January 2005 - montgomery_boats - mailman.xmission.com

RE: M_Boats: M15 Electical system...Thanks RandyG
by RandyG 08 Jan '05

08 Jan '05

Bud, We use a standard plug-in type battery charger. It's a multi purpose charger that works with both car batteries and deep cycle, nothing fancy. We keep our M-15 in the garage and the charger on the work bench. When getting ready for a cruise I connect the charger to one end of my pig-tail cable and the other end I plug into the 12 vdc aux outlet in cockpit. The onboard battery then charges through the 12 vdc aux. connector. I mostly use the M-15 battery for the anchor light and occasional use of the VHF. I also use a small 150 watt inverter to charge my cell phone, digital camera, and PDA. The inverter plugs into the 12vdc aux outlet in the cockpit. Everything else on the boat; FRS radio, Walkman, flash light, GPS, they all run on "AA" batteries. The most power hungry of these is the GPS but it will run for several days on a set of "AA" 's. Its a Garmin GPS 12. I buy one of those 32 pack of "AA's" from Costco at the beginning of the season and have batteries to spare. One thing I have been careful to do when bringing other electronics on board is to buy devices that use "AA's", that way I only have to stock one battery size. The battery full charged will handle a long weekend of use and anchoring. For longer cruising I use a kerosene anchor light that hangs from the boom, it will run all night on a single fill and is amazing at staying lit even in a strong blow! The anchor light and transmitting on the VHF are what put the greatest drain on the main battery. My wife and I are in the market for a good clean M-17. On a 17 I think the best setup would be to have a alternator/charger built into the outboard. In a pinch you could run the outboard to charge the battery. On the longer trips like the San Juan & Gulf Islands we tend to motor about 50% of the time, that would keep the battery full charged. The only obsiticle I see with this solution is how best to make the electrical connection between the outboard alternator and your onboard battery. The connector would need to be highly weather & salt water resistant if at the motor. Or maybe a short pig-tail from the motor to a less weather resistant connector in the cockpit locker. Randy Graves M-15 #407 ________________________________ From: montgomery_boats-bounces+randyg=cite.nic.edu(a)mailman.xmission.com on behalf of Bud Sent: Sat 1/8/2005 2:57 AM To: montgomery_boats(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: M15 Electical system...Thanks RandyG Just wanted to say thanks Randy for the informative photos regarding the wiring of your M15. Its really a nice set up. Very neat. I may do the same thing. Can you tell me how you charge your battery? Small portable solar system? Fair winds Bud M15 #500 --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more. _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats

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Re: M_Boats: Snow
by chbenneck＠juno.com 08 Jan '05

08 Jan '05

Hi Gilbert, Great account! A white Christmas in Corpus Christi! The first one in 86 years according to our newspapers. Glad you enjoyed it, and you were most prudent to stay home. We were in Dallas at Christmas, and had snow there. The radio was full of dire warnings and accident locations............. Stay warm and Happy New Year. Connie

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Re: M_Boats: Technochricy...
by BILLAMICASR＠aol.com 08 Jan '05

08 Jan '05

In a message dated 1/7/2005 1:12:28 AM Pacific Standard Time, rqlhgl(a)ieee.org writes: On my M23 I made a flat kidney shaped SS bracket that pivoted on a Delrin block fastened just inside the stb' side of the companion way enabling the Garmin 45XL to be seen quite easily from the tiller (even on a 23) or rotated inside the cabin for security when at dock, (the 45XL was $300 when purchased in 1993!). Dick Delrin is such a great material. Very slippery. I dont remember what the 45XL was. However, the 276C has a very small screen. Only 2 1/4" X 3 1/4". Just a little larger than hand held GPS units like the Map 76. Kind of a wierd unit. The largest of the handheld/Portable and the smallest of the chartplotters (middle of the road compromise). For me (my eyes) if the screen gets more than a little over 3 feet away it becomes difficult to distinguish words. This is my experience on the land. Cant say how it will be on the water, in the sun, etc. Bill

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Technochricy...
by BILLAMICASR＠aol.com 08 Jan '05

08 Jan '05

Hi All… Got to confess... I thought for sure I was coming down with a really bad case of Epizudic... or, for a while I was self diagnoseing it as a case of Hybotry... However, I just found out it is neither, it's "Technochricy" Bought myself a Christmas present at West Marine Jewelers... I actually got this a few days ago, locked myself in the house, read the entire manual and can now turn it on... Anyway, I got the land and sea package of the Garmin GPS Map 276c My last GPS was a Garmin Map 76 which wouldn't even hold the paper equivalent of a few maps to cover the SF Bay area. I got pretty frustrated with the lack of performance & sold it on EBAY. Here's the story... I have the City Select CD which gives me all maps to roads & addresses in North America and I have the Blue Chart CD. I've opened the Blue Chart maps for California and Mexico. Then I used a 128 MB Chip (fits Garmin only) and downloaded all of the Blue chart maps from Acapulco to Oregon and all of the road maps for Coos Bay, Oregon to San Diego and from the Coast into Nevada. It all fit onto one small 128 MB chip. Isn’t science amazing ($). The learning curve was a bit frustrating, however… not to impossible. I found it refreshing to find I couldn’t loose any data or screw anything up by pushing buttons… even the wrong ones. Which I did lots of times, as I was trying to figure it out. So, without Tipperary close by, I’m perfecting my NAV skills on the road. It’ s essentially the same as on the water as far as the 276c is concerned. You tell it where you want to go and it tells you how to get there. This one even has the voice prompts, "Turn left on Main Street", that you can hear as you near a turn off or follow a route that you’ve created. So, now that I know exactly where I am, in this big old world… I look down at my GPS & wonder… Does big brother know exactly where I am too? These things don’t transmit position… or so we’re told. Bill M-17 #496 "Tipperary" San Francisco

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Maine cruise
by Bud 08 Jan '05

08 Jan '05

Tod, Please add my name to the Maine cruise list. My email addresss is jaczoey(a)yahoo.com I've put the date on my calender. Thanks much. Fair winds Bus M115 #500 --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we.

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M15 Electical system...Thanks RandyG
by Bud 08 Jan '05

08 Jan '05

Just wanted to say thanks Randy for the informative photos regarding the wiring of your M15. Its really a nice set up. Very neat. I may do the same thing. Can you tell me how you charge your battery? Small portable solar system? Fair winds Bud M15 #500 --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more.

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RE: M_Boats: M15 Electrical System
by RandyG 08 Jan '05

08 Jan '05

Rick, I've taken some pictures of the electrical system on our M-15, hull #407, and placed them onto http://sailing.gravesfam.us you will see a link on the left hand side of the page for "M-15 Electrical System". We are the second owners of #407. I believe the boat came with the basic electrical system seen in the pictures; with the exception of perhaps the masthead VHF antenna which I believe the dealer installed at the time of the sale. Also, the bulkhead mounted compass is wired for a red backlight. We have added the 12v aux connecter mounted below the bridge deck. First I had a 12vdc aux connector inside the boat but have since found it more useful in the cockpit. I charge the boat battery by using a patch cable of which one end attaches to the battery charger and the other end plugs into the 12vdc aux. connector. Hope the pictures are helpful, let me know if I can help with more info. Randy Graves M-15 #407 ________________________________ From: montgomery_boats-bounces+randyg=cite.nic.edu(a)mailman.xmission.com on behalf of Rick Langer Sent: Tue 1/4/2005 6:30 AM To: montgomery_boats(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: M15 Electrical System Randy and Steve, thanks for the replies. Randy, a picture would be great, if you get a chance. So in your boat, you don't store anything in the v-berth locker other than the battery? Is the battery box attached to the hull? I was planning on not wiring the mast to keep it's stepping light and simple. However, if one considers the wiring required to connect red and green nav, steaming and stern lights, running a few wires up the mast would be far less complicated. So, it sounds like you have at least three electrical wires and a coaxial cable going up your mast? Is the hardware at the top of the mast any problem when stepping it? I'm concerned with weight, but also I have concerns about damaging the components if I bump them. At one point I was thinking of putting a windex on top of the mast, but nixed it because I know I would end up bending it out of shape when if got bumped. I've done it before. If you do take some pictures, would you give me a shot of the on deck connectors for electrical and coax? Thanks, Rick Langer > Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 14:22:04 -0800 > From: "RandyG" <RandyG(a)cite.nic.edu> > Subject: RE: M_Boats: M15 Electrical System > To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" > <montgomery_boats(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Message-ID: > <81FBC76D3DB65A439B1BE673340C71BA019E20(a)flynn.cite.nic.edu> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Rick, > > Our M-15 #407 came new with the electrical package. The battery is a group 24 and is mounted in a battery box directly below the opening hatch under the V-berth. Our below V-berth cavity still has the Styrofoam floatation, the battery box is surrounded by the Styrofoam and is literally directly below the wood access cover. > > The electrical panel contains several switches mounted vertically in a row (5 switches I believe) and is mounted on the flat vertical surface of the exterior of the port interior locker. If you were sitting on the porta-potty, you could kick the switch panel with your right foot. The switches have teak trim and a piece of Plexiglas that slides down in front of them to protect them. Not all the switches are used, and several are labeled with white on black engraved labels. > > The wiring from the battery to the switch panel runs from under the V-berth, through a hole drilled into the port interior locker, to the switch panel. The wiring from the switch panel to the mast head lights runs up the interior port-side - angles across near the port window - then across the cabin top over to under the mast tabernacle - exits the interior just in front of the mast. The wires are held in place with a series of plastic wire/cable clamps, secured to the bottom side of deck hardware. We added spiral wrapping around the wires to keep them bundled nicely. > > A picture would be worth a thousand words. Our digital camera will be home later this week and I could send pictures if they would help. > > On our M-15 there are no interior lights. The only thing powered by the battery is our mast head Navigational lights, the internal compass light, and we added a VHF radio. We also added a cigarette lighter type plug for other accessories. > > Randy Graves > Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 18:17:32 EST > From: IDCLLC(a)aol.com > Subject: Re: M_Boats: M15 Electrical System > To: montgomery_boats(a)mailman.xmission.com > Message-ID: <99.54ff43c8.2f0b2c8c(a)aol.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > . > Rick, I've been using a U-1 West Marine AGM battery on our Potter for the > last three years. It's been great, 30 amps for 30# of weight. We use it with > our trolling motor, mostly for launching and retrieval, very convenient. Our > setup is also useful for motorsailing in light air at low power, such as 3 on a > scale of 1-5. In calm water it yields about 2 knots. > > Cheers > > Steve Tyree > P-15 #2098 "Amy Ann" > Piragua "Twig" > Thimble "Thimble" _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats

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RE: M_Boats: M15 Rudder Rebuild
by bobjudy2＠comcast.net 07 Jan '05

07 Jan '05

t The finish on my plates is flakeing too. I tried some paint last year but it did not seem to work well. What do you mean by 'powder cost'? I bought a HDPE rudder from IdaSailor and had them make it a couple inches longer. It seems to work well. Bob M15 #208 San Francisco area > > Rick, I can't think why repositioning the bungee hole a bit would be a > problem. Guess I'd try to make it close, and make sure the position of > the bungee didn't interfer with anything going on inside the rudder > plates re: kick-up. > > The plates on our M15 are bubbly in a couple places too. If I was going > to re-do mine, I'd powder coat it. t > > > > > Tom Smith & Jane Van Winkle > Fairfield, WA > M15-345 Chukar > M17-064 Unnamed > > > -----Original Message----- > From: montgomery_boats-bounces+tom.smith=itron.com(a)mailman.xmission.com > [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces+tom.smith=itron.com@mailman.xmission.co > m] On Behalf Of Rick Langer > Sent: Friday, January 07, 2005 1:35 PM > To: montgomery_boats(a)mailman.xmission.com > Subject: M_Boats: M15 Rudder Rebuild > > After 19 years of use, the rudder on my boat really shows its age. It > had two large gouges on the port side filled with bondo by a PO. I > figure it had a collision with a prop even though the damage doesn't > line up with the prop that came with the boat. I inlaid some pieces of > mahogany, which looks like a repair, but a nice one. The bottom of the > rudder was really chewed up and punky. I trimmed off 1/2" and after > sanding and fairing the entire rudder I coated it with epoxy and a > fiberglass cloth foot at the bottom to prevent damage at a point that > gets a lot of hard use. > > Now for the questions. Has anyone refinished the aluminum rudder > plates? > The plates on my boat, original color black, developed corrosion under > the bolts and pintles which lifted the paint. I don't know what paint > would be the best to rehab the surface. > > The hole in the tiller for the helper shock cord has a lot of tearout on > one side. Probably someone trying to enlarge the hole the quick way. > My question, is the position of the hole sacred? I was thinking of > filling it and drilling a new hole say a inch forward. > > Thanks, > Rick Langer > M15 #337 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats > > > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats

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RE: M_Boats: M15 Rudder Rebuild
by Smith, Tom 07 Jan '05

07 Jan '05

Rick, I can't think why repositioning the bungee hole a bit would be a problem. Guess I'd try to make it close, and make sure the position of the bungee didn't interfer with anything going on inside the rudder plates re: kick-up. The plates on our M15 are bubbly in a couple places too. If I was going to re-do mine, I'd powder coat it. t Tom Smith & Jane Van Winkle Fairfield, WA M15-345 Chukar M17-064 Unnamed -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces+tom.smith=itron.com(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces+tom.smith=itron.com@mailman.xmission.co m] On Behalf Of Rick Langer Sent: Friday, January 07, 2005 1:35 PM To: montgomery_boats(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: M15 Rudder Rebuild After 19 years of use, the rudder on my boat really shows its age. It had two large gouges on the port side filled with bondo by a PO. I figure it had a collision with a prop even though the damage doesn't line up with the prop that came with the boat. I inlaid some pieces of mahogany, which looks like a repair, but a nice one. The bottom of the rudder was really chewed up and punky. I trimmed off 1/2" and after sanding and fairing the entire rudder I coated it with epoxy and a fiberglass cloth foot at the bottom to prevent damage at a point that gets a lot of hard use. Now for the questions. Has anyone refinished the aluminum rudder plates? The plates on my boat, original color black, developed corrosion under the bolts and pintles which lifted the paint. I don't know what paint would be the best to rehab the surface. The hole in the tiller for the helper shock cord has a lot of tearout on one side. Probably someone trying to enlarge the hole the quick way. My question, is the position of the hole sacred? I was thinking of filling it and drilling a new hole say a inch forward. Thanks, Rick Langer M15 #337 _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats

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Maine cruise
by bo Swartwout 07 Jan '05

07 Jan '05

Tod, I live in Hyannis on Cape cod and recently purchased an M-15. I am interested in the Maine trip. Could you please put me in the loop? Thanks, Bo

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