Any sailboat is full of trade-offs. The M15 is a fabulous single handed cruising boat for extended periods, depending on the climate. I have trailer sailed mine from Lake Huron to Key West and Phoenix to Bellingham WA. I have slept on it an average of 30 nights a year and find it quite comfortable. My longest continous cruise, without Marina's was two weeks. I don't think I would want to do more than a month in the long daylight of summer. When the nights start to get long and cold a cabin with sitting headroom is indispensable. If I were looking to live aboard a small trailerable boat year round I would be looking for interior sitting head room and a fully enclosed cockpit. Short list might look like an M17, Sage 16, Sun Cat 18, O day 192 and a few others that have been reviewed in Small Craft Advisor. I recently squired a Sandpiper 565, 18,5 ft. My choice was actually made based on the ability to beach the boat and mud it out if needed and on the completely open interior. It does not have a compression post or an interior bulkhead. It does have a keel (300 lb daggerboard if you will) that intrudes into the living space but that is what makes it beachable. It is not practical to sail/cruise up and down the west coast as it is can be very windy and rough for 50 mile stretches with no safe haven. Plan on trailering up and down the coast. If you want to sail it you need a bigger blue water boat. Just one opinion. Thanks Doug Kelch M15G #310 "Seas the Day" ________________________________ From: Tom Jenkins <tjenk@gte.net> To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Sat, May 7, 2011 2:08:26 PM Subject: Re: M_Boats: montgomery 15 for liveaboard lifestyle Tom, We did an extensive trip through British Columbia and southern Alaska with our old Potter 14, sleeping in the boat while on the road and on the fiords and lakes when boating. I could definitely see doing the same thing in greater comfort in the Montgomery, with a kayak on the car rack. Plan on hitting Lake Havasu in February on your way back from the Sea of Cortez, then Lakes Mead and Powell in the spring! Do it while you are still agile enough to enjoy a camping lifestyle. We are 70ish and going strong (knock on wood), so I suspect you have a lot of adventures ahead of you. Tom Jenkins M17 Scintilla On May 7, 2011, at 1:47 PM, tom mitchell wrote:
hi montgomery owners and fans!
i am retiring in about 18 months. i've kayaked in se alaska and met retiree liveaboards who were exploring alaska in the summer and heading south for the winter months. wondering if anyone might offer an opinion as to whether the montgomery 15 could be utilized for this lifestyle?
thanks. tom _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
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