the Monty is a very sastifying boat and as the minor problems are overcome becomes a joy to own and sail. It's probably marine growth (barnacles and such) that's got the c'board stuck. I had s stuck board on my maiden voyage also, there are several ways to loosen it as described on the msog site. What finally caused mine to drop was towing the boat a section of rough road, when I arrived at my destination and launched, .....like magic the board went down. Let me know how it goes, and if you are interested I sail with a group from the Houston/ SanAntonio area we would like to have you join our next sail. Good luck and happy sails Wayne M17 #204 "INTREPID" ----- Original Message ----- From: <abc@kihikihi.com> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 8:52 AM Subject: M_Boats: New Monty Owner and Maiden Voyage
Hello All,
My name is Allan and I recently purchased a 1977 Montgomery 17. The Hull ID is #251 and it is currently named Willie. We plan on changing the name but have decided on a new name yet.
After doing a little work on the boat, my friend Linda and I took it on its maiden voyage (for us any way.) We took it to Lake Travis in Austin, TX and the first adventure was finding a place to launch. The lake is very low right now and most of the boat ramps are closed. We ended up launching off the beach at a county park. We got the boat in the water and the motor running (after drifting half way across the cove!) The next problem we found is that the centerboard is stuck! (Adventures for another day.) We motored out into the main body of the lake and hoisted sails. We killed the motor and sat. The lake was dead calm without a breath of wind. Looking down the lake, we saw a Sunfish with its little sail barely filled with air so we waited. We waited. Finally, the merest breath of wind came up and according to the GPS, we started making about 0.7 knots. Over the next hour or so, the winds picked up. I don't think the winds ever made it over 10 knots. We had a fun day of sailing in spite of all the little problems. According to the GPS, we actually made it up to 4.6 knots at one time but most of our time was spent making between 2 and 3 knots. We finally decided to pull the boat out of the lake as it was getting late in the day. (We can't sail at night because the lights don't work, another adventure for another day!) After loading on the trailer and getting the boat out, the mast down, the sails stowed, etc. We went down to the lake for a relaxing swim and some after-sailing beers (not to be confused with while-sailing beers). Of course, as the sun started to go down, the winds picked up!
Overall, it was a good day. The boat still needs some little things but what boat doesn't.
Allan #251 Willie (soon to be renamed)
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