Yes, there is a stiffener of some sort under the cockpit seat on both sides, as well as under the cockpit sole and the lid of the icechest. It looks to be something like quarter or half inch balsa. The seat has some give in it from many people stepping down hard on it over the years. On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 12:51 PM, <swwheatley@comcast.net> wrote:
Yes, that locker was designed so it could be used as a built-in cooler, though I think few owners ever did that. My question goes to the underside of the cockpit seat forward of that locker/cooler. Does your boat have anything there?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Thomas Buzzi" <thomaspbuzzi@gmail.com> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" < montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Friday, April 18, 2014 1:43:08 PM Subject: Re: M_Boats: Is the foam under my starboard cockpit seat structural or for flotation?
My montgomery 17 circa 1977 also has a hatch in the aft starboard cockpit seat. The enclosed space underneath does not have a drain so I wonder if it was meant to be a cooler or just some attempt at dry storage. A drain hole drilled into the cockpit for ice melting would also allow water from a flooded cockpit to access the "cooler" area though.
On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 12:23 PM, <swwheatley@comcast.net> wrote:
The more I think about this the more I think the foam was just for insulation. The built-in cooler just aft appears to be wrapped with the same stuff and I'm guessing that without the foam you would get lots of moisture condensing on the underside of the seat and dripping onto the quarter-berth and its occupant.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Scobie" <scoobscobie@gmail.com> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" < montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Friday, April 18, 2014 1:10:53 PM Subject: Re: M_Boats: Is the foam under my starboard cockpit seat structural or for flotation?
that foam wasn't for flotation. to keep the M17 floating the entire space under the cockpit, including the lockers, and 1/2 the cabin would need to be full of foam.
the foam has me puzzled as Jerry preferred(s) balsa core to strength the decks and transom. about 1/4" balsa on the seats would be enough.
i'm wondering if the foam you see there was added by a past owner?
Jerry needs to jump in here about the layup schedule for the original M17 deck. my M17 has the 'new' deck design so i'm not able to provide a comparison when looking at SWEET PEA.
On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 10:39 AM, <swwheatley@comcast.net> wrote:
As noted before, I removed the slab of 1" green foam from the underside of my starboard cockpit seat. I assumed the foam was structural, but it has been suggested on another forum that the foam was for flotation. That makes some sense because a structural foam core on a small boat would not usually be 1" thick, but I am not aware that the M17 was ever touted as having positive flotation. The foam appears to have been factory installed before the deck was attached to the hull. Perhaps it was a custom option? Boat is a 1976, hull no. 215.
Any insight would be much appreciated.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stanley Wheatley" <swwheatley@comcast.net> To: "montgomery boats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Sunday, April 6, 2014 8:51:51 PM Subject: M_Boats: Behold the carnage
New to me M17 had delamination under the starboard cockpit seat due to some pretty big voids in the resin the core was supposed to be bedded in. Appears to be 1” foam core covered with 1 layer of 6 oz. fiberglass cloth. Any suggestions on what core I should use to replace it? I would prefer to use some kind of foam again but I’m not sure about the thickness. The available foam cores seem to thinner now days.
Thanks.
-- :: Dave Scobie :: former M15 owner - www.freewebs.com/m15-named-scred :: M17 #375 SWEET PEA - www.m17-375.webs.com