Anybody ever install a larger bow hatch in an A-25?

[NickScheuer]

It's a tight fit for us, and we're not large people, just tall. I wouldn't mind moving the existing hatch to the fore cabin roof.

[WillieC]

I need a step to crawl out of ours, except for the time the anchor launched itself from the bow pulpit and I had to secure it. Closest I've come to zero gravity in those rough seas.

The deck is foam cored and you may likely get into that once expand the existing footprint or move it to the roof. Interesting project, but a bit of work and you would lose that nice flat(ish) area on the roof.

[NickScheuer]

My last three boats have all been foam cored; no prob working with that at all. Would like to use a reasonably priced hatch unit instead of building from scratch. The new hatch would not need to be a lot larger; just 3 to 4 inches width and length.

[NickScheuer]

Our previous sailing Yawl had a gigantic fore hatch with room for two people to stand in it.

[DesertAlbin736]

That yawl was a nice looking boat. Not familiar with the type, was it a sharpie design? Down South they would ask, "Is that y'all's yawl?". I've always liked tanbark sails. One of several sailboats I owned over the years was the 1980 Montgomery 15 that I bought in 2001 and sold in 2005 to upsize to a Catalina 22. It came with white sails which I replaced with a new set of tanbark sails from Elliot Pattison. That's me on the right sailing on Roosevelt Lake in AZ. Hull #102 was the second M15 ever built. To this day this photo can be seen on the home page of Montgomery boats builder's website. Note the double reef points. This boat displaced 750 lbs, with shoal keel/centerboard of 250 lbs ballast. But under double reef & storm jib this boat could handle some pretty rough stuff. One guy even sailed one of these boats from Newport Beach to Hawaii. Not me though. I might be adventurous, but not that adventurous.

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Anyway, why do you feel the need to climb up through the bow hatch to get to the foredeck on your A25? From your earlier picture of your boat it seems you don't have a stern rail or lifelines. If it's a safety issue getting to the foredeck via the side decks, have you considered adding stern rails and lifelines? Ours came with these full length lifelines which are very handy & I'm glad we have them. At the very least they provide a place to hang dock fenders.

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If you notice on this picture of our cabin interior, previous owners installed a little removable shelf right under the hatch, which we use to set a 110V house fan on for use on hot days when we're plugged into shore power. It does however preclude climbing down through the deck hatch. We also made fitted sheets for when we install the center cushion to turn the settees into a large V berth for sleeping. During the day we roll up the sheets & blankets and stow under that shelf, which can be seen behind the decorative pillows. Our bed pillows can be seen stowed under the side shelves. Works out quite well for overnights and extended cruising. Previous owners had restored the interior including new 4" foam cushions which are very comfortable. Part of the reason I don't begrudge paying as much as we did for the boat. Saved me a lot of work.

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[NickScheuer]

Well, for one thing it's just old habit; our previous Bolger-designed 28' Shearwater and 21' Dovekie both had large fore hatches which allowed crew to perform substantially everything while standing INSIDE the boat. Neither of those boats, nor anyone else's in the fleet had lifelines. I don't care for lifelines because they're generally too low to serve as handholds. Now 32" high rails on a 60 footer would be a different matter.

I really like the height of the handrails atop the pilot house, while the other handrails atop the fore and aft cabins are OK but a bit too low. Rather than lifelines along the perimeter, I'd like a pair of ss handrails extending forward from the corners of the pilothouse, bending down to bases atop the forward corners of the fore cabin. I prefer handholds to be inboard rather than outboard.

When I build the hard cockpit roof there will be a pair of ss handrails extending up from the stern deck to the top of the hard top. These rails would generally facilitate climbing from the swim platform to the deck.

The Shearwater (6" draft) and earlier Dovekie (4" draft) are both modeled after New Haven Sharpies.
we are still getting accustomed to the 26" "deep draft" of our Albin.

Am well acquainted with the Monty 15 and 17, and would strongly consider owning a 17. After USArmy service in the early 1960's the Monty-15 was the first boat I really lusted after.

[DesertAlbin736]

Am well acquainted with the Monty 15 and 17, and would strongly consider owning a 17. After USArmy service in the early 1960's the Monty-15 was the first boat I really lusted after.

I've met both Jerry Montgomery and Bob Eeg on a number of occasions. Jerry's a rather taciturn fellow, but he's come out to Lake Pleasant to race in the annual Leukemia Cup Regatta on occasion in the past, and has showed up at the now defunct Pocket Cruiser conventions on Lake Havasu. Jerry is no longer involved with the Montgomery 15 & 17, but has recently come out with new designs, the Sage 17 and Sage 15. The Sage 17 is more like a stretched M15, but otherwise a similar design philosophy to the older M17.

In the years between selling off the M15 and M17 molds and starting up the Sage Marine business Jerry ran a little rigging business, which he ran ads for in Small Craft Advisor Magazine. Somewhere he got hold of this photo of me sailing my M15 off Monterey, CA in 2003 and used the picture in his ads. In this shot I had a tanbark main and white headsail. That was because the tanbark jib I'd ordered from Elliot Pattison was cut too long for the forestay and I had to send it back to be re-cut & didn't get it back in time for the Monterey trip. Reminds me of how old my inflatable SOSpenders PFD is, I still have the one I was wearing in this photo.

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Sage Marine website here:

http://sagemarine.us/

Some of my photos from a 2002 Chesapeake rendezvous of M boats is still up on the Monty owner's group site.

http://msog.org/trippics/cb2002/cb2002.cfm

[11kolive]

I installed a larger hatch in the salon area near the galley. Very easy to do there. See the photo.

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[kerrye]

I deliberately ran stainless steel tubing from the rear arch of the cockpit enclosure to the top aft of the rear cabin roof to serve as handholds. I also ran a tube between those rails about 6” above the roof to serve as a grab bar when standing on the swim platform

[DesertAlbin736]

11kolive, that must be Leighway tied up at the dock at Chatterbox falls. I've long admired this shot of your boat with the Advanced Elements kayak on the roof

AlbinwithAdvancedElementsKayak.jpg

We have that exact type of tandem AE kayak, and for Christmas I bought my wife the single place "Sport Kayak" version, which she's been wanting. Next year when we're cruising we'll strap the single place kayak on the wheel house roof. Our plans don't include a return to Princess Louisa Inlet, but instead the goal next summer is Desolation Sound.

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[11kolive]

DesertAlbin, yep, that is Leighway at Chatterbox. The radar arch was one of the nicest additions for us! Desolation and points north are always a treat!