Hi Giles, Question.
Sailing by yourself or with someone? In either case, see Scott Grometer's description of cruising for several weeks on the Inside Passage with his wife in an M15 on the Msite It's doable. I checked the M15 and found that if you take out the Portapotti and replace it with a cushion, you have nice sitting headroom, and can stretch out your legs under the cockpit sole. Of course, this is fine for one person but doesn't work for two. For two people, then the answer is a tarp over the boom so that you can use the cockpit for the living room / dining room / galley - sitting head room, space to work and protection from the rain. The cabin is then purely for sleeping. My answer is, smaller is better. It's less work trailering; less work rigging prior to launch; everything is smaller, lighter, and cheaper - and sailing is just as much fun as in a larger vessel. If you start talking more space; more headroom; the boat gets bigger. Bigger means heavier and longer mast. More difficulty stepping the mast. Bigger trailer. Bigger tow vehicle. More difficulty launching. You don't get younger, the trailer just gets heavier. As far as I was concerned, the M15 - for our uses, voyages, and sailing areas it was ideal. The only problem was that, even though the M15 was ideal for our uses, we kept getting older and older till we finally had to face the fact that Old Father Neptune was right. It's time to drop the anchor. Even with the new 11 foot Shellback, on an aluminum trailer to reduce the weight, I find getting in and out is becoming a chore, because my legs don't seem to want to do what the mind says they should do. Them's my $0.02 cents worth. Happy sailing, Connie _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
