April 2011 - montgomery_boats - mailman.xmission.com

Re: M_Boats: Lake Havasu
by Nebwest2＠aol.com 09 Apr '11

09 Apr '11

Kevin, If you want more info about Havasu feel free to get in touch with me. Yes, the summer June/July/Aug/Sept is HOT and the latter of those months, humid. For those months I don't usually sail here, although if I had more of a "Daysailor" I might be tempted too. A beach boat would be good for the summer like my friend Walt's C-15. Something easy to set up when the wind blows and that you can be "wet" in. I don't keep Dauntless in the water through the summer and she takes way (or maybe"I take") way too long to set her up to consider using her for a daysailor. We use the summer as our excuse to get Dauntless on the trailer and get over to sail with our friends at the coast. I felt the same way about sailing Lake Pleasant. Light wind, intense sun, and temps of well over 100 are at both lakes in the summertime. That's just not the ingredients of fun sailing for me, but that's just me. There are powerboats at both lakes, although I would say that Pleasant probably has less powerboat traffic than Havasu. Pleasant does benefit from a phenomena of a surge of breeze in the morning as the cool air higher on the Bradshaw Mountains to the North, sinks and runs down slope and then across the lake for a few hours in the morning, as the sun warms the morning surface air in the valleys. It will commonly blow for a couple of hours and then die off. Great for a sailor....bummer for a pilot. I flew for a sailplane operation right at the south end of the lake for a couple of years and that morning blast was always a pain in the A$% as it was always a crosswind. With respect to remoteness. Yep we surely are that. However, if you are looking at Havasu as a retirement location, that's not that big of issue. You'll live here. Which means that the ramp is no more than 5-6 minutes from your front door. We keep Dauntless in a slip here through the sailing months, which means that if I look out the window and it's windy, I can effectively get down to the boat and be under sail in 20 minutes if I'm not dilly dallying. AND...being able to look at the lake from home and see for sure what the winds on the water are doing is a total BONUS!! With respect to Lake Pleasant vs Havasu. Well, they both shine in different ways. Pleasant is a nice lake when it's full. We lived in the Metro Phoenix area for 10 years and sailed there. To me though the bummer there was there was I always felt like I was sailing in circles and the other thing was that the lake "shrinks" tremendously as it gets warmer. There was no destination other than Pleasant Harbor Marina, or an outlying cove. I know that there is a second Marina there now so that makes that a little better, although the marina's attitude when I was there was that if you were not a slip holder, you were a pain in there backside and not really welcome. I hope that has changed. I have heard that the new marina on the other side of the lake, Scorpion Bay, is much friendlier. I like the fact here in Havasu that the sailable portion of the lake (for a keelboat) is about 16 or 17 miles long, with numerous marinas and communities along the way, along with unlimited numbers of coves and campgrounds. I would also say that Havasu is pretty darn good for sailing in the sailing season in the fall/winter/spring. My experience of 10 years of Lake Pleasant sailing and 30+ of Havasu sailing is that both are inland sailing venues and neither outshines the other much with respect to wind. Pleasant carries it's width more uniformly which is nice. Havasu's water level never fluctuates more than 5 feet, which is unique here in AZ. Most lakes here will vary their level by 50-100 feet throughout the year. At the lower levels, some pretty stinky stuff comes to the surface, as well as islands that just materialize out of thin air. That's one thing we don't have to deal with. The "boat in" campgrounds are always right at the water's edge, not a half mile hike after the water level drops, and no "surprise" islands lurk beneath the surface today, that weren't there yesterday. So that's my Havasu sales pitch. Sailing is DEFINITELY making a comeback here and I'm loving it! Not perfect for sure. Remote??? Very....but that might not be a bad thing. After living in Phoenix for 10 years, when we moved back here we could not believe how clear the air was and vivid and defined the colors and details of the mountains in the distance. Summers are Hot and busy. Some folks don't like it (me), other don't mind at all. The entire Socal coast is within an easy day's drive, as is Lake mead which is the largest manmade reservoir in the world and has some fantastic sailing. We sail out of venues from Ventura to San Diego in the summer. AND...if you are here.....you don't have to drive far to get to the Havasu Pocket Cruisers Convention next Feb!!!! ;-) Sean M23 "Daunltess" M17FD "Sneakers" (in progress) Chairman of the 'Lets get the sailing thing going here in Havasu again" committee! _www.havasumontgomerys.piczo.com_ (http://www.havasumontgomerys.piczo.com/) _www.sailhavasu.com_ (http://www.sailhavasu.com/) (PS...If I were looking for some good info of places to retire/sail...I'd get in touch with Doug Kelch. He's sailed EVERYWHERE. He's been here to Havasu numerous times, lives near Pleasant, used to sail the Eastern part of the country and travels everywhere with his M15 in tow. He's the man in the know!)

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depth finder
by Daniel Rich 09 Apr '11

09 Apr '11

Montypals: There is some sort of transducer mounted inside the cabin that is for a depth finder. Not sure the manufacturer, but I think I can find out. The think is properly mounted in a recess near the bow in the hull. Looks like it will sound right through the hull without difficulty. There is a nice long wire coming out of it with some kind of jack made to plug into a unit. Now, my M15 does not have an electrical system, nor am I inclined to set one up. I do have a nice small deep cycle gel battery with 36 amp/hours that I can use with my Minkota electric trolling motor. So, what kind of set up would make sense here? What would be a good way to set something up? Daniel M15 #208 (looks like I will name her "Kestrel")

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Track replacement
by Rick Davies 08 Apr '11

08 Apr '11

Morning all, I'm looking for advice on how to handle thru-holes when replacing the traveler track on the cockpit sole of a 2005 M17. The new track holes should line up with the existing 4" centered holes, so I plan to re-use those holes. Can I just remove and replace, or should I fill the holes with epoxy and re-drill? If they should be filled, should I drill them out a little oversize, or fill them as is? Of these three possibilities I would obviously prefer the first, but I don't want to store up future problems. Thanks in advance for suggestions, Rick M17 #633 Lynne L

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M 15 for sale Lectronic Latitiude
by Flickasf 08 Apr '11

08 Apr '11

I just saw this and thought it should move fast: M 15, 1988 for sale, $3900. Livermore, CA stored indoors last 3 years. Includes a Zeiman trailer, 2hp Honda, etc. 925 785 4446

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San Juan islands
by nummij＠aol.com 08 Apr '11

08 Apr '11

Hi I am going sailing with some friends in the San Juan Islands. I was chosen for being responsible for knowing the tides. I am hoping you can point me in the right direction for a tide tables book with currents. We are launching at Washington park in Anacortes, WA, going to Orcas Island. Any and all help will be appreciated. I can navigate but I have never had to deal with tides. If you want to contact me off the list numij(a)aol.com is the best way. Thank you all for the great posts Dale Nummi M17 LENTO KALA Superior, WI

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standing rigging
by Daniel Rich 07 Apr '11

07 Apr '11

OK, I have enjoyed this discussion regarding the mast rake. I have looked at the photo site, and some of the boats have the shrouds connected to the forward hole on the deck plate, and some have the shrouds connected to the aft hole. So, which is it??? Daniel

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M15 forestay
by Kevin Lynch 07 Apr '11

07 Apr '11

M15 #200, Wee Fun Lots of good information about M15 rigging but I haven't seen a correct length mentioned for the forestay. I have a lever type shackle at the chainplate which can be set at different lengths. What is the correct measurement for M15 #200? Should I just experiment until I see a slight rake to the mast? Thanks, Kevin Lynch

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First Local Sail of 2011
by David Grah 07 Apr '11

07 Apr '11

I guess this is a little self-serving and I am a Youtube newbie, but I think I posted a short video of a nice sail at Convict Lake from Sunday. It is http://youtu.be/C3uLUHypv_Y This was our first sail since Lake Havasu. It was a bit cold, the wind was a bit finicky, but it was fun and scenery was great! David Grah Bishop California

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M 15 head stay length
by Flickasf 07 Apr '11

07 Apr '11

The length of your head stay will depend on the year and whether Bob or Jerry built the boat. Bob's M 15's, some, but perhaps call (he can tell you) ,have a slightly longer head stay than an '86 built by Jerry. The reason is that Bob's stays and shrouds attach to a hound rather than the single bolt passing through the mast. This information will be very helpful if you are ordering a new jib. For those who have the single bolt, I highly recommend using a nylock or doubling the nut on the bolt. I have sailed many years without a problem. But at Lake Havasau somehow the single nut I had up there came off and I almost lost my rig. Fortunately, I had installed a strong shackle to the forward holes on each chain plate. When the starboard shroud hit the water, I dropped the sails and lead a halyard to either side and secured them to the shackles and used the topping lift as a fore stay. I motored back to port with none the worst for wear except for the excess adrenaline that was still my system. Happy sailing, Bert Felton

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rmceagrella
by rmceagrella＠aol.com 07 Apr '11

07 Apr '11

http://nobelitc.com/limpopo.html

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