Sailing Story: Pat Montgomery

Since elementary school, Pat Montgomery knew he was meant to be a sailor.

“I remember in third grade I did a book report on sailing and I thought— my heart is in sailing,” he said. But it wouldn’t be until years later until he ever even stepped foot on a sailboat. 

“I started out in a powerboating family in Oregon,” Pat explained. “My father, uncle and grandfather all had boats.”

Pat’s family didn’t just go on daylong boat trips though, their adventures sound more like something you’d hear from a sailing family. 

“We’d go through the lochs and down through Portland,” he explained. Then, they’d make their way to Rainier, pick up his grandfather and keep motoring to Ocean Park, where they had a family beach house.

“That was extremely exciting as a 9 or 10 year old kid,” Pat remembered. However, it was only a blip in time compared to the many years of boating adventures that lay ahead.

In 1983, Pat moved to Montana. As a kid growing up on the west coast, Montana seemed an unlikely place to pick up a sailing habit but less than 4 years later, Pat became the proud owner of a Capri 22 sailboat (one of the first few hundred in production).  Pat remembers fondly the day he bought the boat from Dayton’s own Jim Lekander. 

“It was April 4, 1987,” Pat laughed. Jim had brought his baby son, Alex, along for a ride in the boat’s cabin as he showed Pat around. “He kept coming in and out [of the cabin] and showing me how to sail.”

Pat not only bought the boat, he bought into Jim’s dream of making Dayton a sailing town. Over the years, Pat has racked up more memories than he can count out on the lake with Jim. 

“When Jim owned the yacht harbor we had a traditional full moon cruise/race starting around 9pm. The race was around Cromwell Island and we wouldn’t get back to Dayton until midnight. Many boats ran aground trying to shorten the course around the windward side of the island. This of course led to many great stories,” Pat explained. “[Jim] has introduced so many people to sailing. He is an amazing person,” 

And Pat couldn’t be more happy that he was one of those people Jim introduced to sailing on Flathead Lake. 

“Flathead Lake is probably my favorite place in the world. It’s very special to me…tremendous memories,” he explained. 

Nearly 40 years later from that fateful day Pat bought his Capri 22 from Jim Lekander, you can still find him on Flathead Lake each and every summer. 

“I am now the longest sailing sailor and the boat is the longest sailing boat in Dayton Harbor,” Pat said proudly.  

So when you set sail from Dayton with Go Sail Flathead Lake, keep a look out for Pat, and make sure to give him a wave as you sail on by!