Hello Jeff? The stuff you stumbled on is just stuff as far as I can tell. The builder is very active and supportive on this board. I didn't buy my M17 new but there are others around that have. If I had the resources I would be ordering a new M23 from him right now. Buy the M17, you won't regret it. As for your other question, there are several Montgomeries in the Portland area. I'm in Roseburg but we would love to have another Oregon M-boater. Several of us keep our boats at Fern Ridge and group sails are always a possibility. Mark Dvorscak M17 #400 GRACE -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-admin@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-admin@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Jeffco923@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, April 03, 2002 8:15 PM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: considering the M17...request for info Hi, I'm glad to see that there is an active group of Montgomery owners here. We have been searching for the perfect(for us) boat for sometime. The M-17 meets most of our criteria and we're getting very close to placing an order when I stumbled on to a bunch of "stuff" on the net that suggested that the builder had some financial and credibility issues. If any of you have recent experience with the builder and can give me some info I would appreciate it. Also, I'm interested in knowing how easy(or difficult) it is for one person to raise the mast on the 17. I live in Portland Or. and will be using the boat on lakes, rivers and on Puget Sound. If there are any active Montgomery sailers in the Portland area I would love to hear from you. Thanks