Hi Deena and Harvey, I carry a small Bruce, with rode in a rectangular vented plastic box in my port sail locker. I have a second, Danforth type with rode there too. My final insurance policy is the small Fortress with chain and rode in the forward compartment under the berth where it's weight does the most good. I know that with the M15 that's vast overkill, but from my big boat days I learned you never can have too many anchors of different types to suite different bottom conditions. One anchor is never enough. What do you do when a powerboat drives across the rode and cuts it? ...or someone trying to anchor close to you manages to wrap your rode around his propeller, leaving you and he to drift around helplessly? No, two anchors are the minimum (each with chain and rode), and a third, if a front blasts through the anchorage at 2 AM with 40 knot gusts, makes sure that you at least stay where you want to stay. When I anchor, (lunch, snooze, bird watching) I just open the sail locker; pull out my Bruce and drop it over the side. There's no need to go forward to drop the anchor. Once the anchor is on the bottom and starts to dig in, the M15 will swing around, bow to wind, and then you can leisurely walk forward and cleat off the anchor rode on the bow cleat. When dropping the lunch hook on my old boat, I did the same. From the cockpit: then walk the rode forward and cleat it off, as the boat slowly pivots into the wind. There is also no law that says you can't anchor with the stern facing the breeze, but this should be reserved for calm conditions, otherwise waves hitting the stern may splash, making for a damp lunch! Connie ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.
I've enjoyed reading accounts of first sails by new owners, so here's my own first experience with Montgomery 15 #412, "Chimpanzee." I finally stole away from work for a much-needed weekend of sailing on the Chesapeake. I live on Kent Island on Maryland's Eastern Shore, and the idea was to head down the shore from Kent Island towards the Choptank River. I launched the boat solo on Friday evening around 5 and headed out close-hauled into Eastern Bay. The weather report predicted foul weather on Sunday and Monday, and I decided that I should stay closer to home and not get out into the open Chesapeake. Every bit of rigging except the mast section was new, and I've found that on almost every first sail in a boat I've rigged something goes "Twang!" and chaos ensues. So no Choptank; I steered south for St. Michael's. Eastern Bay and the Miles River are protected from most wind directions. Besides, every boat on the Chesapeake was assembling a few miles away to watch Sunday's start of the Volvo Ocean Race, and as fun as that is I wanted to avoid the crowd, especially if my tricky new rig was going to fall by the board. Although I stayed out of deep water, my 2-1/2 day, 40-mile sail gave me a chance to try the boat in almost every condition, from long upwind drives in fresh winds, spinnaker runs in less than 5 knots, and a screaming, surfing 15-mile broad reach under reduced sail. The experience confirmed a suspicion I had: the published reports often understate the M-15's abilities. Chimpanzee has a clean bottom, newly faired rudder and centerboard, and new sails, and all this has to help. But all in all it's a fine little sailer: stiff, fast and weatherly. My cruise started with a 10-mile beat up the Miles River towards St. Michaels in about 12 knots of wind with a small chop. After some experimentation, I found that Chimp was stiff enough that I could cleat the mainsheet, which left one hand free to hold the chart book, take compass bearings, and grab handfuls of trailmix. This was the first trial of the new sails. The new mainsail, by Ulmer-Kolius, is bigger than the stock M-15 main. I had them put in a great deal more roach, which is supported by a full-length top batten. Looks just like a West Wight Potter's mainsail, only it's quite a bit larger, 95 sqft. I had also installed a slightly larger jib off my Windmill racing sloop. I worried that extending the sail area of the mainsail aft would bring about too much weather helm. There was some helm, but it was modest and only appeared when the boat was pressed down by a strong puff. The GPS reported 4.5 knots VMG while pointing high, a very creditable show. As the sun set Friday night, I bore off to run up the Wye River, and made another marvelous discovery: Chimpanzee will self-steer for 15 or 20 boat lengths on most points of sail. I laughed out loud; the only other small boat of mine to do this is my beloved Bolger Yawl (an Oldshoe, smaller sister of Connie's Micro). The boat came with a sort of tiller-tamer widget, and with the tiller clamped I could actually stand on the foredeck to set the whisker pole. This was a real treat, and I was rewarded by a thumbs-up from a passing yachtsman, admiring Chimpanzee as she charged up the Wye, wing-and-wing. On Saturday I sailed further south, exploring the Miles River nearly to its end. There was hardly a breath of air as a passing high pressure system lingered over the Bay. Nevertheless, a 5-knot northerly appeared for a few hours, and I used this to run a few miles under full mainsail and masthead spinnaker. The GPS showed 3.5 knots under spinnaker in that light air before it evaporated and I had to fire up the Honda kicker. Saturday night I sidled up a narrow creek off of the Miles and laid out two anchors. Lousy weather was predicted overnight, so I stretched the old jib over the boom to protect the companionway and settled into the cabin with lots of good books and food. I'm 6'1", and I think the M-15's cabin is wonderful. Cozy and dry. The rain poured down outside, while I stayed warm and comfortable. It isn't perfect, mind you; the condensation was annoying. (Fellow M-15 cruisers are nodding their heads emphatically as they read this.) The only solution is better ventilation. I'm awaiting the arrival of a small Lewmar hatch for installation in the foredeck, and I suspect that will take the edge off the mugginess. Rain it did, finally blowing out around noon on Sunday. I stowed my books and headed back up the Miles towards home, about 15 miles away. I pulled in a reef in the main and was glad I did; there was some weight behind the southwesterly that followed the passing of the warm front. 15-18 knots. It was a straight shot from St. Michaels to the boat ramp on Kent Island, a broad reach the whole way, and I had one of those sails that you remember for a long time. The waves built as I headed north, until in the last few miles I was surfing on 3-4 foot waves. In more protected water, I could sustain 5.5 knots, right at or just above hullspeed, with a giant foaming wake. But in the waves the speed crept up; 5.8, 6.2, 6.6, 6.8, and for one glorious moment, 7 knots. I got so carried away watching the GPS for the next big spike that I didn't mind my course and I had to jibe to maneuver into Crab Alley. Rough conditions, but the boat was snug and dry. All in all, great fun. One of the things I liked the most was the Harken jib furler. Without leaving the cockpit I could whisk the jib in and out nearly as quickly as it took to form the thought. This was of great value when maneuvering, especially for a solo sailor, and I would say worth the $250. The "slab reefing" on the mainsail worked on the first try (that has to be a first for me). The stock tiller was too short to my taste, and I plan to build one about 20" longer. That'll make it too long with two people in the cockpit, but I sail alone mostly, and I like to sit forward so that the transom doesn't drag. In the longer term, I'd like to build a fiberglass "sea hood" over the companionway to form the basis for a low canvas dodger. That will allow you to keep the hatch open when it's raining, permitting more headroom at anchor, and the solar panel can live atop the sea hood. Cheers, John Chesapeake Light Craft The Best Boats You Can Build http://www.clcboats.com
Great story John. It should be a sobering thought for the rest of us when someone of your talents admits that things they build or work on still go "Twang". Imagine the excitement all us rank amateurs have with our little projects! Howard
admits that things they build or work on still go "Twang". Imagine the excitement all us rank amateurs have with our little projects!
Chuckle. I'm a specialist in wild rigs that come to pieces like the one-hoss-shay. Witness my infamous wing-masted Pacific proa, "Mbuli." Sailing it is like an emergency that starts at the dock. A harrowing series of breakages and capsizes interspersed with occasional flashes of out-of-this-world speed. Photos and description here: http://www.friend.ly.net/%7Edadadata/#MBULI This article from the St. Petersburg Times records for history one particularly nasty crash in the proa: http://www.sptimes.com/News/030701/Sports/Strong_wind__waves_ma.shtml The reason that I bought a Mongomery 15 is that it's a snug and well-found ride, no tinkering necessary. Cheers, John Chesapeake Light Craft The Best Boats You Can Build http://www.clcboats.com
John: I notice from your website that you sell MAS epoxy. About all we can find out here in the remote hinterlands are the West System products. Is there a difference, or is this a Ford/Chevy thing, or rather a Cadillac/Chevy thing? (They both are almost the same produce...one just costs twice as much, i.e., Escalade/Avalanche) We can also find polyester resins, but no vinylesters. Bob recently told me he uses 100% vinylester resin to lay up the M-boats. Unless I was mistaken, that sounds to me like an undocumented, but valuable, feature to have. It's my understanding the even the high dollar boats only use vinylesters on the first one or two layers of mat and cloth under the gelcoat for blister protection, then revert back to the cheaper...errr...less expensive polyesters for the rest of the layup. Even on my goofy little projects, when a quart of epoxy/hardener costs $40 and a quart of Boatyard resin is $15, it makes you think twice. Howard
Hello, Howard, thanks for the note, and sorry it took me a few days.
I notice from your website that you sell MAS epoxy. About all we can find out here in the remote hinterlands are the West System products. Is there a difference, or is this a Ford/Chevy thing, or rather a Cadillac/Chevy thing? (They both are almost the same produce...one just costs twice as much, i.e., Escalade/Avalanche)
For all practical purposes MAS and West are pretty much the same thing. There are incremental differences; the MAS is better for large-scale 'glassing and coating, the West System cures a little faster. For small projects I wouldn't sweat the variations.
We can also find polyester resins, but no vinylesters. Bob recently told me he uses 100% vinylester resin to lay up the M-boats. Unless I was mistaken, that sounds to me like an undocumented, but valuable, feature to have. It's my understanding the even the high dollar boats only use vinylesters on the first one or two layers of mat and cloth under the gelcoat for blister protection, then revert back to the cheaper...errr...less expensive polyesters for the rest of the layup.
I'm not a real expert in the non-epoxy matrices. I do know that vinylester is some percentage better in terms of strength and solubility. It's my opinion that unless you're doing a really gigantic 'glassing project there's no sense using polyester or vinylester. Epoxy is ten times stronger than even vinylester, and in small quantities the added expense is worth it. Cheers, John Chesapeake Light Craft The Best Boats You Can Build http://www.clcboats.com
Connie, Thanks for your detailed response: It sounds like I've been making the anchoring process too complicated. --Craig ----- Original Message ----- From: "Conbert H Benneck" <chbenneck@juno.com> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Monday, April 29, 2002 11:07 AM Subject: Anchoring Hi Deena and Harvey, I carry a small Bruce, with rode in a rectangular vented plastic box in my port sail locker. I have a second, Danforth type with rode there too. My final insurance policy is the small Fortress with chain and rode in the forward compartment under the berth where it's weight does the most good. I know that with the M15 that's vast overkill, but from my big boat days I learned you never can have too many anchors of different types to suite different bottom conditions. One anchor is never enough. What do you do when a powerboat drives across the rode and cuts it? ...or someone trying to anchor close to you manages to wrap your rode around his propeller, leaving you and he to drift around helplessly? No, two anchors are the minimum (each with chain and rode), and a third, if a front blasts through the anchorage at 2 AM with 40 knot gusts, makes sure that you at least stay where you want to stay. When I anchor, (lunch, snooze, bird watching) I just open the sail locker; pull out my Bruce and drop it over the side. There's no need to go forward to drop the anchor. Once the anchor is on the bottom and starts to dig in, the M15 will swing around, bow to wind, and then you can leisurely walk forward and cleat off the anchor rode on the bow cleat. When dropping the lunch hook on my old boat, I did the same. From the cockpit: then walk the rode forward and cleat it off, as the boat slowly pivots into the wind. There is also no law that says you can't anchor with the stern facing the breeze, but this should be reserved for calm conditions, otherwise waves hitting the stern may splash, making for a damp lunch! Connie
participants (4)
-
Conbert H Benneck -
Honshells -
Howard Audsley -
John Harris