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Diaries | Details
This boat's story has been posted by the owner. Please contact the owner with any questions. You may use the form below to send the owner an email.
Updated:
7/24/2016 (8 years ago)
Originally Posted: 8/24/2005
Total Views: 4,475
Owner: David Christiansen
Forum Nickname: dchris17
Location: Noblesville, IN
Model: 1974 Mustang
Length: 17
Engine: Waukesha 302
HP: 200
Hours:
Hull ID: CTC00166M74H
Modify this Diaries Listing
Forum Nickname: dchris17
Location: Noblesville, IN
Model: 1974 Mustang
Length: 17
Engine: Waukesha 302
HP: 200
Hours:
Hull ID: CTC00166M74H
Modify this Diaries Listing
I found this Mustang 17 in Noblesville in 2003, sitting in the marina we kept our Rinker 206 at. I really wanted an inboard ski boat and this boat looked like a classic. I asked the marina manager about it several times over the years but he was a real jerk and was no help. I pulled back the cover and could see that the boat wasn't in great shape (there were weeds growing inside the boat!), but I kept harassing the manager. Finally in 2005 he let slip the last name of the owner and I started hunting.
Armed with the last name, I used the internet to find the phone number of everyone by that name within 50 miles. It was a pretty common name, so I started with those closest to the marina. I hit pay dirt after five or six phone calls.
The owner had inherited the boat from his father, who bought it new in 1973. They had lived in a house on the lake and it had been used primarily by their teenage son. One fall they winterized it and put it in storage at the marina like they always did, but over the winter the economy tanked and they lost a fortune, including the lakehouse. They forgot about the boat and never made any more storage payments to the marina.
When I told the owner that I wanted to save the boat and get it back in the water, he told me I could have the boat if I paid off his debt with the marina. We signed a contract, and I called the marina.
The marina manager was still a jerk, but he knew I was trying to save a good boat. I paid off the storage bill for $750, found an old trailer in a field for $50, and brought my boat home.
I replaced the battery, spark plugs, wires, oil, filters, etc and cranked her up and took her out on the lake in August 2005. That year my wife bought me a custom trailer for Christmas since the $50 trailer was a wreck.
We added a tower, something I'm a bit embarrassed about because it's a classy old boat, and we had a lot of fun for a couple of summers until we hit our own hard times. We moved first to Chicago, then to Texas. I changed jobs twice and had some serious health problems, and once again the boat was neglected.
It's 2016 now and this boat has been on my mind. I'm healthy, I'm self-employed, and I miss the water. I brought it out from storage and have been checking it out. The stringers are trashed (they were already soft in 2005!) and a rodent has chewed up the interior. It's going to be a big project.
Armed with the last name, I used the internet to find the phone number of everyone by that name within 50 miles. It was a pretty common name, so I started with those closest to the marina. I hit pay dirt after five or six phone calls.
The owner had inherited the boat from his father, who bought it new in 1973. They had lived in a house on the lake and it had been used primarily by their teenage son. One fall they winterized it and put it in storage at the marina like they always did, but over the winter the economy tanked and they lost a fortune, including the lakehouse. They forgot about the boat and never made any more storage payments to the marina.
When I told the owner that I wanted to save the boat and get it back in the water, he told me I could have the boat if I paid off his debt with the marina. We signed a contract, and I called the marina.
The marina manager was still a jerk, but he knew I was trying to save a good boat. I paid off the storage bill for $750, found an old trailer in a field for $50, and brought my boat home.
I replaced the battery, spark plugs, wires, oil, filters, etc and cranked her up and took her out on the lake in August 2005. That year my wife bought me a custom trailer for Christmas since the $50 trailer was a wreck.
We added a tower, something I'm a bit embarrassed about because it's a classy old boat, and we had a lot of fun for a couple of summers until we hit our own hard times. We moved first to Chicago, then to Texas. I changed jobs twice and had some serious health problems, and once again the boat was neglected.
It's 2016 now and this boat has been on my mind. I'm healthy, I'm self-employed, and I miss the water. I brought it out from storage and have been checking it out. The stringers are trashed (they were already soft in 2005!) and a rodent has chewed up the interior. It's going to be a big project.
