Hi Julie & Chris, As a former big boat owner, and currently an ex-M15 owner (old age creeping up on me) let me try and give you a bit of help. We downsized because of increasing congestion at all our old sailing haunts; no peace and quiet any more. It started with Bolger MICRO - a great little ship - but because of mast stepping problems (again age related) we went to a ComPac 16. Mast stepping was easy, but lack of stowage space and amenities we took for granted, started us looking for a solution. The solution was the M15. An absolutely ideal little vessel with excellent accessible storage and an excellent sailer. To answer some of your questions: We towed our M15 with a VW Jetta VR6 station wagon. It did 75 MPH towing the M15 to windward up I-95 effortlessly. Cam cleats instead of jam cleats are a must. It was the first change I made in our bought sight-unseen M15. Downhauls on the jib make life simple if single-handing, and hold the jib down. .... a necessity. A topping lift - a necessity I installed an electrical panel to the left of the companionway and a motorcycle battery in the space under the Starboard mattress All I wanted the power for was to run my GPS continually, and as power for my pancake Sony CD player. See the M Archives for my Tool Box galley (with photos). The stove I used as a single burner propane stove, like the kind used in restaurants for heating or cooking something at the table. When not in use the propane bottle is disconnected. The stove is about a foot square and about 3 inches high - easy to stow. I stored my anchor, chain and rode in a plastic crate in the Port sail locker - instantly available. Fenders; fender board; mooring lines; spare fuel in 1 quart automobile oil containers for the 2 HP Honda (easy filling underway) I stowed the smallest Fortress, my storm anchor, with chain and rode in the forward compartment up at the bow. You want weight forward so that the transom doesn't drag in the water. I made a Bimini that stowed in the Stbd locker. (Get sail lockers that allow you to access the whole volume available) On mine I had a shallow sail locker on the Stbd side. I cut around the lip and made it removable. Small stuff in the shallow area: but extra cockpit cushions, the Bimini top; swim ladder; boat hook; paddle; under the shallow tray - but quickly accessible. Make your own tiller tamer. Some line; some bungee cord; some small cleats and for a few dollars you have a system that will hold a course (provided you don't move around - that movement changes course...!) I built a companionway table that fitted over the bottom hatch board - great for lunches. For more elaborate cooking and dining, I took the plywood filler piece under the mattress, added some cleats to fit the dimensions of the cockpit sides, and then had a large working area for cooking. A tiller extension is a necessity so that you can sit as far forward in the cockpit as possible (again to keep the stern from dragging) I built a special hatchboard which held: - 7X50 binoculars - GPS - Small Grundig radio (antenna was at the starboard side of the companionway - well protected) - My beer Your trailer should have a trailer tongue extension so that you can launch more easily on shallow incline launch ramps. It also needs keel guides to make retrieving the M15 in a crosswind, easier. Again see Archives for ideas and suggestions. Have fun, Connie ex M15 #400 LEPPO Chris and Julie wrote:
Hello everyone. My wife and I have begun the process with Bob Eeg to have an M15 built. Her name will be "Julie Suzanne". As of right now we are going with the following decisions & options:
Ivory Hull with Single Blue Stripe Camcleats Longer handrails mounted atop the sliding hatch teak runner covers Electrical package with group 24 battery under v-berth with space for 2nd battery for longer cruise Tracks on the coaming for jib cars or moving cleat Stern pulpit Opening stainless ports in cabin (Can never have too much ventilation in my opinion.)
Although this will be our 5th boat (22-36 feet and lived aboard the 36 footer) we are both pretty excited about this boat. They are such great looking boats and we have always heard great things about them. It will be nice to own a small boat that we can store in our garage, trailer to where ever we want, and yet still overnight on with some comfort.
Honestly this is the first boat whose design I would not change (at least based on my research thus far). Everything from the cockpit size to the v-berth and the storage seems to be the best compromise for the size and the intended use.
Our primary uses will be long daysails and 1-3 day short cruises with both my wife and I aboard. We live in Florida and anticipate doing plenty of trips to various cruising grounds all over the Southeast. Like most others, I work plenty of hours and will be limiting most of our trips to vacations and long weekends.
Also, like every boat I have owned, I will always have a project going on with 2-3 in the planning stages....
Some already planned projects include:
Leading halyards back to cockpit Jib downhaul (Have always had furlers, but with trailering and the fractional rig, I wonder if it makes sense here....) Some sort of anchor and rode storage that makes sense based on balancing the weights on the boat and the ability to quickly deploy if needed. Boom tent (Need something to make the cockpit a part of the interior based on the situation) Interior storage (Looking at some minor teak and some canvas based pouches in strategic locations) Tiller tamer or autopilot (Probably a tiller tamer at least in the immediate future) Special hatchboard for instrument mounting (Custom built board with hold GPS, depth finder and can be locked in place)
We dont own a tow vehicle yet, but will be purchasing one shortly. Right now I am leaning towards a used Toyota RAV4 or Honda CRV or something similar. Based on my research the M15 is not a difficult boat to tow, and I need to keep the MPG as high as possible for obvious reasons.
The intent right now is to get the 2hp 4stroke Honda outboard which appears to be standard equipment on the M15 based on my readings. I DO NOT look forward to refilling the tank while underway. I anticipate some sort of a solution to this in the near future. I know I have read some information about some great solutions to this already.
Any recommendations regarding the boat or outfitting it as we move forward with the construction? Anything not listed above is currently standard and already included(such as swim ladder). Like most people who are considering a new M-boat, I have been lurking on the email group and have scanned quite a bit of the older messages (although you cant scan everything...). I have also been through all the websites I can find and have appreciated all the great information.
Bob has been great to work with so far. I have had a number of email and phone discussions with him. He is working with me on options while also helping me to keep the boat simple (at least for the initial build....).
Thank you all for the great information I have received from this group so far....
Chris Rechtin _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats