Brazos Belle back afloat after weekend sinking

Tag : boat repair

Tribune-Herald staff writer
The Brazos Belle riverboat sank into Lake Brazos again this pastweekend before workers managed to pump out the hull and get itfloating early Monday evening.
The boat, docked north of Interstate 35, apparently sank lateSaturday or Sunday, said boat owner Jerry Sparks, of Gholson. Thetrouble was blamed on a bilge pump battery going out, allowingwater to seep in.
Wading along the flooded deck of the boat, Sparks’ nephew,Ricky, said they hoped to have the vessel raised by day’send. Around sunset, they succeeded.
Earlier, puddles of water could be seen on the carpet of theupstairs interior of the boat.
Jerry Sparks acquired the abandoned boat this spring and, under acity-imposed deadline, has until early August to move it away fromthe city dock. He has said he hopes to fix the paddlewheel, rig itup to a diesel engine and navigate it upstream to Gholson, where hesays he intends to repair it.
Under prior owners, the riverboat became mired in mud during spring2007’s heavy rains, and the downstairs ballroom was swamped.The old owners’ docking lease with the city was canceled lastyear because of delinquent taxes and a failure to make leasepayments.
The city threatened to have the boat moved and sold for back taxesif no one claimed responsibility for it by summer.
The Brazos Belle has been permanently docked on the BrazosRiverwalk near Interstate 35 since 1997, but in its later years itwas used only occasionally for events.
The boat and its predecessor, the Brazos Queen I, once took dinnerguests up and down Lake Brazos.
jbsmith@wacotrib.com
757-5752