Posted by Sean
on 2/13/2009, 8:52:15, in reply to "Re: Your Ideal Boat"
For the trips where my wife Jo and I are a "cruising couple" we've been very happy with our Montgomery 23. It has standing headroom (for her), some privacy for the head, a large cabin for a 23 foot boat, 6 opening ports, I can step and lower the mast myself with a raising rig,it's lapstrake hull gives it a traditional look and exceptional stength, It handles a blow with confidence and (in my opinion) looks great doing it. It has a shoal draft ballasted keel with a quadrant shaped swing keel that drops out of it that makes the draft anywhere from 24" to about 5'.
While there are only 20 of these "original" versions built in the 80's, Montgomery Boats (Norsea) is reproducing them with a modified deck mold, an inboard diesel, and a cutter rig. In fact, there is a used one of those for sale in the Tucson area now. Not a cheap boat by any means, but a serious trailer sailor for sure, and one that a couple can cruise for a couple of weeks fairly comfortably. 
While she's not a "beachable" cruiser like a Sea Pearl type of boat, we feel that her design really is a standout for a couple that wants a relatively comfortable way to to do some serious trailersailing. The boat was reviewed in Good Ol Boat May/June 03 issue.
Over the last three years we have sailed her to Catalina Island, The Channel Islands, The San Juan Islands, and out of numerous Southern California harbors. I have trailered her from Florida to Washington state (close to 10,000 miles in the 3 years). We are planning on another juant to the Pacific Northwest again this summer and expect she'll take as good of care of us as she has on every other trip.
More pics an info are avaiable on my site at
www.havasumontgomerys.piczo.com
Havasu Montgomerys
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