060720 LAKE CONROE GETS A NEW RESCUE BOAT

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For close to 25-years Lake Conroe has had the same boats patrolling the waters of Lake Conroe. Lt. Tim Cade with the Montgomery County Precinct 1 Constable Office Lake Patrol had been dreaming of replacing them or adding a new one to the fleet. A dream was about it as he priced them at well over one-quarter of a million dollars for a boat and hull. Next equipment had to be added, radios, sonar, other electronics which drove the price beyond affordable. Then he came across a company in Jeanerette, Louisiana called Metal Shark. Metal Shark builds specialized boats for fire/rescue, the military, law enforcement, even passenger ferries close to a football field in length. Cade went to then on what the county needed and they put a boat together. The result was a 27-foot Defiant, fully equipped with a price tag of $228,000. Excited, Cade went back to his boss, Precinct 1 Constable Phillip Cash. Cash took it to Commissioners who quickly approved it. Unlike the other boats, this boat had a closed cabin. It was equipped with air conditioning and heat. Many times in the winter months rescue crews were already worn out getting to the scene fighting the cold and wet of an open cabin. The new boat supports divers and can easily handle 15 or more people. Just in the water this week it has already responded to multiple calls. Saturday night a 4-day old boat was put in at Scotts Ridge. The boater, no familiarity with the lake hit a stump which ripped a hole in the hull and caused the loss of steering. When Constables got there the back half of the boat was underwater. A crane this morning raised the boat out of the water. Then at about 6:30 pm Sunday they responded to a reported drowning off April Point. At the time of this story, they are actively searching for the body of a young female.