July 2007 - montgomery_boats - mailman.xmission.com

North Channel
by Maria Jorge 03 Jul '07

03 Jul '07

Hello Fellow Monty Sailors: All this talk about the North Channel cruise has me even more excited about my upcoming trip there (next week!). This will be the second year I go canoe camping in the North Channel. Last year was my first and I had such a great time that the original group decided to return again for a longer time. It really is a fabulous area and I am seriously considering joining the group for the next one, even if it means trailering my boat from Miami. Can you say "I see a kick-up rudder in my future...?" not a bad idea since I sail in the Florida keys. Can't wait to see the photos! Doug, put me down for a video (I think this is my third one from you? :)) Maria Jorge "Halcyon" M-17 #406 "Mi Cielo" Melonseed #333

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Re: M_Boats: North Channel and Lessons Learned
by bownez＠juno.com 03 Jul '07

03 Jul '07

Doug, Looks like I missed a wild ride! It was storming when I pulled anchor Monday morning around 6am. I had on and off heavy rain motoring into Spanish and pulling the M17. Around 10am the sun came out. I have Rick's pictures, and Whaleback Channel looks very angry on the day you describe.... Glad everyone came through OK. Talk about high anxiety... Bones

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Kick-up rudder
by bownez＠juno.com 03 Jul '07

03 Jul '07

Hello Gary, The rudder on my M17 is a clone of the original, it's made of white oak. It is heavier than the stock mahogany, and I have cut it below the lowest gudgeon to hinge upward. Stainless steel cheek plates hold the two sections together. The pivot point bolt is kept loose, and the lower section is held forward by a lanyard which feeds to the quick release jam cleat. It works great. Theo wrote a review on the whole project in the last issue of the Montgomery News Letter, which I believe can be found in the archives. There are pictures as well. I didn't know a release cleat existed until I saw the Ida Sailor design. I already had the rudder made, so I ordered a cleat and added it with the control line. Definitely a must for cruising shallow, rocky areas (like the North Channel). We have lots of pictures to share from that trip. Later, Bones

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Re: M_Boats: North Channel and Lessons Learned
by bownez＠juno.com 03 Jul '07

03 Jul '07

Rick, Wonderful post, thanks for sharing valuable information. A fact about sailing is that there is always more to learn, and conditions will always be different each time we set sail. I indeed did use my kick-up rudder this trip! It worked very well and the kick release jam cleat functioned exactly like it was to suppose to. I also received your CD, thanks for all your photos. I'll be back to the North Channel as well, without a doubt some of the finest cruising grounds I have ever seen. Later, Bones

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Re: M_Boats: North Channel and Lessons Learned
by TOMMYVAL＠aol.com 03 Jul '07

03 Jul '07

Bones, Are you using the Ida sailor kick up rudder or the stock one from Jerry? Or did you come up with your own design? Also if anyone has pics they could post I sure would like to see them Thanks Gary Valetti Bellerin M-17 ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

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Re: M_Boats: North Channel and Lessons Learned
by TOMMYVAL＠aol.com 03 Jul '07

03 Jul '07

B ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

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North Channel and Lessons Learned
by Rick Langer 02 Jul '07

02 Jul '07

The North Channel Cruise was a wonderful experience, a fine group of guys, who are all very good sailors and a feisty lady who acted as our guide and authority on everything. We met her through a connection that Tod made with her on the internet. She cruises the NC all summer in a Slipper 17 "Raggedy Anne" and formerly spent five summers there in a Potter 15 "Peapod". So the NC is this beautiful clear part of Lake Huron (even drinkable) surrounding ancient mountains tops worn down by thousands of ice ages. Others will probably have more to say, but for me it was a great place that shouldn't be missed. I will definitely return there. I think Frank is already planning another cruise for this autumn, but he only lives 300 miles from Spanish, where we launched. Whenever we talk about cruises we focus on the location, but for me lessons learned from conditions encountered and tips picked up from the other cruisers are of great value. Like Bones had this great little stove "Jetboil" that boiled water fast, had a built in coffee press and stored everything including the fuel inside the cup. Also, Bones, "the Fisherman" had a neat kickup rudder on his M17 that worked off a cleat which released at set strain on the line. I never saw it in operation, but it looked like it would work. Frank showed me a more convenient topping lift setup than the conventional one of a line going from the aft end of the boom to a block at the top of the mast and then cleated off at the foot of the mast. To copy Frank's setup I mounted an eye at the mast head, put a block at the aft end of the boom and a cleat about three feet forward. A single line goes from the mast head through the block and to the cleat. To adjust the topping lift I don't have to leave the tiller. In the past I almost always forgot to slacken the topping lift and had to go forward again to do so and then knowing how much to release was not always clear. This system is simple and easy to use. Along those same lines, it has always been a wrestling match trying to reef my mainsail because the sail slugs would fall out of the slot opening above the boom. I've tried different approaches without success. On the NC cruise I would reef while still at anchor if I thought I needed less sail. Half the time I just shook out the reef and wrestled with getting the lower sail slides into the slot while under way. I no sooner got home than I noticed a solution from two sources. SCA had a one page description of exactly the system that Tod describes "BruscaBrisas" has and well, I figured I'll give it a try. So this morning I closed the standard opening in the sail track and opened one below the normal boom position. It's beautiful. The sail when in the down position stacks right on the boom because I don't need to use a sail stop to keep the slugs above the previous opening. Bending the sail was easier because I made the new opening smaller so there was less tendency for the slogs to fall out. Reefing and shaking out was simple and straight forward. However, the seaway in my backyard was rather calm. Doug teaches me something every trip and the NC was no exception. I have been perfecting a remote steering system for a couple of seasons that I got from Doug. Last year I added a very comfortable companionway seat that allows me to sit there and steer. Doug likes to stand in the cabin to steer which is also a nice alternative to sitting in the cockpit. This year I'm working on handholds that grab the steering line, making it more comfortable to grab. So, you can see I really like the remote steering system, but on this cruise I, or I should say Tod and John identified a very serious problem concerning the use of this method. We were sailing dead downwind in a strong breeze. I clocked 8.6 knots with a reefed main and no jib. I believe John hit 9.1 knots in his M17. We were approaching a very narrow passage, with rocks on both sides (all shores of the NC are rock) and of course Tod was passing me. Anyway I decided to take his picture and while doing so I broached which was a real wake up call to say the least. Next I decided to drop my sail, because I didn't think I had enough control to make it through the quickly approaching and narrowing inlet. I got the nose of the boat into the wind and went forward to drop the sail. As I did this broach number 2 happened. I tried again, number 3. I was being knocked over and blown into the rocks. I couldn't even get to the engine and it felt like my expensive LED masthead light would be the first thing to hit. I figured I had one more try and luckily got the sail down and the engine started. Neptune let me off the hook to sail another day. I humbly admit that there was no skill involved, unless fear qualifies. So, what happened? Every time I pointed into the wind the remote steering system held the tiller amidships which made the boat want to sail when it got some wind in the sail. So it would start to sail and then broach and would have continued to do so until the rocks halted my forward progress, if I didn't get the sail down. I was saved, but shaken and the next day I practiced the same maneuver in high winds with a free tiller. It was a breeze. Rick Langer M15 #337 Bluebird

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BEER 07
by LUDLOWD2＠aol.com 02 Jul '07

02 Jul '07

Once again, I represented the Montgomery Boats at the Trailer Sailors BEER (Backwater Environmental Escape Rendezvous) that is held annually in Pensacola Fla. Check the next issue of SCA for details. This is a 4 day event where participants from all over the country meet and sail to a different location every day then party on the beach that night. The Pensacola area has numerous great sailing sites and marvelous white sandy beaches. Some 68 trailer sailors showed up including a number of Mac 26’s down to a Guppy 13 and a Potter P-15. I must say that my Monty 15 gave a great performance, arriving at the next stop well ahead of the main fleet (although not ahead of several Sea Pearl 21’s from south Fla). Friday night, there was a skippers meeting and great meal furnished by the host committee (GRITS – Gulf Regional Interstate Trailersailors) at the Pensacola Marine Shipyard where we all had launched that afternoon. Saturday morning, we got up and sailed to Navarre, some 27 miles down Santa Rosa sound (google Juana’s Pagoda). Just as I arrived, a summer thunderstorm struck. Luckily, I had managed to drop my sails and fire up the motor. I was still struggling to get the two anchors out of the cabin when the rain hit. I closed the cabin and motored in circles huddling under my Bimini top while lightning and hail plastered the area. The storm finally blew out and I motored into shore and dropped my anchors. We typically anchor bow out in 30 inches of water with the big Danford and run the big claw on the beach. Soon the area around Juana’s was full of boats, anchored side by side. I waded ashore and joined the party. Juana’s is a favorite local beach hangout live bands, drinks, and food (Think spring break in Cancun). After eating with a few trailersailors, I left the party scene and headed back to the luxurious cabin of Sweet Dream for a good night sleep. Sunday we sailed to Pensacola beach about 14 miles away. Another great sail and this time I waited until several boats had arrived and anchored. Pulling into the beach (google Flounder’s Chowder House and Quietwater Beach) several folks held my boat while I got out and set the anchors. I waded ashore and again joined the party. Pinja Colata’s and cold beer to replenish the bodily fluids as the temperatures soared into the high 90’s. That night the bands from the surrounding bars competed as trailer sailors sat on the beach and chatted about boats and other things in the tropical twilite. I sat in Sweet Dream’s cockpit in front of my fan and enjoyed the admiring glances from the other boaters who wished they had an M-15. Monday, I bid fairwell to the trailer sailors. The group sailed about 10 miles to Sand Island, on Big Lagoon between Alabama and Fla in the ICW but I couldn ’t join them. They were rewarded with a practice show right overhead by the “ Blue Angles” the Navy air team. The winds were light in the morning and I mostly motored the 12 miles back to Pensacola Marine to pull out my boat since I had to be at work the next day. Don Ludlow – from Mobile M-15 # 620 Sweet Dream ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

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Re: M_Boats: re: sliding Goosenecks
by chbenneck＠juno.com 01 Jul '07

01 Jul '07

Hi Tom, Sail stops are nice, and they work very well, but , ...... if they get loose and fall to the deck they have a built-in tendency to leap towards the water. They like to surprise you with the loudness of the splash they can make. A quick and easy - and non self drowning - solution is to just take a piece of bungee cord - 1/4" or 3/8" diameter; wrap it around the mast twice and tie the ends in a square knot. The advantages: - it involves no hardware that can fall into the water at the worst moment - it is secure - it is moveable. If you don't like the position, push it upwards or downwards. - it's cheap ....... and a topping lift is an absolute necessity. Connie ex M15 #400 LEPPO

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Re: Sliding Goosenecks
by John R. Butler 01 Jul '07

01 Jul '07

Another two cents worth: I, too, have used the solution that Tod-- HTMills--wrote of. I closed the original mouth and opened one just as low as I could on my first M15 "Joy" and now on my last M15 "Rejoyce!". It worked well then and it works well bow. But instead of the weak and easily lost overboard stop, I just drill holes through the slide area and insert a large (2" by 1/8") cotter key through the holes. More than one set of holes allows me to set the boom as high or low as I wish. John R. Butler theoldcat(a)cox.net

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