RANT ON The Montgomery is a pocket _cruiser_. Along the Texas Coastal Bend, where I enjoy sailing, there are thousands of places to go gunk-holing. During the winter months, many of these places will reward you with a close-up view of some of Nature's rarest creatures such as the Whooping cranes. During the summer months, you are guaranteed southeasterly tradewinds that will allow you to set a broad reach with rail buried for as many hours as you like and then simply tack 180 degrees to sail back home. I wouldn't want to do it in any boat other than my M17. Ok, OK, so that's a lie -- I would cheerfully do it in almost any boat -- it's just the M17 makes it so comfortable. When the Chesapeake rendezvous or the San Juan rendezvous happen, I want to hear about it. I've never sailed the Chesapeake and it just might be that something on this forum that motivates me to do that. Connie has certainly motivated me to investigate the eastern shores of the Adriatic. Also, during a recent discussion about how many horses to hang on the transom, it was Connie who politely and tactfully pointed up that sailboats -- Montgomerys included-- are limited by something called 'hull speed'. I really want to see the San Juan fleet try to go through Deception Pass against the 9 knot tidal current -- go ahead, hang twin Merc 150's and see what happens. :-). RANT OFF Connie, I want to hear all your stories -- please keep them coming. Dan Thomas Howe wrote:
I should chip in here, since sometime ago, I complained about the list going off on an automotive tangent. I have a desktop image from Tod Mills of Busca Brisas at the dock that I sail my Pearson Ariel from in Maine. I often daydream about taking Osprey II to this same place, and visualize myself sailing a Montgomery in distant waters. The threads that feed these daydreamsare a wonderful part of this as a resource, the idea of taking a M-17 through the Swedish archipelego or the Adriatic only fuels my enjoyment of this forum. I would chip in a vote for not limiting this forum to narrowly, and recognise that the delete key is a part of my usage of it. There have been many topics which don't pertain to my particular interests, but I know that the poster and many of the list members find value to them, so I scan and delete if appropriate. I will be very sad if this service degrades to a flame fest, and respectfully ask for decorum. Thomas Howe M-17 Osprey II
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