Texas Pearl Haul Out

On August 25, 2017 Hurricane Harvey sat over Rockport, Texas for fourteen hours. Not only did it bring extremely high winds and A LOT of rain, it also produced over 60 tornadoes in the area that night. The damage to Rockport and Aransas County was catastrophic. In one night the beautiful little coastal town was turned into a war zone. We were truly lucky to find our boat still in her slip, with no major damage...but she didn't come through the storm untouched. It's been seven months since the storm roared ashore in south Texas and Texas Pearl is almost back to her beautiful self.

Here's the list of damages to Texas Pearl from Hurricane Harvey

• Depth finder and sensor
• Radio
• 2 speakers on flybridge blown out
• Base speaker on flybridge blown out
• 2 VFH antennas destroyed
• TV antenna destroyed
• Anchor light broken
• Outside loud speaker on flybridge gone
• Inside carpet was wet
• Draperies in salon stained by water
• Back deck carpet destroyed
• Icinglass strips missing
• Deck panel on starboard side damaged
• Deck panel on stern missing
• Wood trim on back deck damaged
• Starboard and port instrument cabinets damaged
• Flybridge hatch blown off and damaged
• Fiberglass on flybridge damage from hatch
• Windshield broken on port side
• Lower rub rail on port side damaged
• Upper rub rails on both sides damaged
• Fiberglass broken near port side rub rail
• Fiberglass under starboard rub rail damaged
• Gel coat rubbed off on flybridge from broken antenna
• 4 - ¾” dock lines broke (we had 14)
• Grommets pulled out of front window cover
• Broken vent cover on port side
• Hundreds of dings on hull (down to fiberglass) from trash in water

Here are a few pictures of what damaged the hull. Some boards in the water were 6"x12" beams that were 5'-6' long

Damage to the bottom of the boat from the trash in the water

This is the way the dock on our port side looked when we returned after the hurricane...we figured the boat hit it during the storm, but couldn't see any damage...

Once we were hauled out we could see where the dock and the boat met. From the look of the dock and the damage on the boat...I'd say the boat won...she's a battleship.

More damage from debris in the water

Even the stabilizer fins took a few nicks from the trash in the water.

Thanks to our Progressive Insurance Texas Pearl got a whole new bottom. This man is sodablasting the bottom of the boat. It's a very mild form of abrasive blasting, which uses sodium bicarbonate to remove the old layers of paint.

The running gear...all clean and ready for paint

Wrapped and ready for paint

First layer of primer on and looking good

Being out of the water makes it easier to polish the hull and repair the rub rails...it's also the only way to service the stabilizers and replace the depth sensor of the depth finder. 

Stan used the buffer to apply Finesse-It ll and then I put on the protective polymer sealer. 

What a shine...our hard work makes this old girl look almost new. 

What an ordeal this haul out has been...many jobs had to be done twice, thanks to the people we hired not doing a good job and creating more of a mess. It reinforced what we already knew...if you want something done right...DO IT YOURSELF. 

For those who don't know what it looks like when a boat is hauled out...here's a little video