On Tuesday, September 16, 2003, at 10:16 AM, Smith, Tom wrote:

Where is balsa-core utilitzed in Montgomery boat decking?  Just the housetop?  The housetop and side decks?  All horizontal surfaces?  Anybody know?  t

Hi Tom, I'm a former M-15 and M-17 owner and list-lurker/one-time non-lurker :-) I did extensive repairs on my 1981 M-17 (had the 1981-and-newer deck mold), so I can tell you what I found on that one: The cabin top was balsa-cored, including under the mast step (mine had compressed, so I dug it out from inside and replace with strengthened epoxy [I think I added milled fibers]). I had some dampness around the hand rails, too. The decks were all cored (mine had some moisture intrusion under the bow pulpit fittings and jib-sheet tracks. The area right around the chain plates is cored (there are obvious bulges inside, IIRC), I had some moisture there, but not too much. The cockpit floor is also cored (I had some moisture around the mainsheet track). I can't remember about the cockpit coaming tops. The companionway and forehatch lids were cored. The (wooden) toe rails are outside the cored area of the deck. I had the full-meal-deal of a project fixing all that, but my boat was stored outside by the previous owner. Not sure why you're asking, but based on what I found, though, if I bought another older Monty (and I hope I do - I'm off on a big-boat cruise right now), I'd immediately take off all through-bolted fittings in cored areas, overdrill, re-drill, and re-bed. That would actually have been kind of fun, in and of itself; it was the digging out of large wet areas and re-glassing inside the cabin that was a pain. When drilling out holes in the non- or minimally-damp areas, I used a 1" (or was it 3/4"?) hole saw with a 1/2" bit as the middle part. Drilled from the bottom, so that the hole in the core and inside glass was the large one, but the smaller hole went all the way through - for a "keyed" effect. Then the bolt hole was smaller yet and just went through the epoxy. I used clear packing tape inside the cabin to contain the epoxy and it worked great - I could see just what was happening. On holes where the air was stubbornly staying in, I just made a pinhole in the tape to let the epoxy come through, then put more tape over it to stop the leak. I found (trial and error) it worked best for me to let the epoxy cure a bit proud of the hole on the top of the cabin (protected by blue tape, of course), then chisel it off in the paritally-cured "green stage." For the areas where I had to remove large areas of glass and wet core, I used a Fein Multi-master to cut the glass and core out, then epoxied in new, epoxy saturated core, and glassed over it. Not too much of a cosmetic problem, as it was all on the inside, which is not all that perfect anyway. I painted the whole inside of the cabin white afterward. What a difference! Nice and clean and bright. Too much information, probably :-) I'll stop now --- Rachel former owner 1981 M-17 #334 former owner 1996 M-15 #517 currently cruising on a friend's 1975 Westsail 32 #412, but with my own 1981 Fatty Knees 7' sailing dinghy, so I'm not Hess-less :-)

On my 17, it appears to be only on horizontal surfaces. Having just drilled and epoxy filled a bunch of holes, I can tell you the housetop, deck and cockpit floor have balsa. Maria ----- Original Message ----- From: Smith, Tom To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 1:16 PM Subject: M_Boats: RE: Balsa-core deck Where is balsa-core utilitzed in Montgomery boat decking? Just the housetop? The housetop and side decks? All horizontal surfaces? Anybody know? t Tom Smith & Jane Van Winkle Sandpoint, Idaho M15-345, Chukar -----Original Message----- From: n9ca [mailto:n9ca@comcast.net] Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 6:50 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: unsinkable mast Larry, I thought I'd try filling the mast with foam, and considered running a PVC tube the length of the mast for wiring, etc. However, the shipping peanut idea is great, and avoids the problems you mentioned with solid foam. BUT... there is something to watch out for! In a recent shipment I received, the shipping peanuts , when immersed in water, became soaked. Those of you who plan to use this idea, be sure you don't have the new environmentally degradeable ones. Clarence Andrews Carpe Ventum #604 ----- Original Message ----- From: Larry Yake To: southisland2@earthlink.net ; montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Monday, September 15, 2003 10:13 PM Subject: Re: M_Boats: unsinkable mast Not that I've ever heard of. Doesn't sound like a real good idea. It'd be a real chore to get out of there if you wanted to run wires up to the masthead, etc. I thought I should have floatation when I was new to the boat, so I filled it with those styrofoam shipping peanuts, which also quiets the wire slap in the mast, and plugged the ends with a chunk of foam from one of the swim noodles the kids play with at the pools. I don't think I would worry about it now, unless the wire slap was annoying. Larry Yake M17, #200 Tullamore On Sat, 13 Sep 2003 02:29:42 -0400 "MC Carpenter" <southisland2@earthlink.net> writes: has anyone put poured foam in their mast to make it unsinkable -------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was scanned for viruses. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats