Our Home Sank in the Gulf of Mexico

This Go Fund Me is for my best friend Chris and his girlfriend Shannon. A few nights ago they lost everything they own and barely escaped with their lives. 


Since 2005, Chris has had a dream of buying a sailboat that could carry him around the world. Chris met Shannon two years ago. On their first date they realized that they share the same dream of sailing around the world. Earlier this year they took the first steps to make that happen. They bought a beautiful boat that is designed for this purpose. A 1980 Seamaster 46 named Quixotic. 



Chris and Shannon spent this past year downsizing their life so that it would fit into their sailboat. This meant selling everything they own that wasn’t essential on the boat, selling their cars, and leaving their homes behind. They invested heavily in Quixotic with new equipment, new safety gear,  new navigation systems, and many other upgrades to make their trips as safe as possible. 

10/10/19 was the day Chris and Shannon cast off the lines and started the first mile of their journey. 4 of their close friends Austin, Donnie, Jenna, and myself drove to Kemah TX the day before to sail with Chris and Shannon for a short over night sail along the coast as a “bon voyage” trip before they sailed out of the US and into the Caribbean.  All six of us plus their puppy named Lexapro and their kitten Sancho Panza set sail early that morning.

That morning and afternoon, the sail was uneventful and relaxed. Later that night, events began to unfold that changed their lives forever. 

During some rough seas Quixotic started taking on water. We alerted the Coast Guard to our situation, and we scrambled to stop the water from coming in. The sails came down and we started motoring back toward the nearest harbor to seek help. Towels and clothes were stuffed into the obvious places that water was coming in. We started pumping water out and using buckets to bail out  as much water as possible. No matter how much we bailed or pumped we couldn’t keep up with how much water was coming into the boat. After an hour of motoring toward the harbor, the water rose high enough to choke out the engine. Quixotic was dead in the water. 

Their boat... their dream was sinking. 

Chris sent out a May Day distress signal. Because we had been motoring toward the harbor and had previously alerted the Coast Guard, they arrived within 20 minutes to help. They tried several times to get a large pump on board, but due to the rough seas, it was too dangerous to get close enough to make a transfer of the pump. They attempted to tow us into the protected water in the near by harbor so that the transfer of the pump could be made safely. While being towed, the water kept getting deeper and coming in faster.

https://youtu.be/BmP4d91TqUg

Soon water was beginning to come over the sides of the boat. We radioed the Coast Guard boat again, and told them we only have a few minutes before Quixotic slips under the water completely. It was going to be necessary to get everyone off of Quixotic and onto the Coast Guard boat immediately, one person at a time. 

In rough seas it is extremely dangers to transfer people between two boats. Even if you pull next to the other boat, the two boats are rocking toward and away from each other, the space between the boats opens and closes with the waves, and one wave will lift one boat higher while the other boat goes down the the following trough. The timing of the transfer has to be exact. In one motion you must leap from your deck up to theirs where they grab your arms and pull you in the rest if the way. Any slip, a hesitation, a misjudgment, or a mistake would have put someone in the water where they can be crushed between the two boats, knocked unconscious, or drown. Luckily 3 were able to jump from Quixotic onto the USCG’s boat with the help of the sailors on the USCG boat. Quixotic sank with 3 still on the deck and they had to be pulled out of the water. Thanks to the bravery and training of the USCG, all lives were saved. The USCG even managed to save Chris and Shannon’s  two pets, Lexapro and Sancho. 

The important thing to see is that Chris and Shannon didn’t just lose a boat.  They lost their dream that night. They also lost years of savings it took to buy the boat. They lost all the hard work and money it took to get Quixotic ready for their trip around the world. They lost all of the equipment they had put on the boat. Most importantly, they lost their home and every single item they owned. They were pulled from the water with nothing other that the clothes on their backs. They both were both barefoot and left the boat with nothing because they were so focused on getting everyone else to safety that they didn’t have time to go down inside the boat to get  shoes.

Despite this severe loss, every one of us on Quixotic that night are beyond grateful to have made it out alive. None of us more so than Chris and Shannon. 

Chris and Shannon are still planning on pursuing their dream of sailing around the world. They have insurance but because of the way the policy works, it will not even come close to covering everything that was lost.  Please help my friends rebuild, and again start working toward their lifelong goal of sailing around the world.

Please donate what you can and most importantly share this with everyone you know. 




https://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-assists-13-boaters-from-sailing-vessels-in-two-separate-cases-near-freeport-texas/2019/10/11/