Capt. Hanks Fire Recovery Fund

Dearest friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, and everyone who has ever known my father and his beautiful sailboat, Sunyata: Last night the boat went up in flames due to a short circuit in a cabin fan. Captain Hank has lost absolutely everything; the gorgeous teak wood boat burned for hours and sunk.  My dad barely escaped with his life and is now at the hospital being treated for burns and smoke inhalation.  All of his possessions are lost; his home is now at the bottom of French Harbor in Roatan; and his livelihood is gone. Dad enjoyed a simple seaman's life and lived charter to charter. Literally everything was lost. For an array of reasons the boat was not insured, so there is nothing he can recoup. The classic $150,000 Swedish sloop is burned beyond recognition and there is nothing that can be salvaged. Not surprisingly, besides his treasured Sunyata, every little thing is lost: his passport, computer and communications equipment, personal effects, clothes--you name it, everything--is gone. My sister and I are asking for any kindness you can offer to help him with the current emergency and to assist him longer-term in finding a home, recovering some stability, and building a new life and livelihood.
 
My sister, mother and I are doing everything humanly possible to help him, we are giving everything within our means to get him afloat but it simply is nowhere near what is needed. So we're trying to raise as much money as possible. Please please help with any amount you can afford. The money is not just to replace the personal items he has lost, but also to establish him again with a means to make a living and stand on his own two feet. He not only needs to replace items he lost (for he does not even have shoes or a shirt) but needs to find a way to set himself up again to make money to live. Sunyata was our childhood home. Right after I was born I lived on that boat. I even learned to walk on that boat. It was the only constant in my sister's and my lives. It is a horrible experience for us to lose our parent's home, but my dad is devastated, having lost the only thing he called home for 30 years. For a man who did not have much to begin with, except a great sense of humor, a sailboat, and a big heart, losing the boat is like losing his whole world. I just hope that this is the time where we as compassionate people can each help support a poor man's arms and help him to his feet again. We will be forever thankful for your generosity.