Hi Folks, New subscriber to the list. Surprised I didn't find it earlier. I'm a fairly novice sailor (college sailing club, former father-in-law's Westsail 32, some spectacularly inept summer Laser racing...), who retired in 2018 and for whom getting more seriously into sailing was near the top of the bucket list (#1 was to ride my bicycle coast to coast, which I did right out of the gate). I'm not embarrassed to admit that I've had the round-the-world sailing dream since I was a child and still believe it could happen. After finishing the long bike ride I started looking for opportunities to take a liveaboard ASA 101/103/104 course. I'd been communicating with several companies when one of them had a last minute cancellation and asked if I could be in Baja in 3 days. The discount was significant and, surprisingly, I was able to get reasonably priced flights. Had a great week aboard a Jeanneau 439. After that my next goal became to own my own boat. I can't remember exactly how I became aware of Montgomery boats, but once I did I realized that they seemed perfectly aligned with my adventurous and minimalist bicycle touring/backpacking ethos. I started the hunt for a M17. Somewhere along the way I became aware of Sage boats and added them to the search. After about 6 months I found a Sage 17 in western North Carolina. I flew over there to look at it. The boat looked great and in Jan 2020 I became the proud owner of 2015 Sage 17 #28. So there I am in NC, 1100+ miles away from my home in Austin, TX, with a boat on a trailer and no vehicle (even back home) capable of towing it. So within 24 hours of buying the Sage, I bought a Honda Ridgeline pickup and headed west, Sage in tow. Tough day on the savings account, but hey, this is exactly what I worked all those years for. Got home and found a marina on local Lake Travis. Started to sail her literally WEEKS before the entire world locked down! As I've mentioned, I'm PRETTY novice (and was living by myself at the time), and the thought of single handing was daunting. After making a dozen tentative practice runs in and out of my slip under the power of my 2 HP Honda (& w lots of bumpers deployed and boat hook on hand), I started sailing solo several times a week, continuing that way until vaccines became available. I've moved the boat since and now am now parked in the marina of the local racing club. In addition to sailing my Sage in the Friday night Beer Can races, I've been crewing on a few racier boats - mostly J/22s. I wouldn't say that I'm a passionate racer, but it's a friendly and sociable club and I figure that it can't help but make me a better sailor. That's a bit of a treatise I know, but thanks for having me. I've been active on the Montgomery FB group and have benefitted ENORMOUSLY from the generous sharing of knowledge that takes place over there. I look forward to being part of the conversation here has well. Ken Tothero - Sage 17, Encore - Austin, TX