Thanks, everyone, for the candid comments. Apparently the quarter berth in an M-17 is only suitable for smaller kids or storage. I may have to look for a larger boat to really sleep 3 comfortably in the cabin. (Rhodes 22, perhaps, for later. Same keel design as the Montgomery.) If I have to rely on the cockpit and a boom tent, I may just keep the SeaPearl for awhile. I made a platform for the cockpit, and have slept three boys there,(two grandsons and a friend) with me in the pop-up tent in the forward compartment, but they were very crowded. However, there is enough room for my two grandsons in the cockpit, who are my regular crew. I really don't have a suitable tent enclosure for the boys, though; they get wet with dew or eaten by mosquitoes on the local lakes. Perhaps a better investment for me for now would be to tackle making or finding an awning company to build a good tent enclosure for my SeaPearl cockpit. That would save me from buying a larger vehicle now, to tow a bigger boat. The SeaPearl (only 600 lbs. before water ballast of 250 lbs.) is a great boat for lakes and protected waters; It is essentially an open boat,though, so I'll just have to postpone my ambitions to cruise the Bahama's until I can get something capable of blue water trips. Thanks, Jerry