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This is my boat! |
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Our family currently owns 4 sailboats; 2 14' Sunfish, 1 Venture 21' day cruiser, and this 23' Venture Newport. This is a project boat. As you can see from the pics, the boat is currently in pretty sad shape. I will be adding photos to this page as I do the restoration on this boat. |
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tThe Venture Newport is a design by Roger MacGregor of MacGregor Sailboats. This boat will comfortably sleep 2 for extended stays on the water, yet is easily trailerable. The Ven23 is a wonderful boat for those of us who like to sail different waters with lots of different folk. Check out my links page for more information on Venture web sites, email lists and photo galleries. |
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This boat had been sitting unattended for several years before I acquired it. It had been vandalized, partially stripped and left open to the elements. However, the hull was sound, the trailer was excellent, and most of the essential parts were available. Keep watching to see how the transformation takes place from sad state to personalized yacht. |
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The Homecoming |
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On Jan 10, 2004 my son and I went to take possession of the boat. We arrived early in the afternoon. Our first task was to get the trailer in condition to tow and we quickly discovered that one of the four tires was beyond rescue which required a trip into town to find a tire dealership. That done, we easily added trailer lights, checked the hubs and bearings and then secured the boat to the trailer. With the boat attached to the truck, we turned out attention to our 21' Venture which we have been sailing for about 15 years. What we discovered was one of the hatches had developed a leak and we found about 6 inches of water in the bottom of the boat.
Fortunately, I had thrown a small drill pwered pump and length of water hose into my truck. Using this, it still took almost two hours to rid the boat of most of the water, patch the leak and unload the wet contents of the compartiments. I guess this is part of owning a boat , but I could do without it.
We then decided to head home. Less than 5 miles from the sailing association, we heard a sharp clank and both turned to see our new boat passing us in the ditch on the wrong side of the road. We slowed down and watched as it rolled easily along the sand filled ditch and came to a gently stop.
We discovered that the ball dog inside the hitch had broken. We spent the next hour and half,, in the dark, laying in the ditch working on the hitch. We finally succeeded building a new hitch dog out of spar parts and junk in my tool box. With the ball secure in the hitch and the hitch secure to the truck, we finally got home with no further problems.
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