Welcome aboard, Keith, I went through the same process when I began to retire in 2007. I must have been under a lucky star, because after I had decided on an M17, one showed up for sale barely ten miles from my house. She has been (and is) a dream boat, and I've been happily sailing and racing her ever since. You'll never regret your decision. You can find the answer to any question from the Montgomery community, plus advice and moral support for any project you take on. Fair winds, Rick M17 #633 Lynne L On Monday, September 2, 2013, Keith R. Martin wrote:
Hello folks,
My name is Keith Martin, I live in Burnaby, BC, Canada, ( a suburb of Vancouver). After a year long search I am thrilled to have just completed purchase and brought home to Canada my dream boat a 1982 M17, hull # 353, "Serenity".
I am an electronics engineer by profession and have been a sailing enthusiast for a good part of my life. I served the last 10 years of a 25 year tenure with Scouts Canada running a Sea Scout Troop with a fleet ranging from 8 ft sabots up to a 24 ft fixed keel sloop.
Having "done my time" with the Troop, I had been looking over the past year for an affordable, but CAPABLE boat for personal use to do some solo coastal cruising here in BC ( my wife Liz is a little like a cat, she likes to drink water, not so crazy about riding on it so I am going to be on my own a good bit of the time).
After months of research, a lot of it available thanks to this strong Monty user community I set my sights on an M17. After 8 months of looking I found "Serenity".
A little bit about "Serenity"... From what I gather she has spent a good part of her life in Arizona, sailing fresh water, with a few trips to the Sea of Cortez. The owners that I purchased her from have been sailing her on Lake Pleasant AZ just north of Phoenix. The owners previous to them were apparently located in Tuscon AZ. She is the 4 berth version and appears to be in nearly stock configuration with no modifications.
I am looking forward to getting her out in the chuck for a couple of shakedown day sails in the near future.
That's all for now, I just wanted to introduce myself and to say thank you to this group of active owners who have provided so much information online, it really made a huge impact on my due diligence and selection process...
Keith M17-353, Serenity
-- Keith R. Martin, P.Eng.