Help Rescue the Second Chance

Hello Friends, my name is Felix Fuentes. I am part owner of the Second Chance shrimp boat that washed ashore the Port Aransas beach last week. My partner Captain Phillip Lara and I are creating this GoFundMe to help us rescue the vessel and help with mechanical issues the boat is facing. Currently her engines start and she is likely able to limp her way back to Conn Brown Harbor, but she does need engine and steering work.

Backstory:

I met Captain Phillip back in January of 2020, I was asked by one of the local dive shops if I could help a local shrimper get some nets cleared out from his propellors. I didn’t know it then, but it would become the beginning lifelong friendship. This was at the beginning of the pandemic, after that day I didn’t hear from Phillip for several months until one day he contacted me and explained the original owner of the Second Chance had passed from Covid and the widow was at a loss of what to do with vessel. He asked me if I’d be willing to invest and make boat loads of money catching shrimp. At first, I blew the idea off until I heard the name of the vessel, the “Second Chance”. It resonated with me because of my personal battles and how I was able to overcome a 20-year addiction to alcohol and substance abuse. Back then I was 3 years clean and sober, 8 years this coming March.

We spent the next couple of years restoring her, we replaced her main engine, installed a new generator, converted her to a freezer boat and the list goes on and on. Captain Phillip has dedicated his entire life to her and all of his resources have been poured into the boat. I am in awe of the dedication he has and the drive he has for the boat. We both have 5 children so you can imagine the stress and time away from our families we have put into getting her ready. Last month was a race against time to make the July 15th opening of Gulf Shrimping season, we were excited and ready to go but unfortunately a fuel line ruptured and we lost the main engine. That night there were 25mph winds and 10-12 ft swells. Captain Phillip dropped the anchor line, but the raging gulf was too much and snapped the anchor line. I wasn’t on the vessel that night, but I can only image what he and the crew went through.

We have made progress trying to save her ourselves by running an anchor line way past the third sandbar and attaching the line to an onboard winch. We were able to turn the boat to be perpendicular to the coastline facing into the gulf, but the high tide comes and goes to quickly to be able run water pumps and create a channel for her. We have received no help from any other local vessels. A salvage company quoted us 25K-35K to pull her out, but we do not have that kind of money. We are in fear that if we don’t remove her in the next few days a savage company will come in and we will lose the boat all together. If we can get her out ourselves we plan to use the money to restore the mechanical issues she currently faces. Thank you and God Bless. -Captain Felix