Help Andrew Save His Boat!
Donation protected
Here is the story from Droopy:
"My sailboat broke loose on the evening of the twelfth, from St.Barts.
I was delivering a sailboat, at the time from the Bahamas to St.Barts a thousand mile upwind slog.
When we got news of my boat missing from St.Barts, we were off Puerto Rico. After some time the phone rang again, it was the coast guard from France who had info for me, the coast guard had pictures of my boat, and knew about the alert of an abandon sailing vessel.
They gave me a position, or coordinates, for an attempt of a rescue,130 or so miles South West of Guadeloupe, near the Venezuelan islands of Los Aves. Over 200 miles from us at the time.
I instantly found a sailboat, and a good friend with a sat phone,who would go on a mission, knowing the dash 8 aircraft out of Curacao, which was still sitting on the tarmac in St.Maarten, was heading back to Curacao. Perfect, the chances of retrieving my boat are looking, okay! The next morning the dash 8 did not find my boat. We left with the feeling that the aircraft would fly again in a few days. Okay, We provisioned this 38 foot German sailboat for 7 days, with two people on board. We took off towards Los Aves, directly south 100 miles or so first.The next day we called the pilots and heard the grim news of no sightings and that the aircraft, which is payed for by the Dutch Government, will be on the ground in Curacao for days, the dangerous and trying search continued as long as possible while keeping in mind duration of search limitations due to provisioning. The rescue ended with two exhausted and hungry men who would have kept searching endlessly if they were able. Droops was gutted knowing they had been so close without finding the boat...hope was just about lost.
They gave me a position, or coordinates, for an attempt of a rescue,130 or so miles South West of Guadeloupe, near the Venezuelan islands of Los Aves. Over 200 miles from us at the time.
I instantly found a sailboat, and a good friend with a sat phone,who would go on a mission, knowing the dash 8 aircraft out of Curacao, which was still sitting on the tarmac in St.Maarten, was heading back to Curacao. Perfect, the chances of retrieving my boat are looking, okay! The next morning the dash 8 did not find my boat. We left with the feeling that the aircraft would fly again in a few days. Okay, We provisioned this 38 foot German sailboat for 7 days, with two people on board. We took off towards Los Aves, directly south 100 miles or so first.The next day we called the pilots and heard the grim news of no sightings and that the aircraft, which is payed for by the Dutch Government, will be on the ground in Curacao for days, the dangerous and trying search continued as long as possible while keeping in mind duration of search limitations due to provisioning. The rescue ended with two exhausted and hungry men who would have kept searching endlessly if they were able. Droops was gutted knowing they had been so close without finding the boat...hope was just about lost.
Miraculously, on the 28th of January the Venezuelan Coast Guard found Droopy's boat, his life, his home, 550 miles away from its starting point. The embassy in Barbados found his license on board and managed to track him down via none other than social media to tell him that his home, had been found. Thank God!
Now, Andrew has another uphill battle to face. While Corcovado has been found he now has to begin salvage efforts which will not be easy. He still needs our help. While it is so comforting to know we don't have to use this page to completely rebuild Droopy's home we do need to share this and use this opportunity to help our friend retrieve Corcovado and bring it back to its shining glory as a home.
If you know Droopy you know our friend is one who will bend over backwards to make you smile, if you know him, you have probably also been told you are more than welcome to stay on board his prize possession if you are ever visiting. Our genuinely kind, caring and hospitable friend still needs our help. Please consider donating to help Andrew recover his boat and his quality of life as this has been and will continue to be a trying time for him. He would help each of us if we were in a difficult situation without thinking twice. Let's do the same for him.
Organizer
Brittany Weatherby
Organizer
Newport, RI
