Skip and others reading: when Jerry re-tooled the M17 in the early 80s he raised the cockpit floor deck just a bit v. the original cockpit to help avoid water coming in and help water drain faster.  this is also when the 'two aft drains' were added v. the single located aft center. Jerry could have raised the the cockit floor a lot higher and ended up with an uncomfortably shallow footwell ... meaning your knees are up by your ears.  or, you raise the cockpit seats (and cockpit combings) resulting in more windage.  everything is a tradeoff. lots of discussion of solutions to avoid wet feet on this listproc and the trailersailor.com forum.  many have installed teak (J.O. Woodworks makes them for the M17) or 'dri-dek' cockpit floor grates.  Bob's solution with the seacocks and/or valves on the transom are also valid. i wear boat sandals (when warm) or boots (when cold). each M17 seems to have a bit different 'water in the cockpit' behavior.  SWEET PEA (has the 'new' cockpit design) doesn't have much water, but her drains are below the waterline and the stock tubes installed by Jerry were replaced by her prior prior (the person before the person before me) and in a slightly different configuration. (on a side note it is important that the older M17 cockpit drain hoses are check as they are aluminum! as the 'newest' M17 with these drain hoses is at, or past, 20 years old they must be replaced.) in my opinion the 'wet feet' issue is not a fault (i've stated this many times over the years), just a behavior of the M17 (and the M15) in certain situations ... a combination of sea state, boat weight distribution, and how the boat is being driven (motored or sailed; fast or slow). :: Dave Scobie :: M17 #375 SWEET PEA - www.m17-375.webs.com :: former M15 owner - www.freewebs.com/m15-named-scred --- On Sat, 12/1/12, William Campion <wcampion@aol.com> wrote:

Dave, Check your last sentence.  It's a good thing you don't market for Bob!  lol

Skip

On Dec 1, 2012, at 9:36 AM, W David Scobie <wdscobie@yahoo.com> wrote:

...

what you describe is normal for the M17 in certain situation, especially when motoring.

i'm guessing you have looked ... Bob has installed seacocks on some of the 17 cockpit drains.  these will be located in the aft lazarette locker.  the seacocks will stop the water coming in when closed; but water will not go out if the boat gets pooped or when in rains (one of those tradeoff things).

others have vales on the transom that will limit, but not eliminate, water coming through the cockpit drains.

use the contact information on the nor'sea www-site to contact Bob.  he will have a build list that outlines what items were on the boat when she left the shop.

the best way to limit water entering the cockpit is making sure you keep weight forward.  crew should be sitting near the cabin/cockpit bulkhead.  the person at the helm should sit just aft of the mainsheet traveler.  don't load heavy items in the aft lazarette.

with all the above stated you need not worry the boat will sink ... just wet feet.

:: Dave Scobie :: M17 #375 SWEET PEA - www.m17-375.webs.com

--- On Sat, 12/1/12, Karen Saville <karen.saville@yahoo.com> wrote:

...

We have a Montgomery 17, 2006, and when our boat is heeling or motoring the cockpit

drains back

...

siphon water into the cockpit.  Are these one-way valves? And is it normal to back siphon or are these valves defective?  Any help or answers would be appreciated!!! Thanks!