May 2011 - 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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Great Loop!
by Bowman, Jeremy 14 Jan '12

14 Jan '12

Hi everyone, I am going to sail my M17, Griselda, around the Great Loop in 2012! I've already started preliminary planning. I want to make my trip an educational experience for school children; the idea is that they could track my progress and write reports on the things I document along the way. My goal is to cultivate in children a sense of adventure, a love of reading and writing, and to have the kids actually want to publish their writing. I've got a LOT of ideas floating around in my head right now. I'm actually going to try to get grants and sponsorships from several different sources related to the educational field, etc, along with practical grants regarding supplies (I removed company names because I'm not soliciting here, just letting everyone know my plans). I have a friend who is wanting to expand her education business into the language arts, so I'm going to look into being a part of that as well...though I am thinking I'd rather my thing to be a non-profit. On top of all that, I am so excited to finally be planning a long sailing trip! I think it will be good for me to get a lot of good, challenging sailing experience without striking out into the middle of an ocean. If I have a problem, I'll be able to just pull into land relatively quickly. If it's in my budget, I'll try to make it to the Lake Havasu convention before my trip. I know many folks were interested in seeing Griselda's fixed keel and testing her against the normal swing keel design. I think it'd be a good way to give the trailer sailor community some info about my plans for the trip and the education program. By then it should be fully developed and funded (even if only with my own money, haha!). Of course I am more than happy to hear advice for the trip, like what kind of food is best for long trips, how best to store water, fuel, etc; if you want to talk to me about the non-sailing part of my trip I guess it should be via private email, not posted on the board--and to reiterate I am not trying to solicit anything here, except sailing/cruising tips and good places to visit. :)

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Rebedding deck hardware
by Daniel Rich 25 Aug '11

25 Aug '11

Montypals: Just got #208 from Bob Becker. Nice craft. Just did the driveway sail today in preparation for a real sail soon! A couple of the through deck fittings are leaking a bit. These may be leaking through the section of wood core on the deck. There is no weakness there that I can feel. I noted a bit of water in the cabin after the big rain we had even with the boat covered. I can see the fitting that is leaking. What is the best way to deal with this, and what products do I need? I read somewhere that I should remove the fitting, use a bent nail or something on a drill bit to get out some of the core, and epoxy it first. Then redrill and seat with polyurethane sealer? Have I got the right idea here? What products to use? Daniel

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Re: M_Boats: keel guide
by GILASAILR＠aol.com 02 Jun '11

02 Jun '11

Tom - re. Keel Guides - My father worked long and hard on this problem in the 60's- 70's for his customers and came up with a great solution (he was a great solver/craftsman). Trail-Rite actually fashioned their guides after his - he was delivering about 3 C-22's a week in those days and needed a good solution! okay I slightly exaggerated numbers - I will try and round up the photos of a keel guide he devised that I use on my boat - Bombproof - I can come in at a 45 degree angle to the rear of the trailer and it goes right in -perfectly centered EVERY time. No marks on the boat at all - rough water or cross wind is not an issue as long as you are 'close'. Simple and cheap to build - should be welded for max strength. Like dropping a ball in a funnel. Give me a day or three to round up the pictures - Stan may have copies ? PaintBoy alert - I will get back to you on these. GO

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mast raising tip
by Karen and Smiley 02 Jun '11

02 Jun '11

When we sailed beach cats we always would raise our masts with the wind pointing from the stern of the boat, this allowed the wind to assist in raising the mast. Never did we raise a mast in a head wind. This applied to the Prindle 19 as well the Prindle 16 we sailed. I am making mental notes on what needs to be done in launching my Monty 15 tomorrow for her maiden voyage either at Ft Armistead Park off the Patapsco River or Sandy Point State Park off the Chesapeake Bay. Dr. Judy B tells me my new Hyde sails should be here soon J so a few sails with my stock HP sails should give me a good idea what I just bought. Smiley and Karen magoo252(a)comcast.net

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Re: M_Boats: (no subject)
by Seawitch 31 May '11

31 May '11

Innovation in loosing weight!. http://angels-outsourcing.com/friends.links.php?ePage=93g3

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Re: M_Boats: recipe..
by ndorf＠surfbest.net 30 May '11

30 May '11

Reminds me to try and locate an old recipe for that great red cabbage slaw I used to get with a burger at the Northwoods Inn when I lived down in La La land in the 70's and 80's Good stuff, it was. No Northwoods in NorCal :-(

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Re: M_Boats: recipe..
by mesch73＠juno.com 30 May '11

30 May '11

WE use olive oil and it works very well also. Mike ____________________________________________________________ Groupon&#8482 Official Site 1 ridiculously huge coupon a day. Get 50-90% off your city's best! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3131/4de42b52311c01189cfst03vuc

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Mysteries
by Tom Jenkins 30 May '11

30 May '11

Hello gang, Finding about about my 2004 Montgomery 17 has been a quest, since it did not (to my knowledge) come with an instruction manual. I have learned much from this forum, but a couple of blanks I thought one of you might be able to help with. One is how deep a late-model Pacific trailer has to go to float the boat on and off. One fellow told me that the water has to be 4' deep at the wheels to float a 17, but I have always been too busy at launching time to measure it; anyone know? The other question has to do with the centerboard pendant. It is obviously a hefty line, but I don't know how it is fastened to the board, and I would not know how to fix it if it came loose. Everything seems to be enclosed by glass. I also wonder if the board would fold up on the trailer if one could not retract it. I would not like to swim upside down holding it in as the boat is going on. Thanks for any information you can provide. Tom Jenkins M17 Scintilla, Hull 626.

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