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April 1, 2008

Here is the story of Blackjack as near as I can describe it.  This was my grandparents boat.  When they passed away my brother and I had grand plans of restoring it to its former glory but have never gotten around to it.  I would guess this hull hasn’t seen the water since the late 80’s to very early 90’s.  It was formerly sailed on Lake Erie out of the port of Huron, OH.  After my grandfather died the boat was pulled out of the water and sat untouched for a number of years.  During that time the hatches were compromised and the interior got a bit wet.  From what I could tell there was significant water in the hull.  After my grandmother died my brother and I had a trailer built for the boat so we could tow it back to Iowa. On its return trip the guy we had towing it lost the front hatch.

Once we got it to Ames, Iowa we put it into storage indoors.  When it was in its first public storage garage someone stole the teak main hatch.  It was around this time that I removing the woodwork from the exterior and interior for refinishing.  That is the state it now lies in. 

In its day my grandparents and parents raced and day sailed Lake Erie now I am embarrassed to say that  I have not seen or touched it in at least 6 years.  I would assume that it is still in the back of a barn about 20 miles from where I sit but like I said I haven’t seen it.  My plan is to pull it out of storage this spring once the snow is gone for good and somehow get rid of it.

Here’s what I know about the boat from memory.
It’s a Yankee Dolphin 24’
Sparkman and Stevens Design
The registration shows a 1973 build date and a Hull# of 4563
Located in Ames, IA

It was set up for an outboard motor under the stern hatch. I think I have a full complement of sails including a spinnaker. If I remember the ace of spades on light blue. Trailer was a twin axle rig that we had built special by a trailer manufacturer for the trip to Iowa.  It cost over 3000 back in the 90’s and only has around 600 miles on it. The Boat needs work.  However if someone is interested in a project and can come pick it up they can have it for the outstanding storage bill (which should be less than $1000).

If there are questions I can try to answer some of them from memory.  Once I go to see the boat I’ll pull it out of storage.  Then I am going to take it to a local marina and try to consign it there.  Once it is out of storage I have no where to put it.  I would prefer someone who knows something about these boats have it rather than give it to some locals for scrap. So let me know if you are interested ASAP and we can make arrangements.  If one would need further incentive I have the Suzuki 9.9hp motor that looks to be in great shape but hasn’t run since the boat was in the water I wouldn’t mind a few bucks for it but that too is negotiable.

Cheers
Brendan Zimmermann
commercial@stonehousetap.com
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