This is a photo of my dad’s Scout that survived Hurricane Katrina. He lives in Ocean Springs, Mississippi which got the worst of the storm surge – over 25 feet. He bought this boat from a friend of mine who had the boat for over 5 years and loved it so much he was going to move up to a larger Scout. My dad wanted a boat that his five grandkids could enjoy when they came to visit.

When it became evident that Hurricane Katrina was going to hit the Gulf Coast, he took the Scout out of the boat house, put it on the trailer and took it over to my sister’s house for “safekeeping”. He backed it into their carport and left to evacuate to Mobile, AL. As it turned out, my sister got 6 feet of water in her house and when they finally were able to get back to their house the Scout was gone, with the trailer still attached to my Dad’s truck which was now on its side. We figured we would never see that boat again.

About a week after the hurricane, we were riding around in a neighborhood about two miles away (across the water) from my sister’s house and found the boat in this man’s front yard wedged in between 4 trees! We could not believe it. Upon closer inspection, the boat’s hull was in excellent condition with just a few minor scratches to it. The windshield was in the bottom of the boat and the controls were knocked off, but that happened when the Scout was hitting the ceiling of the carport before it finally broke loose.

Finally, about 2 months after the hurricane my dad was able to get the boat back on the trailer and back to his house in the driveway next to the FEMA trailer that they are living in now until they can get the house fixed again. They even were able to find the boat’s cover and seats (one in the back yard and one stuck in the garage window). As soon as he starts getting his strength back ( he is recovering from colon cancer) my mom said that he is going to start the process of getting it repaired. It is giving him something to look forward to….getting that Scout back into the water.

Thanks,
Sheridan Paz