Bilgie's Minnesota Adventure! (Sleekcraft "Barn Find")

[TBI]

My Uncle Bob was a Sleekcraft Dealer in Soda Springs, Idaho during the 70's - 80's. I used to go spend a couple weeks there every summer, He lived right on the reservoir. Besides the boat dealership and marine shop, he had a campground and all kinds of cool toys (Speed Boats, Fishing Boats, Pontoon Boats, Pedal Boats, Canoes, Kayaks, Mini Bikes, Ampha Cats (6x6's) etc. My other Uncle who also lived in Soda Springs owned the Drive In and indoor theaters, so day or night there was always something cool to do! It was the highlight of my summers to say the least. In '76 My uncle ordered a Sleekcraft Aristocrat Tunnel for himself. I remember sitting in it when it first arrived, I was 13 and said to myself, "one day I will have a boat just like this!" Uncle Bob passed away in 1997, his boat ended up in Minnesota with my cousin.

I found a beat to shit Sleek Aristocrat 30 some odd years ago and rebuilt it, I painted it similar to Uncle Bob's as a tribute to he and the wonderful times I'd had at his place.

Cut to about a month ago, my cousin called me and asked me if I wanted Uncle Bob's boat. Even in the land of 1000 lakes, he could never find the time to use it and paying storage on something he never used was getting old. He told me it was more important to the family that it went to the right home than to sell it to Joe Blo. I had so many mixed emotions, I would LOVE to have it....but I already have mine and don't have room (or finances) for two boats. I thought about getting it and selling mine, but to be honest ... I like my boat a little better. After much thought I called my cousin and politely declined. He understood, but said the family had agreed that I was the right person to find a loving home for it. I did

Pic from the early 80's of Uncle Bob's Sleekcraft in Soda Springs behind my buddy's Vette.
(Getting ready to go do a little Saturday night "trolling" in Lava Hot Springs)

Time for a whiskey, be right back....

 

[RiverDave]

Looking forward to hearing the rest! If this ends up being a classified, I am gonna laugh my ass off..

 

[Canuck 1]

My Uncle Bob was a Sleekcraft Dealer in Soda Springs, Idaho during the 70's - 80's. I used to go spend a couple weeks there every summer, He lived right on the reservoir, besides the boat dealership and marine shop, he had a campground and all kinds of cool toys (Speed Boats, Fishing Boats, Pontoon Boats, Pedal Boats, Canoes, Kayaks, Mini Bikes, Ampha Cats (6x6's) etc. My other Uncle who also lived in Soda Springs owned the Drive In and indoor theaters, so day or night there was always something cool to do! It was the highlight of my summers to say the least. In '76 My uncle ordered a Sleekcraft Aristocrat Tunnel for himself. I remember sitting in it when it first arrived, I was 13 and said to myself, "one day I will have a boat just like this!" Uncle Bob passed away in 1997, his boat ended up in Minnesota with my cousin. I found a beat to shit Sleek Aristocrat 30 some odd years ago and rebuilt it, I painted it similar to Uncle Bob's as a tribute to he and the wonderful times I'd had at his place.

Cut to about a month ago, my cousin called me and asked me if I wanted Uncle Bob's boat. Even in the land of 1000 lakes, he could never find the time to use it and paying storage on something he never used was getting old. He told me it was more important to the family that it went to the right home than to sell it to Joe Blo. I had so many mixed emotions, I would LOVE to have it....but I already have mine and don't have room (or finances) for two boats. I thought about getting it and selling mine, but to be honest ... I like my boat a little better. After much thought I called my cousin and politely declined. He understood, but said the family had agreed that I was the right person to find a loving home for it. I did

Pic from the early 80's of Uncle Bob's Sleekcraft in Soda Springs behind my buddy's Vette.
(Getting ready to go do a little Saturday night "trolling" in Lava Hot Springs)


View attachment 809094

To be continued....

Really Larry?????? Go get the boat

 

[TBI]

So on Oct 3rd, my buddy Scott and I hit the road from SLC to Minnesota to pick up his "new" boat!

The first night we spent in Deadwood South Dakota, somewhere I'd wanted to go even before the HBO series.
We arrived late Thursday night, checked into our hotel, grabbed a quick bite, gambled, had a couple cocktails and called it a night.

The next morning we had breakfast at "The Bullock Hotel" it was built in 1895 on the site of the original Star & Bullock Hardware Store after the hardware store burned down.

Kitty corner from the Bullock Hotel is the site of the original "Saloon #10" where Wild Bill Hickok was gunned down

Sadly, after burning down twice, the original site of Al Swearengen's Gem Saloon is just a vacant lot with no signs, markers or jack shit

 

[jb600]

Where in Minnesota is it?

 

[TBI]

Where in Minnesota is it?

Chanhassen

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

What do the towing police have to say about this one????

 

[rivermobster]

Awesome Jeff. Keep it coming...

 

[TBI]

After breakfast we made a quick stop at the Mt Moriah Cemetery to see Wild Bill and Calamity Jane's graves

But who the fuck knew Campbell Carl was also buried in Deadwood?

 

[RiverDave]

This is a place I have always wanted to go as well as Tombstone!

 

[attitude]

This is a place I have always wanted to go as well as Tombstone!

My little brother (half brother) is the last Clanton, if he doesn’t have a boy the Clanton name will die with him. I went to Tombstone for Clanton Days when I was about 13 as his second cousin Terry (Ike) Clanton hosts the whole thing. Cool town and event with a lot of history. Ike also owns Wyatt Earp’s houses in Tombstone and in Earp CA if I remember correctly, pretty ironic lol.

 

[TBI]

Back on the road! We had a lot of miles to cover, but neither one of us had ever been to this neck of the woods... so we snuck in as much tourist shit as we could, without straying too far from the main path. Next stop...Mount Rushmore

George is chillin

 

[TBI]

Out in the middle of nowhere is this big bastard! Probably 50 - 60 feet tall. Pretty funny as you come over this hill, it starts to appear and you're like What the fuck is that?

There's a big ass horse out there to keep him company

 

[TBI]

This is a place I have always wanted to go as well as Tombstone!

I want to go back and stay a few days, a lot of history in that little town!
Their liquor laws are worse than Utah's though!

 

[fmo24]

The Badlands are another must see. It looks like another planet as you look out over the place

 

[4Waters]

My little brother (half brother) is the last Clanton, if he doesn’t have a boy the Clanton name will die with him. I went to Tombstone for Clanton Days when I was about 13 as his second cousin Terry (Ike) Clanton hosts the whole thing. Cool town and event with a lot of history. Ike also owns Wyatt Earp’s houses in Tombstone and in Earp CA if I remember correctly, pretty ironic lol.

Tell him to keep his eyes open and then he will have a boy.

 

[TBI]

We were rolling through Sioux Falls about 7:00 Friday night and thought, what the fuck, there are probably some great steakhouses in this part of the country, hell We'd been seeing "BEEF, it's what's for dinner" billboards for the last few hundred miles. So I google "Best Steakhouses in Sioux Falls" the results showed Texas Roadhouse as #1 WTF? I mean don't get me wrong, I've had some decent meals at other Texas Roadhouses over the years, but if I was a local I'd be pretty fucking embarrassed that a chain from the lone star state took top honors! We find the place and there's a two hour wait! Fuck that, we got a long way to go and a short time to get there! #2 was Outback, fuck them too! #3 Best Steakhouse in Sioux Falls South Dakota was actually an Italian Restaurant in a strip mall. WTF? So we park and go in. They ask "Do you have reservations?" I wanted to say "Bitch, there are more empty tables in here than full ones!" But I was hungry so we played nice. She said you do realize this is a "fine dining establishment?" Trying to scare me off with some escargot or some bullshit. I replied, "realize it? hell that's the only reason we're here!" she seats us and soon "Esteban" our waiter arrives and asks if he can get us something to drink while we decide? I order a whiskey...he informs me they have wine, beer, and wine based vodka an wine based tequila. What the fuck is wine based vodka and wine based tequila?! I order a Budweiser bottle and Esteban smugly replies "let me guess...you don't want a glass?" Must have been my River Dave's T-Shirt I order a sirloin and ask Esteban if I can substitute a baked potato for the mushroom ravioli

The steak and potato were excellent by the way and the check was very reasonable.

Quick stop for fuel and a jug of whiskey for the copilot (Me) and off to Minnesota we go!

 

[Lunatic Fringe]

Are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet.
I wanna see the dang boat!

 

[coolchange]

I have to go pee.

 

[HNL2LHC]

Where are the pics of Crazy Horse? You can’t drive through without seeing that!!!!

 

[RiverDave]

We were rolling through Sioux Falls about 7:00 Friday night and thought, what the fuck, there are probably some great steakhouses in this part of the country, hell We'd been seeing "BEEF, it's what's for dinner" billboards for the last few hundred miles. So I google "Best Steakhouses in Sioux Falls" the results showed Texas Roadhouse as #1 WTF? I mean don't get me wrong, I've had some decent meals at other Texas Roadhouses over the years, but if I was a local I'd be pretty fucking embarrassed that a chain from the lone star state took top honors! We find the place and there's a two hour wait! Fuck that, we got a long way to go and a short time to get there! #2 was Outback, fuck them too! #3 Best Steakhouse in Sioux Falls South Dakota was actually an Italian Restaurant in a strip mall. WTF? So we park and go in. They ask "Do you have reservations?" I wanted to say "Bitch, there are more empty tables in here than full ones!" But I was hungry so we played nice. She said you do realize this is a "fine dining establishment?" Trying to scare me off with some escargot or some bullshit. I replied, "realize it? hell that's the only reason we're here!" she seats us and soon "Esteban" our waiter arrives and asks if he can get us something to drink while we decide? I order a whiskey...he in forms me they have wine, beer, and wine based vodka an wine based tequila. What the fuck is wine based vodka and wine based tequila?! I order a Budweiser bottle and Esteban smugly replies "let me guess...you don't want a glass?" Must have been my River Dave's T-Shirt I order a sirloin and ask Esteban if I can substitute a baked potato for the mushroom ravioli

The steak and potato were excellent by the way and the check was very reasonable.

Quick stop for fuel and a jug of whiskey for the copilot (Me) and off to Minnesota we go!

Every time someone asks me if I want a glass I tell them "It comes in one."

RD

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Ahh man.... I have a love hate relationship with TBI stories..... He always tells great stories, but I hate the time between the posts! Kinda like when his dad set a track record with Fast Jack....

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk

 

[TBI]

We hit Chanhassen Minnesota around 1:00 am Saturday morning, checked in to our hotel, pounded a couple whiskeys and went to bed.
7:00 am came pretty early, it was cold and raining. (up until then it had been clear and warm, hell it was T-shirt weather in Deadwood Thursday night!) We headed over to my cousins place where he and his lovely wife had breakfast waiting for us, then off to the "Barn" to retrieve the Sleek. As we pulled the cover off a little sun broke through the clouds, came through the window of the barn and I swear I heard angels sing!

 

[Backlash]

Keep going you tease!!!

 

[Headless hula]

fuckin-A RIGHT MAN!!

 

[HydroSkreamin]

To be legit, I think you need to tow it back with a Vette

Can’t wait to see how this thing fared over the years.

 

[TBI]

I hadn't seen Uncle Bob's Sleek for about 30 years, I told Scott on the way there I had no idea what shape it was in, Uncle Bob took good care of it, but like I said...I hadn't seen it for 30 years.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst I always say....



































Mind you in these pics, the boat is dirty, it hasn't been washed in years....

The boat is ALL original including the paint on the trailer and the carpet, it is VERY solid, transom, floors and stringers included.
I'd bet my cooler on a 4th of July weekend it doesn't have 100 hours on it.

It does have a some issues, there are a few areas on the gel that need some attention, some of the wood framing on the interior needs redone, the wiring is kind of a mess, the fuel lines are hard as a rock, but over all it's pretty fuckin sweet!

 

[rush1]

Come on this is bull shit that boats bad ass I have to see it

 

[TBI]

To be legit, I think you need to tow it back with a Vette

Not enough room in a Vette for my cooler or my weed

 

[attitude]

That boat looks bad ass now, I can’t imagine how cool it was when it was new. Awesome boat!

 

[FlatNv]

That is bitchen !

 

[4Waters]

That boat is beautiful, WOW just WOW

 

[TBI]

It came with three totes - one full of cleaners, oils, gear lube, fuel stabilizer, etc. One full of spare parts, cables, filters, impellers, trailer lights, etc. and one full of paperwork, receipts, service manuals and the like

 

[TBI]

As we prepped it for the ride home, Scott popped the baby moons off to grease the bearings, I about shit, the rims underneath looked brand fucking new, absolutely spotless! We stopped to fuel up and a guy driving by flipped a U and came back, pulled up and said "Holy fuck, that's a Sleekcraft Aristocrat, I learned to ski behind one of those!, a few minutes later another guy walks over and says where the fuck did you find that! Them Minnesota fellers say fuck more than I do! Scott was pretty happy - he hadn't owned it five minutes and already had two compliments!

 

[rrrr]

What a cool boat. The last time I skied behind an Aristocrat was in 1985, a friend that lived on Canyon Lake near San Antonio had one. We did moonlight slalom runs occasionally.

 

[Lunatic Fringe]

Great Googly Moogly!!
That has fun all over it.

 

[TomD]

Very cool man, very cool!!!

 

[jb600]

As we prepped it for the ride home, Scott popped the baby moons off to grease the bearings, I about shit, the rims underneath looked brand fucking new, absolutely spotless! We stopped to fuel up and a guy driving by flipped a U and came back, pulled up and said "Holy fuck, that's a Sleekcraft Aristocrat, I learned to ski behind one of those!, a few minutes later another guy walks over and says where the fuck did you find that! Them Minnesota fellers say fuck more than I do! Scott was pretty happy - he hadn't owned it five minutes and already had two compliments!

The fuck we do!

Sweet boat.

 

[TBI]

We were just about to the Minnesota/South Dakota line when we saw a Minnesota Highway Patrolman flip a bitch and turn on his lights, I told Scott he just wants to see the boat and drop some F-Bombs.
Not so much, Scott thought we were in an 80 mph zone, but alas it was a 70, he clocked us at 84, but wrote us up for 80.

The sun was setting as we drove west through South Dakota, the weather had cleared up and the sun would have been blinding us except for this weird cloud that stayed right in front of it. We agreed it was our Dad's and Uncle Bob (Scott and I's fathers went to High School together)

We decided to spend Saturday night in Sturgis. When we got to Rapid City, I told Scott "Lets pull it of the trailer here and ride it to Sturgis"

We opted for Pizza Hut delivered to the hotel, had a couple whiskeys and called it a night. We parked so we could keep an eye on things

 

[rivrrts429]

I thought about getting it and selling mine, but to be honest ... I like my boat a little better. After much thought I called my cousin and politely declined.

 

[TBI]

Got up bright and early Sunday morning and headed for home, we decided to take a quick pic to razz our Harley owner friends

Scott sent this pic to his wife and said "guess where I am?". She replied "In jail in Sturgis for driving on the lawn?"

 

[TBI]

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, we hit home about 4:30 Sunday afternoon. 2500 miles in 3-1/2 days, quite an adventure!
I told Scott just the trip alone would have been cool, the fact that we were going to get a boat made it cooler and the fact that it was the boat that it was ... put it over the fucking top!

I could have become a Deppitty Sheriff on the way home if we'd had a little more time.....

 

[Daudioexpert]

Very cool thread



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lbhsbz]

So cool

 

[TBI]

Scott has been a close friend for 35+ years, He's been through hell the past ten years through no fault of his own. He lost god damn near everything he had trying to keep the family business afloat when the economy tanked. Lost some loved ones along the way including his dad and a son. He has stayed pretty positive through it all.

I missed racing around the lake with him after he had to part with his Advantage that he'd bought new back when he and I were roomies.

When this whole deal went down with my cousin, I told him I think I have the perfect home for Uncle Bob's boat. I called Scott and asked if he was interested, he said he would get back to me, he text me about five minutes later and asked "When do we leave?"

The price my cousin sold it to Scott for? One Dollar

It was an emotional deal for all involved, Scott told him to consider it still in the family and if he's ever in SLC he's more than welcome to take it, he'll even buy the gas and let him take his truck too.

On the way home my cousin sent me a text and said he couldn't have felt better about how it all went down.




The look on my friends face when it rolled out of the barn is says it all!

Scott and I are going to repair the things that need repairing, but keep as it was.

The family asked me to find the right home for it.....I did

~ Bilge

 

[Boat211]

Great story and great adventure.

 

[Jed-O]

That's awesome Bilge.

 

[RiverDave]

Great story TBI!! Boat looks fantastic after all of those years!!

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Great read!!

 

[HST4ME]

It's flake or it's crap! That thing is beautiful