Thanks again for your help. Jerry --- Jerry <wd4mph@yahoo.com> wrote:

Howard, thanks for the detailed reply; your answers were really informative for me. I explored around the photos section some more and realized that the 17 comes with a forward hatch, but the 15 does not. Perhaps some kind of front vent could be installed. But apparently a lot of people find the ventilation in a 15 adequate. I especially enjoyed reading about Doug Kelch's travels in a 15. He has trailered and sailed a 15 from Maine to Key West, overnighting an average of 25 nights a year. (The Florida keys would be my dream trip, which appears quite doable in a 15.) I also saw several photos of boom tent type arrangements for rain, which seemed to work well. Your comments about riding out the rain in your boat as well as a tent were encouraging. Thanks also, for the comments about anchoring stern to the wind in light air. I'll have to remember that there is more breeze on the water than in a campground surrounded by tall trees.

Your netting arrangement seems to be a great idea for sleeping bug free.

I live in Birmingham Alabama and kayak camp near Pensacola, so I have not really observed what other sailers do about the frequent summer lightning storms. I'll be more observant next time I am down there. In my kayak, I get off the water onto a barrier island or other shore. Even so, I have had to crouch low for awhile beside the kayak in a couple of bad lightning storms, with strikes very close by. The flash and the boom occured simultaneously. Pretty scarry experience for me. I would feel more secure lowering the mast in those conditions, which could probably be done easier on a 15 than a 17.

I have had an offer to sail on a 15 in Mobile (4.5 hr drive), and in October on a 17 which will be at Smith Lake, about an hour from my house. This is obviously a great group, and I cannot wait to take advantage of these generous offers.

Thanks again for your comments, which have helped confirm that a small sailboat like the 15 or 17 would be better for my purposes in the long run than a small cubby cabin powerboat which I also considered, because of the speed in avoiding storms and the lack of a mast in the air.

If anyone else has any experience avoiding lightning, I would really appreciate your comments.

Jerry Renno

--- Howard Audsley <haudsley@tranquility.net> wrote:

...

Seeing no other response, I'll take a swipe at this.

On Aug 23, 2006, at 12:22 PM, Jerry wrote:

...

I am still new to the group and do not yet have a boat, but I do have some questions for those who sleep aboard for a few nights in southern waters during the summer. (Alabama, Florida, etc.)

1. How do you keep from roasting at night?

I cool off after hot day (is 90 to 100 with high humidity hot?) by either taking a swim or using a small garden sprayer to take a shower in the cockpit. Once cooled down, I don't usually get hot, but I prefer hot to cold, so that doesn't bother me much. If there is a breeze, you can anchor bow to wind and pop the hatch open to get considerable ventilation going. Or in light air, anchor stern to wind to get even more. Cook outside in cockpit to keep heat out of the cabin.

...

2. How do you keep out mosquitos? (without

roasting)

I built a light netting that fits the companionway and seals it up. You can also get or make the kind of netting that resembles a bag with lead weights on the perimeter to go over the forward opening hatch. Not that much different from hiding out on the beach inside a tent. Same ventilation techniques apply.

...

3. With lightning storms just about every

afternoon or

...

evening, (Pensacola area) how do you stay safe with a metal mast up in the air? Do you ever take it down while on the water during storms? Or do you beach on a barrier island and get off the water?

Don't see much lightning. What do other boats in that area do? A M15 could probably be rigged to drop her mast relatively easy and quickly.

...

4. Is staying on board still realistic in a

day-long

...

rain?

As opposed to inside a tent? Most of us who overnight much have rigged various forms of awnings, boom tents, etc. so that the hatch can be left open during rain events. Some can even sit in the cockpit and stay relatively dry. Tod Mills has a full enclosure for his. I've camped (both heavy tent camping and light backpacking) and I can stay as dry and ride out rain as well in the boat as I can camped. You won't be standing up inside the boat, of course, but unless you are really packing heavy (full wall tent with enclosed awnings), you don't stand up inside a tent either.

...

I am used to camping in a campground near

Pensacola,

...

where a good tent, and perhaps a fan in the tent at night solves most of the above issues. I am still considering a Montgomery 15, but want to be sure it won't turn out to be miserable instead of wonderful spending a few nights on board.

Best solution is to ask to take a ride on one to check it out for yourself. You may have to travel a bit, but if you are going to make the investment in a boat, it might be worth the effort.

Keep in mind these are small boats. Capable of a lot, but in comparison to most boats, small. But if you realize this and pack accordingly, and carefully stow things so you don't have to move them around a lot, you quickly adapt to the size and all is well. A lot of guys routinely do one and two week trips on them....some even longer, with no real problems. A one or two week trip from Pensacola to Mobile and back is entirely within the capability of this boat, but

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