Andrei, Congratulations on your M17! I'll attempt answers at some of your questions and others will have more to input as well, I'm sure. My responses are based on our 1988 model (same deck as yours).
a) Most people have mentioned raising the mast as a difficulty, ... With the sliding hatch closed the mast crutch should hold the mast high enough to allow the mast bolt to fit into place with minimal difficulty. My guess is your mast crutch is too short. b) The halyards on Hobbit are different from everything .... The wire-rope halyards were common on our vintage boats. With the new low-stretch ropes the wire is no longer needed. To switch to all-rope halyards check the sheave at the top of the mast to see if it will accept a suitable size rope. If the sheave is sized for wire, you can buy replacement sheaves sized for rope. I think Bob Eeg might sell these. c) How do people use the halyard cleats on the mast? .... Ours has 2 long horn cleats. The one on the starboard side is for the main halyard. The jib halyard passes through blocks at the base of the mast and routes back to the winch on the port side of the cabin top. The winch gives you mechanical advantage to tighten the luff of the headsail. d) After de-rigging, what do you do with the many steel stays .... I think everyone has there own system for this... something like laying the top shrouds along side the mast in the mast crutch, folding the spreaders to the mast, and looping the excess wire in big loops, securing all of this to the mast with bungee cords. e) The rudder shows signs that it might begin to crack, or at least just the varnish on it. Have people done something about this? I think this is a common problem with old rudders. Some have rebuilt their rudders, others have opted for replacement kickup rudders like the one from IdaSailor.com. From what I have seen, you need to be pretty skillful at wood working to splice new wood into the rudder. f) How are the genoa sheets run?.... Does your teak toe rail have a genoa track on it? If so, you can use sliding cars. If not (the genoa track was an option) it mounts on top of the teak toe rail and uses the same bolt holes as the toe rail. It wouldn't be too difficult to add. g) Some longer term maintenance projects: I will need to redo all the outside wood trim ... The factory wood, except for the hatch boards, was all teak. Unless it is cracked badly, teak usually cleans up pretty good with teak cleaner and light sanding. For protection some prefer teak oil and other a hard finish like Cetol. h) There was a discussion a while back about the balsa core rotting.... You really want to watch for this as repairs can be very expensive. I believe the suggested maintenance schedule is to re-bed all deck hardware every 5 years. j) Is there a wiring diagram for the boat available anywhere?.... The boats I've seen with electrical systems all have similar components but different installations. I think you will need to make your own wiring diagram. Many on this list have electronics/electrical backgrounds and can offer help if you get stuck. Again, Congratulations on you 17! Randy Graves M17 #410 _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
