Heather Story, her husband Wes, and varment Rebel have been
houseboating for six years. Wes always wanted a houseboat and wanted to name
their 1978 Carl Craft, "Heather Rae", Heather's name. However, Heather has
always been into the Gypsy style, and funky colors. So they meshed the names together and it' "Heather Rae's Gypsy Yacht. " Every room on their boat is
a fun, unique color to incorporate the gypsy theme. They have an orange bedroom, turquoise bathroom, and a apple green galley area.
Wes has always loved fishing and being on the lake so they
went to Trade Winds Marina on Clark Hills Lake to look at houseboats and ended
up finding the perfect boat in only a couple of days. They dock at C Dock and
it's only 15 minutes away from their house in Clark Hills, S.C.
Their favorite part of houseboating is getting out in the
wind and waves with friends. They love hanging out, grilling, drinking and being away
from the everyday life. "Houseboating is in an escape and brings us sanity,"
comments Heather. Their boat may be small but maneuvers quite well compared to
larger boats. It handles the rough waters better and gives it that more of an
edge which is something they love about it.
This 39' Carl Craft has meant a lot to all those who have
owned it. When Heather and Wes bought the boat they found lots of "interesting
debris," Heather refers to it as, including a notebook they found on the bottom
of the boat. The book had all the owner's names and stories they had written
about the boat. A few of the stories happened to be ghost stories about the Ky. Lake where the boat had previously been docked at. The
book has been passed down for years so Heather put the stories into binder to
keep with the boat until they eventually sell it, so it can continue to be
passed down.
One of the fun traditions Heather and Wes started on the boat,
is if you jump off the top deck of "Heather Rae's Gypsy
Yacht" you get your picture taken and put on the front dash. 50 people have
currently jumped off the boat. The Story's favorite meal to cook on their boat
is chicken drumets soaked in Louisiana
hot sauce.