question; on sailing in that Lake Michigan, I hear the water can be very choppy because of the short peck to peck, is that due to the fresh water instead of salt, does the Monty act differently,
----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve McClellan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'For and about Montgomery Sailboats'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 11:27 PM Subject: RE: M_Boats: Wet cockpit in M15 > When I refurbished my centerboard, I took the opportunity to install a > flap-valve of my own design and construction into the cockpit drain. I > have NEVER had any water in my cockpit -- and Lake Michigan can be VERY > choppy. > > Essentially, it is just a rubber flap that closes against a flat frame > whenever water tries to come up the drain. But it allows water to drain > out just fine. It is installed just barely down inside the rectangular > shaped hole of the drain. I have removed the wooden board that obscured > that hole. Of course, there is a hole through the frame of it just > exactly large enough for the centerboard halyard to go through with no > clearance. > > I know it's working because, whenever I'm in choppy water I hear the > constant (or intermittant) "suck-slap - suck-slap" sound (it's really > more of a "thhhhT!-thhhT!" sound, and nothing more than perhaps a drop > get's through. > > The original design is really unfortunate in the sense that, even doing > something like stuffing a rag around the hole won't really work. The > shape of the centerboard slot, being triangular and narrowing toward the > hole, makes it so that a wave forcing itself upward develops tremendous > hydraulic force. > > I know if there were enough montgomery 15 boats out there, I could > market this thing and make a million. > O > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~_/)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Steve McClellan - M15 #152 - Chicago > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
