3rd generation.

So, a couple of years ago, S was given a boat after his cousin acquired one. He had been renting a house and after the occupants dodged rent for a couple of months, they finally fled leaving a 12 foot boat behind. S, having nowhere to store it asked his cousin St if he could store it at his place.

Time passed and St, decided to clean house. Forgetting that the boat was S's, he offered the boat to my dad this spring, who snatched it up and gave it to D. D was ecstatic. He spent the summer fixing up the boat and using it for fishing trips. All the while, S had to watch his brother in law enjoy the boat that had been his.

Now fishing is a particular love of S's and he had been looking forward to not only fishing- but fishing with his best friend T and more particularly, his dad. One of the few happy memories S had of his childhood was fishing with his dad, and he has a strong desire to repeat the experience now that their relationship is much better- and now that S will be a father himself.

Now even though S longed for a boat of his own, he was insistent that I not tell my family what had happened, as it would do nothing but make people feel bad. D was having such a blast with the boat, that S would not do anything to wreck that. I really respect that decision by S, but it was hard to see him working so hard all summer, and not have a boat to play with.

So, I asked my dad if he would keep an eye out for a boat. My dad always knows the ins and out of who is selling what, so I figured he might be able to find a boat for me by fall so that I could give the boat to S for his birthday. I had heard nothing all summer so I was surprised when at the end of a conversation, Dad mentioned that he had found S a boat. Shockingly enough, it was the boat that we had used when we grew up, the boat my grandfather had bought for the cabin.
This boat was bought sometime around 1974 and has spent its life passing from E, to E2, to S. I was super touched that dad was willing to pass this boat along, and super pleased that S would finally have a boat again. And it is a 16 foot boat, which is much bigger than we planned, but will accommodate 3 or 4 people much easier than the boat he had.

S was so excited when we picked up the boat yesterday, that he spent much of yesterday running about finding odds and ends that he would need. Today, he woke up at 5 am to rewire the boat so that he and T could go fishing this afternoon. Mid-way through the build, To, a random friendly guy in the neighborhood, stopped by to offer advice and good natured ribbing. (This is the part of the neighborhood I really enjoy!)

Right now T and S are off on their maiden voyage. Hopefully they are having a blast, because being married to S- I know he deserves a good night fishing in his new boat.