A marine patrol that's spent the last several summers struggling to keep its equipment in service got a boost Thursday, accepting delivery of a new boat manufactured in Garland County.
The charcoal X23 Bay model the Garland County Sheriff's Department picked up from the Xpress Boats factory in the county's industrial park should be on Lake Hamilton by the end of the summer, the department said. The 23-footer will replace the 1999 Boston Whaler Outrage that's been plagued by mechanical problems the last few summers.
The $54,813 addition, including motor and trailer, was provided courtesy of a $125,000 donation from a benefactor the county said has asked to remain anonymous. The sheriff's department said the X23 will be a better fit for the marine patrol than the larger Boston Whalers and Baja brands donated by the now-defunct Lake Hamilton Safe Boating Association.
"They were too big for what we needed," Under Sheriff Jason Lawrence said Thursday. "We serve a certain type of lake. Our opinion was we didn't necessarily need a big boat."
The quorum court appropriated money for the boat last month, funding the purchase with part of the $125,000 donation to the marine patrol. Woody Futrell Marine & Aircraft was awarded the bid to sell and service the boat.
The boat was built at Xpress Boats' industrial park factory. Clay Connor, the company's director of marketing, said it features all the hallmarks of the brand, including the longitudinally-ribbed, all-weld aluminum Hyper-Lift hull and Xtreme Coat interior. An aftermarket T-top was added to protect deputies from the elements.
Connor said the Herndon family, which owns Xpress Boats and Veranda Luxury Pontoons, revitalized more than 400,000 square feet of factory space left idle by the departure of two industrial cable manufactures. The family acquired its industrial park campus 20 years ago and last year relocated its pontoon operation to the Jones Mill factory General Cable shuttered in 2017.
"I'm excited for the opportunity to have our family's legacy out there protecting and serving," company President Rory Herndon, the third generation of the family to helm the company, said at Thursday's hand off to the sheriff's department.
The Yamaha 250 XA-powered X23 can reach speeds of 58.6 mph when pushed to 6,000 RPMs, according to information Connor provided. It has a dry weight of 2,296 pounds and an 8.6-foot beam.
In June, the quorum court appropriated $27,066 from the $125,000 donation to buy the marine patrol a 2020 Yamaha XXL 300 horsepower motor, steel prop, gauges and controls for its 2004 Outrage. The X23 will join the 2004 Outrage as the flagship boats in the patrol's fleet. The county sold the 2004 Baja at its surplus auction last summer.
The $125,000 donation is the first substantial private-sector support the patrol has received since the January 2014 dissolution of the Lake Hamilton Safe Boating Association.
