Randy Graves sailed M-15 "Dinky" for over 12 years. As time went by there became a need for a little more comfort and room to make cruising more pleasurable. Most people who succumb to the dreaded "twofootitus" blow it and go well overboard with their measurements., you know... from a 15 footer to a thirty footer. Not Randy, over the years he gained valuable experience while being around other Montgomery Boats. Determined, he found this M-17 in a small town in Northern California. The above pictures are how good a neglected Montgomery 17 can look with with a measure of effort. On page two are some of the before shots and the how to information Randy has provided.

Randy in his shop explains: "After trying several chemical products, a heat gun and scraper proved best to remove most of the glue from the cabin overhead from where I removed the slats of wood the prior owner had installed. To get the rest I applied Kilz interior/exterior primer and it reacted with the glue, bring it to the surface to be wiped off with household cleaner.

The exterior wood was heavily weathered but no cracks. I also wanted to epoxy and re-bed any holes in the deck. Because of this it made sense to remove all the wood along with the hardware. On the hull, the goal was to restore the original gelcoat. Fortunately, the bottom paint was applied directly over the bare hull. We started with a good pressure wash which removed about 65% of the paint. After research I purchased a gallon of Interstrip 299E ($80) and worked it slowly a few square feet at a time. Interstrip is gentle on fiberglass but tough on hands and paint (trailer) or plastic. Using 3-M green Scrubbies and a toothbrush sized wire bristle brush I worked the areas until they were bottom paint free. To protect the top sides, all holes were epoxied. To do this I taped the underside of all the holes and filled each hole with penetrating epoxy. Some of the holes received 3 to 4 applications as it would soak in and disappear over time. Penetrating epoxy is amazing stuff! It takes 24 hours to cure and is light enough it will find its way into any void, nook or cranny. It took more than I anticipated, roughly 1 quart, but the protection is permanent".

Photos and Story by Randy Graves