April 2007 - montgomery_boats - mailman.xmission.com

M-17 Spongy Floor
by Nebwest2＠aol.com 06 Apr '07

06 Apr '07

Jeff, Prior to owning "Dauntless" our 23 we owned a 17. I sold it to a friend of mine. When Jason took the boat from me he went bananas cleaning it up. It looked great. However, when he tackled the inside of the cabin he decided to remove everything and to go in there with a hose to wash the whole thing down. I was a little skeptical about this approach as I was afraid water would make it to places that might be difficult to dry. When he was finished the inside sparkled!...however, whenever you stepped on the cabin floor near the v-berth it would flex and a little bit of water would ooze up through some stress cracks that had developed right where the floor rolls up 90 degrees and becomes the vertical side of the rear of the v-berth. Look for spider web like cracks in the gelcoat on the floor or long straight cracks running right where the floor turns up into the backs vertical side of the v-berth. I think it's probably a fairly common thing and my opinion would be that it's not really a huge concern. What is a concern though would be to not let water lay there and to find out where the water came from and try to mitigate that. My 17 did not have any wood under the floor, rather, the liner sits almost right on top of the hull itself. It turned out that there was a little space between the liner and the hull where it (the liner) was flexing. After a lot of "what to do's" we decided that water had slipped between the hull and the liner (the floor is part of the liner) and the fact the floor was showing some weakness and flexing was allowing it to act like a water pump pushing the water up through the stress cracks. Obviously the floor was unsupported in the area it was flexing. We decided to carefully cut the flexing part of the floor out in a nice square piece and lift it out. I believe Jason did this with a battery powered small rotary saw adjusting the depth to just what was necessary to cut the thickness of the liner. After lifting out the piece of floor it became obvious that there was somewhat of a gap between the floor and the hull itself making that area of the floor unsupported. After many years (and sasquatch sized people like me stepping on it) the piece of floor had just begun to weaken and was flexing. The first thing we did was to let it dry out completely and to clean the area on the back side of the piece we removed as well as the the area of the inside of the hull that was now exposed. Then we mixed up a big batch of thickened West System epoxy with colloidal silica in it to make it like peanut butter. We painted both the bottom of the floor piece and the inside of the hull with Un-thickened epoxy first so that the epoxy could penetrate the pieces and then took the peanut butter thickened epoxy and covered the top of the exposed hull with enough of it so that when the piece of floor was put back in place there was a solid bond between the hull and the floor (it was no longer unsupported anywhere). We weighted the piece of floor down with sandbags until it cured. Then we ground a taper all the way along the joint area and laid in a couple of strips of 2 inch glass tape. That was sanded smooth and the floor was back in, and now as solid as a rock. Jason never bothered to cosmetically finish the repair. Instead he just had a throw rug on it. I'd have gone on to prime it and paint it. You could gelcoat it but you'd have to have better gelcoat skills than I do! hahaha. You do have to find out where that water is coming from. Could anything have spilled inside and found a way to leak under the liner? How about your keel lifting pendant hole? Had any really rowdy sails lately where water could have been splashing up through the hole? How about through hull's? Check the molded in through hull for the cockpit scupper and make sure the hose connection is good and tight and the hose is not dried out or cracked. And of course my favorite...Rain water. On these older boats keeping everything sealed can be a challenge and sooner or later you will need to re-bed the deck hardware in new sealant. Not a fun job. We just got done removing the aluminum toe rail from Dauntless, cleaning it and rebedding it.....and we still have a little leak when we heel her over and put the toe rail in the water! UGH! Guess that's part of the fun of it......yeah right! Good luck. I'm sure some other folks will chime in with their experiences to help out. Sean M23 "Dauntless" _www.havasumontgomerys.funtigo.com_ (http://www.havasumontgomerys.funtigo.com) ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

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M-15 Trail-Rite bearing specs?
by EinkaufR43＠aol.com 06 Apr '07

06 Apr '07

Hi All; I'm off soon to pick up M-15 #249, a mere 100 mile hop. I haven't absolutely confirmed the bearing specifications, and hope somebody has it handy from experience. It's surely a 1983 just like the boat. I want to make the trip home on new rolling stock, and have arrangements to get service at the other end, rather than wait until home. Rob and Pete at Trail-Rite were pretty confident it's a one inch straight spindle, using common bearing set 44643,1.98 OD rear seal.. Tires are 12", 5 bolt on 4 1/2, and my new ones are being mounted and balanced. (What a conflicted job making good use of all the tire info out there!) Anyway I decided to use 6 ply US made trailer tires on new galvanized rims. Spring was last week here in Michigan, but I'm confident as usual that it'll be back again soon. Thanks in advance, Ron in Michigan ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

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Re: Vehicle
by John R. Butler 06 Apr '07

06 Apr '07

My two cents: I drive a used, 2000 Hyundai Elantra with an off-the- shelf hitch. With over 70,000 miles, the "Grey Goose" with a little four banger, front wheel drive and relative light weight has no trouble launching, retrieving and pulling "Rejoyce" at all. Last week we pulled her for bottom painting, and I sat in the cockpit as she went up the ramp. The exhaust sound indicated minimal power needed, and my friend driving her said she pulled up the relatively steep ramp with ease. In my less-than-humble opinion, it has more to do with the ramp's surface and condition, with the driver's mind set a close second. I do not want a new Tundra with a jillion horses under the hood, room for eight adults and a month's worth of groceries and building supplies. But I could probably justify it if I really did want that. Or a Hummer! I just put my bucks into my treasured little M15. (Where can I mount a radar with a hundred mile range?) CheersI .--.-. | ( ( )__ \ _ / (_, \ ) ,_) | -== (_) ==- -'--`--' /|\ / \ / | \ | ^^ / | \ / | \ ^^ /361| \ / | \ / | \ ^^ / | \ ___/____| \ ______|_ \ ___ _______/ ==== \___\___/ | “MONTGOMERY 15” / ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~^~~^=~^~~-=~^~^~=~^~=~~^~= ~^~=~~^=~^~~^~^=~^~-~^~~^~= ^~=~^~=~~^~~=~~=~^~=~~^~~^~^^ John Butler - Sailing again. Praise the Lord!

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Tow Vehicle Survey
by Bobbie Mayer 02 Apr '07

02 Apr '07

>Bobbie, >Just curious - what kind of trailer are you getting? >Bob >M15 #208 > No idea. I'm just "thinking" about it. That stage can take years. Bobbie

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Re: M_Boats: Tow Vehicle Survey
by chbenneck＠juno.com 02 Apr '07

02 Apr '07

Hi Skip, For the record: I towed a Bolger MICRO from Michigan to Florida and back to Connecticut with a 4 cylinder VW Rabbit. I launched and retrieved the MICRO with the VW - no problems, but as someone else suggested, I used a 20 foot piece of old anchor rode from my big boat to keep the Rabbit out of the water. When I sold the MICRO I bought a ComPac 16 in Florida, and after rebuilding the trailer, towed it back to Connecticut. >From there we towed it to Lake Champlain several times - launching and retrieving it with the 4 cylinder Rabbit. We also took it to the Chesapeake and back.. Then I bought a 4 cylinder VW GTI with manual shift. I also found that an M15 was the boat to have, so bought one sight-unseen. Drove to Panama City, Florida to pick up my M15 #400, and drove back to Connecticut. The further north we got, and the more experience and confidence I had with the complete rig the higher the cruising speed became. By the time I got to Washington, DC we - the GTI and the M15 - were happily cruising at 70 MPH. You had to look in the rear view mirror to know that you were towing an M15. We used the GTI as a tow vehicle and took the M15 to Lake Champlain, to Moosehead Lake in Maine, and to my local Connecticut lakes, where launching and retrieving were never a problem (using the rope as an extension to keep the VW out of the water). Next I bought a VW Jetta GLX station wagon with automatic transmission. I also had a trailer tongue extension made by my local trailer shop, for the M15 Trailrite trailer. Using a trailer tongue extension makes your launching life easier as you back up down a ramp. Again, towing the M15 was easy, pleasant, and you almost couldn't notice you were towing anything. Never had a mechanical problem with either the manual gearbox/clutch or the automatic on any of the cars, but if you have a choice, the automatic makes it easier for retrieving since you aren't slipping the clutch till you get the M15 out of the water. VWs and M15 were made for each other! Happy trailering. Connie x M15 #400 ComPac 16 Bolger MICRO

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Tow Vehicle Survey
by Bobbie Mayer 02 Apr '07

02 Apr '07

>If you are driving 1000 miles to pick up a used trailer, considering the >cost of the trip (2000 miles round trip), would it not be more cost >efficient to buy a new one locally? > No, I'd be buying the trailer in California and hauling to Washington where the boat is. But I haven't looked in to buying one locally in Washington. Bobbie

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VHF boost
by Larry E Yake 02 Apr '07

02 Apr '07

I found something in the latest issue of Sail mag that is actually of use to small boat sailors like us. In the "Ask Sail" section a skipper inquired about improving the range of his handheld VHF with a masthead antenna. Their expert (Gordon West) basically shot that down, but added the following: "A better way to improve a handheld's performance is to get a longer antenna for it. Your local marine radio store (or go to www.hamradio.com) should sell 24-inch-long flexible antennas with an SMA connector. Get one for the 2-meter band, which is close enough in frequency to the marine VHF band. Mounting one of these antennas should give you twice the range that you'll get from the standard handheld antenna." I don't think I would want a 24" antenna on my radio all the time, but it would be nice to have one to screw on when you need the extra range. Larry Yake M17 #200 CornDog "In a power boat you get there faster. In a sailboat you're already there."

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Tow Vehicle Survey
by wcampion＠aol.com 02 Apr '07

02 Apr '07

To All, I have had several conversations with my two older brothers and they seem to think that my Jetta is not up to the task of towing & launching my Monty. Since I have not actually launched my boat yet, I can not refute their argument, so I told them I would put it out to the MSOG and see what other Monty owners use to tow, launch & retrieve their boats. I am planning on using my Jetta TDI for the task. Their argument is that I will not be able to retrieve my boat from the launch. They feel the incline would be too great and I would not have enough traction and eventually the weight of the boat would pull my car into the water. Anyone having experience with towing, launching and retrieving there boats can chime in. Any views, opinions or thoughts are welcome. Being the youngest in my family, some how I was cheated out of my share of wisdom, which must have been divided between by two brothers. They are so much wiser then their years..........(sarcasim added). I really would like to be right, but if I have to admit to my brothers that my Monty is too much for my Jetta, so be it. Thanks in Advance, Skip M-15 #201 1982 Brandy ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.

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Tow Vehicle Survey
by Bobbie Mayer 02 Apr '07

02 Apr '07

I should add, I never have had trouble on ramps with power. Big problem on ramps is not enough slope, not too much. The pickup had more, but the AWD in the Subaru is a very nice feature for sandy or slippery ramps. Where I feel the difference between the cars is at highway speed, on hills. But I have plenty of power to go up hills at 55, just not at 70. On a related topic, I'm thinking about a new trailer. The tongue extension would be really nice, and my trailer is pretty old and beat up. Will I have problems towing an empty trailer 1000 miles? Bobbie

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Tow Vehicle Survey
by Bobbie Mayer 01 Apr '07

01 Apr '07

I have towed and launched with three different vehicles: 1984 Toyota PU (4 cyl, manual) 1990 Mazda MPV (4 cyl, manual) 2000 Subaru Forester (4 cyl, manual) Launching was probably easier with the pickup because of its higher clearance but shallow ramps are a problem for all three vehicles. Bobbie

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