Hi Connie, I had thought of the pressure bit, but did not realize that a shop vac in reverse would be strong enough to get the results that you did. Good show. Can you explain further the procedure you used at your para starting,"Having an exact location etc" Is the board the thwart? Are you to cut from the top and if so what precisely? Any pictures of your repair? Thanks. With help from group members like you I should to solve the problem come spring.Happy holidays. RTH. -----Original Message----- From: Conbert Benneck Sent: Friday, December 21, 2012 12:59 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Fw: Questions On 20-Dec-12 7:43 PM, Robert Hall wrote: Hi Robert, I had the same problem and iuf you go to the Montgomery Archives you can probably find what I did to locate the leak and how I fixed it. I Used Jerry's FOSTER beer approach: fill the inside of the boat with water, open the beer can and lie down under the boat until the water drops diluting your beer. In my case it dripped from the aft side of the centerboard trunk, just where Jerry thought it might be. To confirm the exact location of the leak, I built a styrofoam drop board for the companionway; duct-taped all possible openings closed; then pressurized the interior of my M15 using my shop vac outpout ass a pressure source. I painted all suspect areas (just aft of the centerboard slot) and waited for bubble to form. ... and form they did. Having an exact location; the next step was to cut open the area (remove the teak board to make life easier); clean it out and fill all crevices with WEST epoxy thickened with one of their thickeners I had in my shop. That done, and cured, I gave it another pressure test. No more bubbles to be seen anywhere. My hull number was 400. Connie Benneck
Hi Jerry, My boat is a 1981 model. Your reply was exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. In the spring I will start with the" fill the bilge with water and have a few beers procedure" and go on from there depending on the results. Thanks for takevery where that air could get outing time to answer my queries. Chances are they will benefit other Montgomery owners as well. Cheers all round! RTH
-----Original Message----- From: jerry montgomery Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2012 1:39 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Fw: Questions
I think the masts were 19' on all the 15's that I made, but I can't speak for the present builder. I'm 99% sure that I never made a change.
Looks like you're talking about water getting into the bilge. Since you say that there is no damage on the hull, including the bottom of the keel, I'd guess that it's coming in thru the top of the CB trunk and working down from there between the trunk and the trunk housing part of the hull liner. What is the year your 15 was made? On some of the very early boats (1981 or 2?) we had that problem and cut down the trunk cover a little so that I could visually inspect it while under construction. The problem was the glass bond between the trunk itself and the underside of the deck would have a void. After we cut down the top of the trunk cover a little I could see and feel around the drain bond.
There's always the method of waiting for a warm, sunny day, filling the bilge with water and taking a cooler full of beer and stretch out below and see where the water comes out!
jerry ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Hall" <bert.hall@rogers.com> To: "Montgomery Owners" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 6:58 PM Subject: M_Boats: Fw: Questions
From: Robert Hall Sent: Friday, December 07, 2012 8:56 PM To: Jerry Montgomery Subject: Questions
Hi Jerry. I enjoy reading e mails from you on the Monty site and learn a lot from them and those of other owners . I have two questions which probably only you can answer. First my M 15 was built in 1981 and has a 19 ft mast. You have given the rig dimensions on the owners site as I 15.33 J 4.58 P 16.83 and E 7.83 for the M-15. Do those measurements hold true for a boat with a 19 ft mast which I believe is slightly shorter than used on your later boats? Next my boat takes on water into that box- like space approximately under the thwart in the very bottom of the boat. I suppose the space holds about a gallon of water and it requires pumping out about every 10 days. The water accumulates faster if the boat has been heeling a lot. The top appears to be well sealed to the hull along the gunwales,no evidence of leaking there.. There is no sign of damage on the hull or keel and of course at 6 ft 2 in and 82 years of age there is no way I can get a look into that interior space.My boat is on the hard under a snow drift till April, but a younger,smaller, boat savvy friend and I will try again to discover the source of the leak come spring . Have you any advice on any techniques or tricks which we might employ to diagnose the problem ? Your advice will be much appreciated The leak poses little danger to those using the boat, but it is a bloody nuisance, particularly because if we can’t find the source we certainly cannot fix it. From a frustrated M –15 sailor. Have a good holiday season and all health in 2013. RTH. PS the M-15 has been a great boat for me and a source of great interest and admiration among the” big boat” people at my yacht club.
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