Just a quick comment on tow vehicles. I have a Montgonery 17 with the deep
cast iron keel, a 21 foot pontoon boat and a Boston Whaler Harpoon 5.2 day
sailer and I tow them with a 2006 Pontiac Torrent (same as the Chevy Equinox).
The car has a 3.8L V6 engine (used in the 1/2 ton trucks) and a 5 speed
automatic. This combination works extremely well for the sailboats but towing
the pontoon boat at 70 MPH in hilly country, I have to lock it out of the OD
5th gear if there is any headwind. My worst gas milage was 19 mpg towing the
Montgomery against a 40 mph headwind. With no headwind the towing milage is
about 22mpg and normal highway travel without a trailer is about 25 to 26mpg.
The drivaway price was about $7,000 less than a V6 RAV4, which will buy a lot
of gas, and the extra room and comfort is nice. In 2 1/2 years and 53,000
miles, I have had only normal preventtive maintenance.
My experience over 40 years and a dozen trailer boats has been that that when
towing, a smaller engine may not get any better milage than a larger vehicle
with a larger engine and it can be very frustrating to be downshifting on every
hill and being passed by everything else on the road. This is coming from a
guy who towed a Balboa 20 coast to coast behind a 1973 4 cylinder Volvo Station
wagon. "For towing the Pontoon, I use my work truck, a Ford F250 Super duty.
which gets 16 mpg on the highway whether the boat is behind or not. I think it
would do just fine to tow a Montgomery 23. (Dream, dream).
Ron
M17 #14
Griselda.> Date: Sun, 5 Oct 2008 16:44:32 -0500> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To:
[email protected]> Subject: M_Boats: New M-15> > Hello
Chris,> > Congratulations on your new purchase. I am sure you will enjoy the
M-15.> > Here are my two cents regarding your boat projects. As always these
are> just my opinions based upon my usage -- single handed day sailing and>
extended cruising on the Great Lakes.> > - Jib downhaul is essential in my
mind. When the wind pipes up or when I> am coming in to dock it is a piece of
cake to release the halyard and pull> on the downhaul to douse the jib. With
the downhaul cleated, the jib will> sit sedately on the foredeck. On my boat,
the downhaul is simply a block> mounted on the bow. I secure a small line to
the top hank and run it> through the block on the bow and back to the aft.> - I
have rigged the boat to have both halyards come back to the cockpit> but in
practice I only bring the jib halyard back for the above reason. I> cleat the
Main at the mast since it is there that I will need to be when I> either reef
or douse the main.> - For sails, I have a loose footed main with a bolt rope
and two reef> points (love the bolt rope and will not go back to slides), 160
genoa, 130> working, and 60 storm jib. With this combination I can handle any
wind> conditions that I encounter. I do go up to the bow to change the jibs
and> so far this has not been too difficult. I have done this in 3-4 foot>
swells. When I do this, I am always tethered to the boat.> - I too have a
Honday 2 HP 4 Stroke. It works great. The 1/4 gallon> tank seems small but will
push me along at about 4 - 4.5 knots for an hour> plus. Refilling underway is
not that difficult. I have the long stroke> which is good for the Great Lakes
and the wave height.> - For anchor and rode I simply keep them in a milk crate
in the cockpit> and deploy from the cockpit. When set, I simply walk the rode
up to the> bow. This works great. The only downside is that it adds weight at
the> stern.> - I have mounted a Plastimo Iris 100 compass to my bottom
hatchboard> which stays in when under way. For the handheld GPS I purchased a
holder> that is mounted to the horizontal wooden plank that the mainsheet is
mounted> to. This setup has worked well for me.> - Tow vehicle. I have a 2001
Rav4 which works ok. It has the four> cylinder engine which, in my opinion, is
underpowered. It struggles to keep> up to highway speeds on anything other than
completely flat ground. When I> am towing I only get about 20 - 22 mpg. If I
were to buy again, I would opt> for the six cylinder (not available when I
purchased). Also, because the> tailgait swings out, the back in inaccessible
when the trailer is attached.> > Hope this is helpful.> > Respectfully,> > John
Hippe> M-15 Jester> _______________________________________________>
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