LippCJ7 - Member of the Month

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10 Questions with LippCJ7


My name is Chris L.

Where are you from?

My Home town is Tucson Arizona but I have lived in Colorado for 23 Years, I currently call Castle Rock Home.

How long have you been boating?

I was introduced to the water before I turned one, I was Slalom skiing at 9 yrs old, but my immediate family never owned a boat so I went to Roosevelt and Apache lake with my Aunt and Uncle or my best friends family, from April to October I was at the lake every weekend, cruising on my Aunt/Uncles old Hammond I/O open bow or My Best Friends dads 23' Eliminator Picklefork with a Blown 500 CID motor, I got stories LOL...

When we moved to Colorado ( I was 17 and a Senior in high school), I didn't know many people, I was bet a case of beer (in those days things were very different)that I wouldn't water ski on April 1st so I took a six pack to Chatfield and offered it up to a guy with a boat, water was so cold I never hit the water but I won the case of Coors.

I became close friends with a family that Boated on a small private lake, they had two daughters one my age and the other 4 years younger, me and the older one were like brother and sister, 20 years later I am still very close to my sister and married her younger sister(that sounds bad doesn't it) she is my second wife, when we got married we really wanted to get back on the water, so we must have looked at 50 boats but I was always drawn to Crownlines, or Eliminators, My wife simply told me that there is nothing in this world she wouldn't ride in or on if I drove..EXCEPT one of those damn fast boats...so we drove down to AZ and bought or first Crownline a 92 196 BR for $6000, we kept it for 3 years.

I had always been disappointed with the limitations of our boat, it was great to us but it was an older boat and it had limitations, the entire 3rd year I was looking to upgrade and knew what I wanted then it happened, I found it, took me about two weeks later to secretly get the finances arranged, I told my family we were going to take a road trip but only my wife and youngest daughter were interested,the Son and two other daughters had other plans, they both wanted to know where and why and I just said were going to see Colorado on this fine early spring day(April) so off we went, we wound up at Boyd Lake in northern Colorado, My wife was not very impressed all she could say was I AM NOT GETTING IN A LAKE TODAY!!!(neither had any idea of what or why we were there NONE) so we drove around and then came to the Ramp and there was my Baby and her previous owners, in stereo all I heard is OH MY GOD... we were the only ones at the lake that day so there was no question what was going on. After 30 minutes of oohs and aahs my wife climbed up on the sundeck, lied down and said "ok sweety" we dropped the boat in the water for the final test loaded it and took her home.

The other kids were pretty pissed...

Have you worked any boating related jobs (if yes, tell us more)?


I have never worked in a boating related field but I have been in automotive electronics my entire adult life, I built Police Cars as part of my job in the Two Way Communications field, my days with my best friends Eliminator made me a lifelong Gear head, I have done pretty much everything that can be done to two wheels, four wheels and boats I'm a Gear head at heart.

How many boats have you owned and who manufactured them?


Both the Boats I have had were Crownlines my first was a 92 196 BR and the second was a 2000 248 BR I bought when it was 10 years old, it was either on the water or in a garage, its in Mint condition, I can honestly say I bought a 10 year old New Boat, it is everything I have ever wanted in a boat except a bigger motor(it has a 7.4L MPI)

What boat do you currently own?


Crownline 248 BR, 25' open bow, big motor Captains Call, Huge rear sundeck and huge bow area with bow filler cushions, perfect for 4 women who like to sunbathe and 2 men who like to go fast and play hard...ok I like to play hard, kids these days are wimps "daaaad your going to fast", "Daaaad we don't like it when you try to kill us on the tube..." Sheesh...

Do you prefer a particular motor manufacture?


I prefer Mercruiser, so many places to get parts even the most remote places have parts, like Bullfrog at Lake Powell.

What is your favorite boating activity?


oh boy.. I don't know, I love watching my wife sunbathe, seeing her relax I mean there is nothing as relaxing as taking a nap on a boat while anchored up, the slow rolling of the boat it just puts me to sleep.

Or there is the personal competition between friends...

Me and three other friends from High school(this is a common theme for us) always try to one up each other, we all have boats and families, so one day two of us pitch in and buy one of those 12' diameter towables shaped like a disc with a center section that allows 3 riders to sit back to back, the tube attaches at the center of its bottom so it actually spins as you tow it, after a couple weekends the center back to back portion gets popped in a seam so its pretty much done(thank goodness it came with a warranty), so after a few adult beverages us guys develop a plan..

For some reason I am chosen as the guinea pig, my buddy will drive my boat since it has the biggest motor and I will ride, after a couple minutes my buddy realizes that when he hits 30 mph the tube wants to stand up so he goes 40 mph and sure enough this thing is stood up and I am attached to it, so not to be out done I slip my feet into a couple hand holds and were having fun, problem is somewhere along the last 20 years I really did something mean to my buddy, he starts turning.

So here I am attached to a 12' diameter pinwheel going 40 mph and I have to be doing 40 revolutions per minute....

I got all 10's on the dismount but no one could tell me how many times I flipped while in the air, and an estimated distance of 63 feet...

Where is your favorite boating destination?


This is simple, Lake Powell, I want to retire there.