April 2010 - montgomery_boats - mailman.xmission.com

Little Breeze M15
by Michael Mann 18 Nov '15

18 Nov '15

Hi, My name is Michael Mann and in 1982, I sailed the Montgomery 15, Little Breeze from CA to Hawaii. I see on the web site that she has been rescued by new owners in Hawaii and I would love to correspond with them. I am currently sailing on a container ship headed for Honolulu and would welcome the chance to make contact. Thanks for any info. Michael Mann

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Montgomery Sailboats are in high demand
by Bob Eeg 15 Jul '13

15 Jul '13

And are built with top-notch quality. There is nothing in the market place faster, better built and as good looking as a Montgomery Sailboat. I don't run a factory; I run a very small boatshop. I built to order on a boat by boat basis. I do a lot of custom work when asked. Bronze ports, Stainless ports, extra ballast, Custom electrical systems, Idasailor rudders, anchoring packages..etc. This work is labor intensive. Quality takes time. I have 3 employees. These people are highly experienced in Laminating, construction, assembly and finish. Woodworking and other skills result in a absolutely beautiful sailing vessel. I use the best sails the best rigging, the best custom stainless fasteners..and yes....(laughing) the best cushions. This last 15 months have been EXTREMELY busy; hiring new help was impossible because all the good people are gone. We had a tremendous BACKLOG and we caught a break only when Pacific Seacraft employees (let go) began filtering into our shop looking for work. We did add some additional crew in the Laminating Shop and because of that we are caught up. Pacific Seacrafts Bankruptcy was good for us. Bad for the dozens of good people who are out of work. The FIRST question of anyone buying a new boat should be 'How is the construction quality'? First and foremost that is the most important issue. I can say that everyone has experienced and will continue to experience a BACKLOG of orders; especially if the boat is as popular as a Montgomery Sailboat. When we had an 8 month backlog and I actually turned down 2 M_17 orders so we could catch our breath. It is impossible to work any harder or any faster. Now that were caught up we can get back to our normal 50-70 days (depending on model and options). Also custom work really adds to the production time. One beautiful M_17 we did we cut the V berth out of and installed an oval bulkhead, custom shelves and inline potti area; with 4 bronze ports she is an amazing boat, but custom work takes time. Expect delays if you go radical on the interior. (I think BONES has a photo of that one...) We are really one of the only builders that entertain changes and options to satisfy the customer. This new Passagemaker M_17 were building (and installing a windvane on tomorrow) is going to be amazing. Other actual boat factories that produce boats for DEALERS (that Tod mentioned) like Precision and Compac are built on Factory Production lines for a large Dealership Network. Dealers who have these boats in stock can supply them right away. But ask for major changes on a future production boat and the wait will be many months. International Marine builds boats faster with more employees but those boats are piss poor sailers (upwind) and many arrive with a list of problems that are pathetic. That's not me. So try not to focus on the TIME factor. We can only go so fast. Hiring additional help is not an option because by the time you train someone the season gets slow and you have to lay them off. I can't do that. I have people that have been with me for 20 years; I keep us small and efficient on purpose. So be surprised if we hit the delivery time; which we do quite often. Be a little disappointed when we miss it; but get over it when you see your boat. Dozens of you know me; you've arrived to see me rig your boat, pack you up and shake your hand. (Heck...Gary Hyde even brought me a bottle of wine..!..Thanks Gary.!) One man bought a new M_15 from us and a new M_17 a year later.! The C word...Cushions. I inspect everyboat before it leaves for home. Scott's boat was leaving for the Bay Area early Friday morning; I was at the boatshop at 10:30 PM Thursday night, sleeping at the picnic table just inside the door, waiting for the cushion guy to arrive with the (late) promised cushions. He drove up, woke me up and I watched as he stacked them on the deck. We left. My man arrived at 3AM and hooked up the boat and slid the cushions inside the boat. I should have loaded them myself then I would have noticed they looked good but didn't have the required 'Squeeze' factor. Let's move on, shall we....? Fair winds Bob Eeg (949) 489-8227 Boat Builder

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Re: M_Boats: racing my M23
by Larry E Yake 02 Apr '11

02 Apr '11

>So when is the next San Juan trip? Annual? Bi-annual? >Jeff Probably semi-annual. Larry

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Mast Rake Forestay
by Hughston, Larry 16 Jun '10

16 Jun '10

Bob. I had the shrouds shortened in order to rake the mast 8 to 10 inches. Now the bow line adjuster is too short. Do I go with a longer pinned adjuster or is there a short t-buckle I can use? The adjuster on now is a shorty, about 5 inches. The adjuster is about 3 inches too short. ----Thanks Bob. -----Larry Hughston hull no. 189 / M-15 in Sacramento

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Dauntless' keel
by Nebwest2＠aol.com 24 May '10

24 May '10

Thanks for the well wishes for Dauntless. I got a good look at her keel as she sit on the trailer today as I was going through the de-salt ritual this morning. S0 far I see no visible damage. I suspect that the 1/2" stop pin will be deformed when I can get a look at it. In order to see it will mean either the "crane" routine..or floating her off the trailer and Scuba diving underneath. I am really leaning towards the Scuba solution...(it's free) but I'm not sure if I can effect the pendant repair while she is floating. I would have to completely free the swing keel from the existing piece of pendant which is what I would use to lower the keel. But the problem is...how do I then allow the keel to swing forward enough to get to the pendant and effect the switchout, without allowing the keel to swing all the way forward and contact the front of the keel slot? Due to the "quadrant" shape of the swing keel I cannot trust that a line or strap run from sheet winch , under the keel, to the other sheet winch , would not slip off. I installed a new pendant 4 years ago when I rebuilt the keel. For the last 2 years or so I have been wondering how it was doing, and ...if I ever had to effect a repair or switch, how I could do it without utilizing a crane or hoist. There is no way that I can see as there is no access into the keel trunk to be able to get to the pendant's shackle. I love my boat, but this particular issue bothers me and I wish it was a little different. Seems that some kind of access hatch to allow you to get to the pendant and shackle would be a good deal. I would like to be able to blame the pendant breaking on a design or wear issue, but unfortunately, it was all me. I have been aware from the beginning not to over crank the keel winch and have always paid close attention. This time I was distracted and cranked her right to the limit, stretched, and broke the cable. This is exactly the reason why , at work, when we are performing any type of technical rescue, we never use power winches. We do use mechanical advantage systems, sometimes quite elaborate ones, in fact. However, the power input to them always comes from just plain manpower. That way there is tactile feedback indicating if if a system is binding or becoming overloaded. Additionally, the mechanical advantage systems are built with attachments such as prussik knots which will start to show slippage and indicate overloading before catastrophically failing. The wire/winch system does not leave much room for error or tactile feel, there is no visual indicator, and I was a bull in the china shop....UGH! I had tried marking the wire with a tape mark, sharpie, etc, but all either faded away or became unreliable as the wire stretched over the years. In the end, it was my hurried and distracted disposition that caused the ugly event. By next week I should know for sure where I stand. I'm feeling pretty confident right now that everything is OK, but won't know for sure till we look from below. I think I see a crane and at a minimum a new stop pin in my future. I think I'll just go to Duckworks.com tonight and order some bronze rod. Got to go to work for a couple of days. It'll give me some time to think about different options. Hopefully by next week it'll be resolved and I can move on to more "fun" projects. S

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Testing 123
by Tim Diebert 01 May '10

01 May '10

Howdy Folks. What's new? Tim Kelowna BC 1983 M17 # 369 'PUFF'

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Re: M_Boats: video of sailing San Diego with Socal Potters and Friends
by Nebwest2＠aol.com 30 Apr '10

30 Apr '10

Patti, Fuh-Shing and Shi-Lan Pan's email address is: _fpan303(a)hotmail.com_ (mailto:fpan303@hotmail.com) They are awesome folks and VERY active sailors with the Socal Potter group which sails all up and down the Southern California Coast. There are a number of Montgomery sailors that join the Potter group for some absolutely fantastic group outings. The SCP's make sailing as much about friendship and time spent together as they do sailing. They do not limit themselves to just West Wight Potter sailors and in fact, invite all trailer sailors to join them. We have been sailing with them for 4 years now and have made some great friendships through the group. They will be returning to San Diego again for their Mission Bay weekend where they overnight on the boat in Mariner's Cove July 9th and 10th.....and if you feel adventurous, their yearly "Flagship" event is their multi-day cruise to Catalina Island that they do in June. Their Website is: _http://howies.net/socalpotter/_ (http://howies.net/socalpotter/) I have never been to one of their events that "Panasea" did not attend. Fuh-Shing is one of the most dedicated to the group. If you attend one of their events you'll meet him. There is a schedule of where each month's event is being held on the website. Hope to see you over there! Sean

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video of sailing San Diego with Socal Potters and Friends
by Nebwest2＠aol.com 30 Apr '10

30 Apr '10

Last weekend in San Diego. Pre keel drop! Good Friends, Good times, Good wind...what it's all about... S _http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0Xb9w7ZC4Q_ (http://www.quicktopic.com/cgi-bin/link.cgi?link=http://www.youtube.com/watc…)

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Bimini for M17
by Jim Wiliams 30 Apr '10

30 Apr '10

Hey, Gary -- Thanks so much for your pics and info on your bimini -- It looks like an excellent solution for us, and we are planning to have one on the boat soon -- Best regards, Jim & Cynthia M17 Latitude

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Re: M_Boats: M23 centerboard repair
by Nebwest2＠aol.com 30 Apr '10

30 Apr '10

Hey John! Yeah, I'd love to see some pics. I know I was in your boat up at the San Juans but I guess I didn't notice the inspection port. So, are their 2 ports? (One in the cabin liner and the other in the keel trunk?...Or? s

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