Doug: Welcome. I.ve had my 1977 M-17 for 15 months, and just returned from the Florida 120. Without a doubt the 9.7 HP Merc is too big, and heavy. Sell it. Most folks are running a 4 HP long shaft on this boat. It's more power than needed, and very thrifty on fuel consumption. After 4 days sailing in Florida, I cannot measure how much fuel I used. I only motored into and out of harbors, but cannot have used two cups. If I had to replace my 4 HP Suzuki, I'd seriously consider the 2 HP Honda, at only 28 lb. Regarding sail slugs, they do make it nice to drop the sail and flake it onto the boom. If your main only has a bolt rope, there's nothing to attach the slugs with. Some sails have little grommets for slugs that can be attached easily with little screws. It's not an expensive job to add the slugs at a sailmaker. If your hull gouges don't get into the glass laminate, and are above the waterline, I'd fill with white Marine-Tex, then wet sand with 320 grit, and maybe 400 afterwards. Won't be a perfect match, but pretty good. I am just learning my boat. Me and my crew tacked in strong, shifting winds through a narrow channel under the Pensacola Beach Bridge, against a strong current. We had to stay one on each side of the cockpit to make the tacks quickly enouigh. So there was no sitting out to balance the boat. Several times the gusts heeled us to over 30°. I can say the M-17 will certainly take care of itself in strong shifty winds. It sails better "on its feet" of course, but other than discomfort and angst of your crew, this is a boat that SAILS! I've sailed lots of boats for over 40 years, and none performed better than my old M-17. And I thought I had a short season! Mark House Durango, CO ----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Vogel" <shadowmt@earthlink.net> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 12:16 PM Subject: M_Boats: minor hull repairs
Hello fellow Montgomery boat owners,
My name is Doug Vogel, and I am a new owner of an 1980 M-17. It is my first boat. I live in Jackson,Wyoming, and sail my boat on Jackson Lake, in Grand Teton National Park. A amazingly beautiful and tricky place to sail. Lots of challenging mountain (6770') weather to deal with. Like ice still on the lake till probably June this year. Most years, the marina opens on May 21st. What a winter....
I have a few questions.
1) I am trying to repair a few minor gouges in the hull. 1.5 " long and only 1/16 to 1/8" deep. I have a gelcoat repair kit with the color tubes. I sanded the gouges yesterday, and ended up very quickly exposing the green layer underneath my cream colored hull. I was not trying to sand just inside the gouges. So have I screwed up? Now i think I have to apply the gelcoat over both the gouge and the exposed green layer. And that will have to be like a 1/32 or less. Then sand the gelcoat repair very carefully to not get to any green.
Is there a better way ?
2) My motor that came with the boat is an 9.7 horse regular shaft Mercury. Too big & too short. A previous owner installed an adjustable motor mount about foot below the notch in the transom. Soooo about $1500 can fix that issue. Maybe later in the summer.
3) I just spent a half hour reading older posts for the first time. I need to do more. I was considering going with slugs as there are some monster gusts on my lake. I will get some Sailcote next week. Do the slugs have to be installed by a sailmaker , or is it possible for an owner to install them ?
Thanks all for being happy hardworking sailers , and sending back some advice.
Doug _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
When posting, remember that there is no privacy on the Internet!