David, read your disertation on the mast. I have aquired this year M-15 hull # 189. The whole number is MMP151891281 as in 1981. Are our hull numbers correct ??? Could that many M-15 boats have been made by Jerry Montgomery ???
Larry -----Original Message----- From: David Wood [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, October 15, 2004 1:55 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: M_Boats: M-15 mast unstepping quandry Yesterday I unstepped the mast on my M-15 for the first time in preparation for winter storage, and ran into a situation for which I was a little unprepared. When I unclipped the forestay and began lowering the mast (without removing the mast step bolt holding the mast into the mast step, merely loosening it), the mast wouldn't lie all the way down into the rear mast carrier. Instead it made contact with the hatch first, and I was afraid that the weight of the mast might crack the hatch (which was in the forward/open position). So I pulled the mast back up into its raised position and removed the bolt before lowering it down again--with GREAT effort--since I had nothing to "foot" that mast against. After reading how easy it was to step and unstep the mast on this boat, I figure that either I was doing something wrong, or my boat has a non-standard set-up which I'm going to want to rectify this winter. My boat is a 1981 M-15, and I'm not sure how many "improvements" have been committed on it. The aft mast carrier is not original equipment, I believe, since it doesn't slide into the rudder gudgeons, but rather is held up by a small wooden contraption the previous owner built in the rear of the cockpit. But the mast is level in the stored/down position, resting on the rear mast carrier and the bow pulpit (my old Trail-Rite trailer doesn't have a forward mast carrier on its tongue). It's just a real bitch getting it into that position. And when I lowered the mast yesterday while it was still bolted it was about 12-15" higher than level (over the mast carrier) in the rear when it made contact with the hatch. I'm just glad I was really careful when I was lowering it and pulled it back up as soon as I saw that plan A wasn't going too well. So is this normal? Does your mast get hung up on the hatch when you lower it? My initial solution is to simply build a taller mast carrier with pintles so that the mast can be lowered into it while still bolted without contacting the hatch. But I wonder whether it might be a problem to trailer the boat with the mast at an angle and therefore more likely to slide forward in a sudden stop--assuming I'm stupid enough not to secure it well. Sorry to be so long-winded. But what's up with that? David =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= David W. Wood -=- [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1981 M15 -=- Hull #163 _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
