New Owner of Grace

Posted By: Jim Ellsworth M-17 Grace, P-19 Solitude
Date: 11/6/08 9:02p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: "Grace" (pic) (George "M", M15 #319)

Ok, I will take delivery of Grace on Saturday so I guess it is safe to let the cat out of the bag. I have been involved with sailboat racing out of Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach CA from the time I was born (1955). My parents joined BYC in 1952 and have had 9 or more boats over the years. Included in those are a Rhodes 33, Black Sue 30, Ranger 32, Santana 20, J22, and my dads last boat a Hobie 33 he raced at 76 years old! In addition I have raced a Kite, Lido 14 and recently the adult Naples Sabot Class. As Dad can not sail any more ( or at least race) I went in search for a boat I could sail in the ocean. Kind of burned out on the racing I just wanted a fun boat to sail. I ended up with a new 2007 P-15 and had a great season with the SoCal Potters. But after the season I wanted something larger for the overnight outings. Considered a new M-17 but ended up with a great trade in deal to upgrade from a P-15 to a new P-19. I have spent another season with the SoCal Potter group and love my P-19 and all the overnight outings we enjoyed this year. I still really liked the M-17 (and the M-15) but have also been thinking of going larger with a boat in the water, but even buying a cheep boat in the water can add up to large ongoing maintenance expences. Before trading to the P-19 I was looking for a used M-17 and missed out on a couple of them by just a week or so, so when I heard about Grace on this forum and realized the boat was right in my area I knew I had to act fast if I wanted to pick it up. So I went to see the boat at 6AM one morning before work and made an offer the next day. They countered and I accepted. I won't say the price just yet but it was under the buy it now amount. If the reserve is not met on e-bay the seller can take it off which is why you saw it fall off of e-bay. At this point my plan is to keep both boats then at some point make a choice and sell one. Two trailer boats is still cheaper than one in the water. I've been donig a lot of sailing with Sean Mulligan and Dauntless and he has offerd to help me in getting Grace all dialed in. I have met some, but look forward to meeting more Montgomery sailers over time. Jim