Spoonful
1994 Montgomery 17 · Lyle Hess design · Land O' Lakes, Florida
Believed to be the last Montgomery 17 built by Montgomery Marine Products.
Delivered from California by Jerry Montgomery himself.
Specifications
- Year
- 1994
- Builder
- Montgomery Marine
- Designer
- Lyle Hess
- HIN
- MMP17506 0494
- LOA
- 17′2″
- LWL
- 15′10″
- Beam
- 7′4″
- Draft
- 1′9″ board up / 3′0″ board down
- Displacement
- 1,600 lbs
- Sail area
- 154 sq ft
- Engine
- Mercury 3.5 hp four-stroke, long shaft
- Trailer
- Included
Specifications from the original Montgomery Marine factory brochure.
Why a Montgomery 17
The Montgomery 17 is a Lyle Hess design — the same hand behind the Bristol Channel Cutter and the Falmouth Cutter, boats that have crossed oceans. Hess drew a small boat with the proportions and manners of a much larger one.
The factory brochure called her "overbuilt, overengineered," and one of Hess's best designs, and was candid that this made her more expensive than other boats her size. Montgomery Marine listed her as fast, stiff, and among the driest small sailboats built, with the money spent on fiberglass and hardware rather than furnishings.
M17s have cruised the Caribbean, sailed California to Hawaii, and run the length of the Mississippi. Jerry Montgomery built them by hand, in California, in small numbers. Owners keep them for decades.
What's aboard
Sails & rigging
- New custom mainsail by Force 10 Sails
- New Elliott Pattison jib on a Schaefer roller furler
- New Dwyer mast built to spec
- All-new standing rigging
- Backup sails
Motor & hardware
- Mercury 3.5 hp four-stroke, long shaft — bought new in 2020 — recently serviced with a carburetor rebuild
- Kick-up fiberglass rudder
- Anchor
Comfort & trailer
- Sail cover, cushions, cockpit cushions
- Trailer, titled in my name
The sails, mast, rigging, and motor are all recent. Receipts come with the boat.
What needs doing
The centerboard won't lower. Previously, a gentle push with a small wooden dowel through the centerboard line opening in the cockpit was enough to free it. Unfortunately, the dowel eventually broke off inside the opening, and I suspect the wood has swollen or become lodged, preventing the board from lowering. I've attempted some minor troubleshooting, but this is a project best suited for someone comfortable with small sailboat repairs.
The gelcoat needs attention. After four years in Florida, the gelcoat could use a good compounding and waxing. The bottom paint appears to be in decent condition but dates back to 2021.
The teak needs refinishing. The existing Cetol protective finish is peeling. The teak could be stripped and refinished with a fresh coat of Cetol or another marine wood finish, or left to weather naturally to a traditional silvery-gray patina.
Terms
I'm looking for someone who will sail Spoonful, take good care of her, and continue to improve upon her. Given my personal history with the boat, I'd also love to discuss a Right of First Refusal (ROFR), giving me the opportunity to purchase Spoonful back should the next owner ever decide to sell her.
My history with Spoonful
Around 2005 I was working at Boater's World in Solomons, Maryland, alongside a man named Greg. One day he offered to take me sailing.
My father was a powerboater. Boats, to me, meant going fast, water skiing, and fixing broken motors. Greg put the sails up and shut the engine off, and I have never forgotten the brilliant sensation of hearing nothing but the the sound of water splashing on Spoonful's lapstrake hull.
He taught me to sail — on this boat and on his Thistle. We sailed together for years.
1994 — Jerry Montgomery drives her east
Greg ordered Spoonful from Jerry Montgomery in 1993. It was delivered in March of 1994.
Jerry didn't ship her. He towed her with his pickup truck from California to Maryland himself. The trip was estimated to be 3,000 miles @ $0.35 a mile.
Her hull number reads MMP17506 0494 — Montgomery Marine Products, hull serial 17506, certified April 1994. Good Old Boat has reported that the last Montgomery 17 built by Jerry himself was delivered in 1994, after which the molds ended up with Bob Eeg at Nor'Sea Yachts. Members of the Montgomery owners' community believe Spoonful is that boat.
The HIN plate is photographed below and the original correspondence between Greg and Jerry comes with the boat.
Spoonful's years with Greg — 1994 to 2015
Greg was a sailboat geek in the best sense of it. He could name the design of anything we passed on the water. He loved two boats: the Thistle he grew up sailing as a kid, and this Montgomery 17.
He sailed her out of the Solomons Island Navy Rec Center in the Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay for twenty years and took good care of her the entire time. He died in 2015.
Spoonful's years with Dick — 2015 to 2020
When Greg died, Spoonful went to a man named Dick in Annapolis, who sailed her around the bay for a few years. Somewhere in there the original mast was dented, and Dick fitted a mast off a different boat and carried on with the original sails.
That's how I found her. I bought her from Dick in January 2020.
Spoonful's years with me — 2020 to today
Two months after I bought her the world shut down, and she became a project boat in my yard in Maryland.
I brought all the teak back with Cetol, painted the bottom, and worked through her until she was in tip-top shape. It was COVID in Maryland — we had nothing else to do! Then we put her on the dock behind my house and sailed her for three years, my wife and I, as much as we possibly could.
Along the way I replaced Dick's mismatched mast with a new Dwyer mast built to spec, added a Schaefer roller furler and a brand new Elliott Pattison jib, had a new mainsail custom made by Force 10 Sails, fitted a Mercury four-stroke, and worked through other fun stuff.
We moved to Florida in late 2022 and towed her down. She hasn't been sailed since, and that is the entire reason for this page. I have a four-year-old and another baby due in November. She has spent close to four years in my driveway, and she deserves better than that. She should be on the water.
Paperwork
Florida title in hand with current registration. Trailer titled in my name (currently titled in Maryland, can title in Florida if needed). Two folders of paperwork (receipts and history, including the original correspondence with Jerry Montgomery) come with the boat.
Spoonful is sold. Thank you for the interest, and for reading her story.