Chris & Julie: The jib downhaul is easy and, IMHO, essential. Go for it right away! I had an M15 (Vanilla) bought used and enjoyed it a lot. It came to me with 4 head sails and a spinnaker!
--Gary Hyde 2005 M17 sailboat #637 'Hydeaway 2' We can't change the wind, but we can trim our sails. Sailing is like "African Queening" thru life. On Oct 4, 2008, at 5:40 AM, Chris and Julie wrote: > Hello everyone. My wife and I have begun the process with Bob Eeg > to have an M15 built. Her name will be "Julie Suzanne". As of > right now we are going with the following decisions & options: > > Ivory Hull with Single Blue Stripe > Camcleats > Longer handrails mounted atop the sliding hatch teak runner covers > Electrical package with group 24 battery under v-berth with space > for 2nd battery for longer cruise > Tracks on the coaming for jib cars or moving cleat > Stern pulpit > Opening stainless ports in cabin (Can never have too much > ventilation in my opinion.) > > Although this will be our 5th boat (22-36 feet and lived aboard the > 36 footer) we are both pretty excited about this boat. They are > such great looking boats and we have always heard great things about > them. It will be nice to own a small boat that we can store in our > garage, trailer to where ever we want, and yet still overnight on > with some comfort. > > Honestly this is the first boat whose design I would not change (at > least based on my research thus far). Everything from the cockpit > size to the v-berth and the storage seems to be the best compromise > for the size and the intended use. > > Our primary uses will be long daysails and 1-3 day short cruises > with both my wife and I aboard. We live in Florida and anticipate > doing plenty of trips to various cruising grounds all over the > Southeast. Like most others, I work plenty of hours and will be > limiting most of our trips to vacations and long weekends. > > Also, like every boat I have owned, I will always have a project > going on with 2-3 in the planning stages.... > > Some already planned projects include: > > Leading halyards back to cockpit > Jib downhaul (Have always had furlers, but with trailering and the > fractional rig, I wonder if it makes sense here....) > Some sort of anchor and rode storage that makes sense based on > balancing the weights on the boat and the ability to quickly deploy > if needed. > Boom tent (Need something to make the cockpit a part of the interior > based on the situation) > Interior storage (Looking at some minor teak and some canvas based > pouches in strategic locations) > Tiller tamer or autopilot (Probably a tiller tamer at least in the > immediate future) > Special hatchboard for instrument mounting (Custom built board with > hold GPS, depth finder and can be locked in place) > > We dont own a tow vehicle yet, but will be purchasing one shortly. > Right now I am leaning towards a used Toyota RAV4 or Honda CRV or > something similar. Based on my research the M15 is not a difficult > boat to tow, and I need to keep the MPG as high as possible for > obvious reasons. > > The intent right now is to get the 2hp 4stroke Honda outboard which > appears to be standard equipment on the M15 based on my readings. I > DO NOT look forward to refilling the tank while underway. I > anticipate some sort of a solution to this in the near future. I > know I have read some information about some great solutions to this > already. > > Any recommendations regarding the boat or outfitting it as we move > forward with the construction? Anything not listed above is > currently standard and already included(such as swim ladder). Like > most people who are considering a new M-boat, I have been lurking on > the email group and have scanned quite a bit of the older messages > (although you cant scan everything...). I have also been through > all the websites I can find and have appreciated all the great > information. > > Bob has been great to work with so far. I have had a number of > email and phone discussions with him. He is working with me on > options while also helping me to keep the boat simple (at least for > the initial build....). > > Thank you all for the great information I have received from this > group so far.... > > Chris Rechtin > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
