| swiss |
09-04-2014 01:55 AM |
New to the forum--- Chaparral 2500sx
What's up guys. My name is Chris. I am a busted knuckle, do it yourselfer. So I figured this would be the right place to put this. Here is the short story of the Chap... My family is very close and since 1985 we have done a family reunion at LOTO every year for the 4th of July. Well my dad always had a passion for boating and just being on the water. He had the same 82 20ft IMP with a 350 for the last 30 years. And every year at the lake he would talk about getting a new boat. We would go tire kick, and we always had a good time. Well over the last few years he decided he wanted a chaparral 2500xs open bow with a big block. Not very easy to find. Last year (2013) a week after our yearly trip to LOTO dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer, a very aggressive rare form. He began treatments still went to work every day to make money for the new boat. The searching began. On June 7th of this year me and dad drove up to Chicago and bought the boat. She needed some work and we got her for a good price. The previous owner hit a log and cracked the transom assembly. Then left it outside without winterizing it and cracked the block. A week after we got it we began work on the boat. I installed the new transom assembly first. Not to bad but I was running out of time. Only two and a half weeks till vacation and we never had it running. Dad's cancer was getting bad at this point but he was still working and helping me and my brothers with the boat. Ok. We go buy a 330 hp 454. And begin installing it. I got it put in the boat and and wired plumbed and ready to go. Mom and the brothers had to take dad to the hospital the night I was getting everything buttoned up. He was very proud his boat was almost ready and didn't want to go to the hospital. The lake was one week away. He was in the hospital for that week getting worse then getting better. But getting to LOTO for the family trip kept him going, he got out of the hospital on that Friday night. Saturday morning we went down. Dad wasn't doing good at all and had to go back to the hospital that night. We got the boat in the water... But he never got to ride in it. My father Keith James Carlson passed away to be with The Lord on July 6, 2014. I learned from all of this that even though he can't help me with these larger than life projects we always got into, he taught me so much in my life he will always be with me through the memories of the advice he always had to give.
Since me and my brothers have been working on small stuff. We had it out a couple times this season now and I am impressed. Runs great and crushes some waves for a "small" boat.
Anyway the boats name is HARD TIMES. That's what dad wanted to name it.
We will all have HARD TIMES but it how you deal with that counts!
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