The Huge Mistake

Hello fools of TW! As many of you know, i'm an idiot. One of the dumbest things i've done recently is going in with my room mate to buy a used crappy sailboat. the reason this was stupid is because neither one of us have ever even watched anyone sail a boat much less step on a sail boat (hence the name "The Huge Mistake"). I've spent the last 5 years on the lake with my friends and their many different motor boats, but this was new territory. So here is the story. The first time we took it out we went to the closest lake. unfortunately it was like Tommy Boy. we just sat there with zero wing. not even a couple miles an hour. so next weekend, we heard that lake Jocassee (up in the mountains) was expecting a storm. we though hey, storms have wind, lets go up there. So we drove up into the mountains and got the boat out onto the lake. we had winds between 15 and 20 mph according to teh local weather reports at the DNR office. it was kind of overcast but not bad and we had a great time. it didnt take us long to figure out how to get moving.

after about an hour we decided to turn around to go with the wind and get some real speed. when we looked behind us, what use to be a mountain landscape was a sheet of pure grey. the storm came up out of nowhere and the wind picked up so much the boat tipped (heeled) at almost a 45 degree angle. since we were sitting under a 20 foot lightning rod we decided to get to shore as soon as possible. so we made a bee line for the nearest beach adn got out and just sat in the rain for about an hour until it finally passed. it was pretty miserable. we had rain jackets but the rain was horizontal and we got pretty soaked. Anyway, thats my story. Sailing is awesome! here are some pics....

(from left to right)
me sailing after the storm,
the boat beached just as the rain starts falling,
boat and truck. (also learning to rig the sails)
huge mistake in all her glory

 

Haha! You really need to paint "Huge Mistake" on the side of the boat. That should be her name!

 

notice our custom installed stereo system... and yes that handsome man steering is me

 

It is. My buddy has a vinyl cutter and he made us some decals for her

 

Here are some random shots of the landscape, Jocassee is gorgeous

 

that bitch is 20 feet, there is no way we're that stupid. it takes about 15 minutes to rig so we have to rig it in the parking lot then back it in. btw, i'm really bad at backing a trailer....

 

i reckon me and jeff and boobs mcgee can bring my bass boat up there and tie off with the huge mistake, and we got our redneck yacht club!!! tw style!!!

 

that'll work. we'll store the beer on it!!

 

Ok, the trailer is completely covered in rust, however, its actually in great shape. My good friend works in a metal shop and looked it over really thoroughly. he said that the rust is just on the surface and that the metal is actually good. He's gonna sandblast it, paint it, check and reinforce welds, and add a new tongue for $115 dollars (cost of materials at his shop).

the wiring is actually good and works fine.

we haven't checked the bearings which we need to do, but the tires are new and teh axle is good.

It's a 1974 McGregor Venture 17 foot cuddy cabin. we paid $900 total for the boat, trailer, and the 10 hp outboard that runs great.

all the teak is original so its in rough shape. i just got a new piece for teh mount for the crank that lowers and raises teh keel. apparently teak is expensive as hell. a piece that is 26x2x6 (inches) is $50!!! and thats for african teak, real teak was $150 for the same size!!!

we're just gonna learn by trial and error, and if taht results in sinking the boat oh well. it was just 900 bucks and a great story. it stops fast enough.... although it does take alot of getting use to after years on motor boats. as for the weather vanes, i tied the handles to a plastic bag on each side of the sail on teh "whatever the hell those cables are called" you can see them in the pics if you look hard enough

this guy gets it

 

hell yeah, here's the line up.... The Mistake, a brand new 35k dollar Moomba ski boat, a ski nautique, a 2008 four winns bow rider, a 22 foot grady white deep sea fishing boat (sticks out like a sore thumb on teh lake but its my favorite boat ever) your bass boat, and jeff's floating cooler.... that would be party right there. Alot of my friends have boats so we spend alot of time on the lake. i have to say, its nice having the Mistake cause it uses almost zero gas. less than a gallon for the outboard and it only weighs 1500 lbs including the trailer so it doesn't use much extra gas in the taco

hahaha! you are such a redneck! i love your ingenuity

 

sounds like a party!!!

and yeah, you gotta have a flat place for the coolers...i aint having no damn coolers falling off in the water and shit!!

 

Hell yeah great outlook, the best way to go.

 

the mistake and the grady white have cabins so we dont have to worry about that..... as long as the mistake doesn't catch a huge gust and tip over..... which has happened to sailboats on Jocassee. a little boy died last summer when his dads boat capsized and pulled him down. It's a 400 foot plus lake, it took a long time to find his body. it was extremely sad

yeah, me and my room mate (david) are known for doing really really stupid thoughtless things. we should both be dead multiple times over. fotrunately we both have very good guardian angels looking over us

 

Imagine all the things that were created by crazy people.

 

yeah, i've been on motor boats for years and years but its nice how tranquil and relaxing a sailboat is. just the sound of the water and the rigging.... and the really crappy stereo we strapped to the cabin. i think i'm hooked. all i can think about is getting a really nice boat in the future. but i'm soon finding out how expensive a sail boat is to maintain.