Hi Pete, One of the M-15 owners sailed his M15 from San Diego to Hawaii, and recently wrote a book about his trip. He was 22 years old and sailed solo. He does an excellent bit of writing; talking about his preparations; his initial departure; then the growing thought, "what have I gotten myself into....?" and then the slow but steady growth of his feeling that it's really doable as the days pass / bad weather passes / and slowly he nears his destination, Hawaii. It was a 38 day ocean crossing in 1982. The book title is: "A Little Breeze to the West" by Michael Scott Mann ISBN No.9781517572242 It's great read. Ciao, Connie On 11/12/2018 2:18 PM, Peter Zimowsky via montgomery_boats wrote:
Hi Brad: I really do love my M15 and it fits the bill for almost anything. I just worry about cruising in big water with it. I worry that I might be fool hearty going in some of the places I want to go with the bigger boats. Being a whitewater river rafter and dory man, I’m very cautious Thanks for the discussion. Good winds Pete
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On Nov 12, 2018, at 12:57, brad kurlancheek <bkurlancheek@gmail.com> wrote:
Pete, I own a 15M only - but I can tell how much a difference it was for me going from my 13 foot microcruiser to the M15.
In my 13, almost everything is within arm's reach. JUst a slight stretch in one direction or the other, and voila, I had what I needed or could do what I needed.
And when I sit one one cockpit side, it's easy for me to rest my heels on the edge of the seat of the other side, and lean back a tad and be happy as a clam.
Not so with the M15. I found that to do almost anything, required a whole step one way or the other, and then the stretch. In other words, I had to go get it (poor me!).
And when sitting on one cockpit bench my feet did not so comfortably find a resting place right on the other (i'm 5'9, or used to be). They could get there, but it doesn't seem as comfortable.
Yes, of course, I much enjoy the lavish cabin space (lavish to me at least) in the M15 as compared to my 13 footer, and appreciate the added storage space, stability and control immensely. It's just that added step or additional reach required to get things done, that sometimes chaffs on me.
My point I guess, is, that with regards to your going from a 15 to 17, anticipate that for every movement you used to make in the M15 to accomplish something, doing the same in an M17, will require even a little bit more movement than what you're used to. Good luck. - Brad