David, On the earlier 17's, like SWEET PEA, your likely to have a second set of cockpit drains below the waterline. I'm guessing your 17 is similar to our 1988 model. If so, you'll see two below the waterline drains exiting out the front of the stern locker. There are large diameter hoses below the cockpit floor that connect these drains to two molded AL tubes on each side of the stern below the waterline. You may have heard owners talking about checking the integrity of these hoses and connections as a leak could sink you boat. Also on the 1981 to 1994'ish model 17's there are the two holes exiting out the transom. The holes in the transom would only be used if sufficient water came onboard as to not drain quickly out the two below the waterline drains. On models before ours there is a single below the water line drain in the aft end of the cockpit. Randy G ________________________________________ From: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of W David Scobie [wdscobie@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 5:56 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: water in the cockpit i've not had the water in the cockpit yet on SWEET PEA. i now it is just a matter of time. i like the 'idea' of ball valves ... but don't like the thought of having to remember to open the valves if the boat is pooped/swamped. in moments of stress one can forget basic things ... this is why a GREAT number of people can't use a fire extinguisher as they panic and forget to remove the safety pin - and bend the handles closed!! the M15, SCRED in my case, will siphon water in some circumstances up the centerboard pendent hole allowing water to pool on the low side when beating to the wind. i've taken to wearing boating sandals and waterproof socks. on cold days i put on a good pair of warm socks under the waterproof socks. feet say dry, warm and happy. the socks come from REI and are GORE-TEX. this waterproof socks & boots combo is my action plan for sailing SWEET PEA. for bad weather i just wear my foul weather gear and tall boots. again, warm socks keep my feet happy. dave scobie M17 #375 - sweet pea (http://www.m17-375.webs.com) M15 #288 - SCRED (FOR SALE, http://www.freewebs.com/15-named-scred --- On Thu, 5/14/09, Tom Jenkins <tjenk@gte.net> wrote: Hi gang, Every boat has a distinctive personality (one reason I love them), and I am discovering my 17 bit by bit. I got in a big blow yesterday, and enough water backed into the cockpit to give me cold feet had the water not been warm. The drain hoses have devices that might be one-way valves half way through the aft locker, and I am wondering if other owners have found that these keep all the water out. If so, I will have to take the things apart and find the problem. A final, if not as elegant (or safe) a solution, would be to use expanding rubber plugs in the cockpit openings, but I cannot find one of the proper size in my catalogs. Has anyone found a source? A big old soft rubber cork would probably work, but I am afraid a surge might pop one out. Another thing I noticed was a bit of water around the fuel tank in the aft locker. I assume a following wave took a whack high on the transom and shoved water past the fuel hose; has anyone experienced this and come up with an elegant solution? I know this subject was brought up awhile back, but I don't have the emails and I was not focused on the subject at the time. Thanks in advance for your comments. Tom Jenkins 2004 M17 Scintilla _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!

Good points all; you obviously have thought this out. I just like my options open, including bare feet on certain days when the weather is warm and the water is still cold. From another angle, the relatively huge cockpit in the 17 is great fun, but it would take some time to drain through two hoses, so you would have plenty of time think of the two water exits: the drains and your bucket. Tom Jenkins ----- Original Message ----- From: "W David Scobie" <wdscobie@yahoo.com> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 5:56 PM Subject: Re: M_Boats: water in the cockpit i've not had the water in the cockpit yet on SWEET PEA. i now it is just a matter of time. i like the 'idea' of ball valves ... but don't like the thought of having to remember to open the valves if the boat is pooped/swamped. in moments of stress one can forget basic things ... this is why a GREAT number of people can't use a fire extinguisher as they panic and forget to remove the safety pin - and bend the handles closed!! the M15, SCRED in my case, will siphon water in some circumstances up the centerboard pendent hole allowing water to pool on the low side when beating to the wind. i've taken to wearing boating sandals and waterproof socks. on cold days i put on a good pair of warm socks under the waterproof socks. feet say dry, warm and happy. the socks come from REI and are GORE-TEX. this waterproof socks & boots combo is my action plan for sailing SWEET PEA. for bad weather i just wear my foul weather gear and tall boots. again, warm socks keep my feet happy. dave scobie M17 #375 - sweet pea (http://www.m17-375.webs.com) M15 #288 - SCRED (FOR SALE, http://www.freewebs.com/15-named-scred --- On Thu, 5/14/09, Tom Jenkins <tjenk@gte.net> wrote: Hi gang, Every boat has a distinctive personality (one reason I love them), and I am discovering my 17 bit by bit. I got in a big blow yesterday, and enough water backed into the cockpit to give me cold feet had the water not been warm. The drain hoses have devices that might be one-way valves half way through the aft locker, and I am wondering if other owners have found that these keep all the water out. If so, I will have to take the things apart and find the problem. A final, if not as elegant (or safe) a solution, would be to use expanding rubber plugs in the cockpit openings, but I cannot find one of the proper size in my catalogs. Has anyone found a source? A big old soft rubber cork would probably work, but I am afraid a surge might pop one out. Another thing I noticed was a bit of water around the fuel tank in the aft locker. I assume a following wave took a whack high on the transom and shoved water past the fuel hose; has anyone experienced this and come up with an elegant solution? I know this subject was brought up awhile back, but I don't have the emails and I was not focused on the subject at the time. Thanks in advance for your comments. Tom Jenkins 2004 M17 Scintilla _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!