Thanks Bill Great ideas on the hatches......You are starting to sound like an "Old Salt".......Larry in Sacramento -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Bill "C" Day Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 11:24 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: M_Boats: (no subject) x-authenticated : Sender SMTP authenticated by smtp.gotrain.org X-XM-SPF: eid=;;;mid=;;;hst=mx01.mta.xmission.com;;;ip=207.160.203.25;;;frm=bill@g otrain.org;;;spf=none X-XM-DomainKey: sender_domain=gotrain.org;;;sender=bill@gotrain.org;;;status=no signature X-SA-Exim-Connect-IP: 207.160.203.25 X-SA-Exim-Mail-From: bill@gotrain.org X-Spam-DCC: XMission; sa03 1397; Body=1 Fuz1=1 Fuz2=1 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.5 (2008-06-10) on sa03.xmission.com X-Spam-Level: * X-Spam-Status: No, score=1.0 required=8.0 tests=BAYES_00,DCC_CHECK_NEGATIVE, MISSING_HB_SEP,RCVD_IN_SORBS_WEB,T_TM2_M_HEADER_IN_MSG,XMSolicitRefs_1, XM_Body_Dirty_Words,XM_OfRef3,XM_OfRef4 autolearn=disabled version=3.2.5 X-Spam-Combo: *;For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> X-Spam-Relay-Country: US US X-Spam-Report: * 0.6 RCVD_IN_SORBS_WEB RBL: SORBS: sender is a abuseable web server * [66.81.29.124 listed in dnsbl.sorbs.net] * 2.5 MISSING_HB_SEP Missing blank line between message header and body * 0.0 T_TM2_M_HEADER_IN_MSG BODY: T_TM2_M_HEADER_IN_MSG * -2.6 BAYES_00 BODY: Bayesian spam probability is 0 to 1% * [score: 0.0035] * -0.0 DCC_CHECK_NEGATIVE Not listed in DCC * [sa03 1397; Body=1 Fuz1=1 Fuz2=1] * 0.5 XM_Body_Dirty_Words Contains a dirty word * 0.0 XM_OfRef3 Contains 3 or more suspicious of references * 0.0 XM_OfRef4 Contains 4 or more suspicious of references * 0.0 XMSolicitRefs_1 + 2 solicitation references Subject: Re: M_Boats: (no subject) X-SA-Exim-Version: 4.2.1 (built Thu, 07 Dec 2006 04:40:56 +0000) X-SA-Exim-Scanned: Yes (on mx01.mta.xmission.com) Hi Larry, To answer your questions, I have used the porta-potti when sleeping on the boat, but it is tricky. When I'm sleeping on the boat by myself, I can leave the porta-potti in its well, but when I need to use it, I have to remove the cushion and wood panel cover, which takes the center part of the bed apart. That effectively eliminates making up the whole bed with sheets and blankets, like you normally would. You can use a sleeping bag, or only make up half of the bed, and sleep all the way to one side of the V berth, which makes it easier to get at the porta-potti with the least effort. Then, because of the low head room, (trying not to get too graphic here), you need to either sit or kneel, which also avoids aiming and splashing problems. When my wife is along, we put the porta-potti in the cockpit, and install another panel and cushion I made, into the hole between the porta-potti well and the hatch opening. This effectively turns the whole cabin into a bed. A quite roomy bed too, I might add. I'm 6'4", 210 lbs, and my wife is 5' and shhh! 110 lbs (whispered), so the extra room is appreciated, and also allows me to leave the boom in the cabin with us, if necessary. Privacy is only achieved by parking in an isolated area, using the facility under cover of darkness, rigging a privacy curtain, or in one desperate case, wrapped in a blanket. There probably are other methods, if you stretch your imagination, but it IS possible, just maybe not like downtown. When sleeping on the boat, I've always felt safe and comfortable. If on the hook, I just take the normal anchoring precautions, to preclude the usual risks involved in anchoring. If parking in a Wal-mart, or other parking lot, I alway ask permission, and park where I'm advised to park. In every case, they're intrigued at the idea of someone sleeping in a boat in their parking lot, so they always take a personal interest in your safety and comfort. For example, when I stopped one time during a tornado warning, the Wal-mart manager suggested that I park next to the building in the loading dock area, and then had a security person go out and actually point out the most protected place to park. As soon as I closed the hatch, it was like someone turned a fire hose on my boat, but I stayed dry and cozy inside. I didn't get much sleep because of the storm, but I was safe and secure. To make sleeping on the boat more comfortable, I've made several replacement hatches. One is solid plywood with several, large, rectangular holes cut in it. These holes are covered with screens and louvered plates. This allows air circulation, but keeps rain and bugs out. Another hatch is just a sturdy frame with a large opening covered with mosquito netting. This is for hot, buggy nights with no rain expected. I working on another one with a 12 volt intake fan in one opening, with another, larger opening at the top for exhausting the stale air. It's easy to trace your hatch boards onto the right thickness of plywood to make the various replacement hatch covers. Once you figure out what you need, it's easy to make the proper replacement for your comfort in different conditions. I tow the boat with a Toyota Tacoma four cylinder. It drops my miles per gallon, most probably due to a combination of weight and wind resistance. I sometimes pull an extremely light fiberglass travel trailer, and it also drops my mileage, and that has to be almost entirely due to wind resistance, so I think the boat is not too bad to tow. I've towed it cross country several times, and sleeping in the boat to save on motel bills more than offsets the mileage drop. The only comfort I miss is the shower, and I make up for that by buying camping wet wipes in the camping area at Wal-mart. Also, you can find lemon scented large wet wipes, that also work well, in the pharmacy area of Wal-mart. As you can probably tell, my motto is, "If Wal-mart doesn't have it, I don't need it". If you're on the road for several days, you can also stop at Flying "J", and for $11, you and your wife can take a nice shower, and be good for another couple of days. When I lived in Vallejo, in the San Francisco bay area of California, I used to sail in the bay a lot. Several good trips were: 1. Sailing from Richmond to Angel Island. Sleep tied to a mooring, and sail back the next day. 2. Sailing from Alameda to San Francisco to a marina just south of the bay bridge. Have lunch, and sail back. 3. Sail from Alameda to San Leandro and back, in one day. 4. Any blessing of the fleet event on opening day on the bay. We also used to sail in the delta a lot. Our favorite launch point was Tower Park marina. You back your trailer onto an elevator, and disconnect. The elevator lowers your entire boat and trailer into the water. The boat floats off, and your trailer is raised back up, where you reconnect and park it. There are lots of nice sailing destinations available from there. To spend the night on the hook, you drop a stern anchor about 50 feet from shore, nose up to a levy bank and tie up to a tree. If you have a dinghy, you can row around and visit with other anchorees. This often leads to a nice pot luck dinner, or at least some shared drinks. That puts the "R" in dink. Another one of our favorite sailing trips was to rent a floating campsite at Lake Oroville. Get several couples to go together to rent the floating campsite. You can either sleep on your boat, or set up a tent on the roof of the floating campsite and sleep there. See http://www.orovilleareachamber.net/lakeoroville/floating_campsites.html for pictures and more details. It makes a great several day trip. Now that I'm living in Southern California, I sail in Lake Isabella, or in the ocean around Channel Islands, or Ventura. I was also planning to join the Lake Havasu group in February, but my wife was involved in a horrendous auto accident (hit head on by an armored truck) and has been hospitalized from the day before Thanksgiving until this last Friday, when she finally got to come home. When she recovers enough to walk again, she wants to get back out on the boat, and hopefully meet some more Monty owners. I hope you have as much fun in your Monty, ashore, as well as on the water, as we've had on ours. It's a pretty versatile little boat. Lots of fun packed into a small package. Bill & Gigi Day M-15 #363 "Gee Whiz!" . Hughston, Larry wrote:
I like the idea of a "Boater-Home". Did you use the porta potty at all during that time? Did you feel safe and comfortable? What is your tow vehicle? I have an old 1981 M-15 with very few "water knots" on it. I am based in Sacramento. Where do you sail?
Fair winds..... L. Hughston. Hull # 189.
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