Hi Bones, I agree it seems strange. And I can only conjecture how this may have happened. The mast support seems to be fine. The part of the sole that it is on is not pushed up or cracked. The area that is pushed up (maybe 3"x6") is next to the mast support/bulkhead. There are no signs of leaking on the sole but my run away imagination is picturing damage below the sole. And I could not find a way to inspect it or reach it. The strange thing about the area that is pushed up is that there is obviously something underneath it. The other areas of the sole flex a bit as it is just slightly off the hull from what I can tell, but not the area that is damaged. It seems like what ever is under the sole in this area was pushed up causing the visible cracking. The boat has been stored on a trailer and launched to sail for the last decade. I do not have any experience with it in the water so I have no idea if it is leaking at all. The previous owner did not mention anything about that. I will see if I can tell anything with a flash light this weekend from looking up the slot. Cheers Robbin On 4/12/2011 8:43 AM, bownez@juno.com wrote:

Robbin, That is a real head scratcher. I can't seem to envision a scenario that could make this happen. You would think a hard grounding with the board down would simply push the drop keel back into her slot.Does it look like the force was transferred to the cabin mast support and to the top deck? Is there any signs of leaking?I don't know if I would dig into that or not if there in no water intrusion.Perhaps Jerry can chime in.The M23 is mighty beefy in that area. Bones ____________________________________________________________ Obama Urges Refinance If you owe under $729k you probably qualify for Obama's Refi Programs http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4da449574c21822f2efst06vuc _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats

When posting, remember that there is no privacy on the Internet!