A 45-foot-long “ghost ship” that was abandoned by its Texas owner during a life-or-death storm has washed up on a Florida coast about 20 days later, leaving its owner with a financial headache.
Michael Barlow, 39, and a friend were on their way home from the Sunshine State when they were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard in the Gulf of Mexico after encountering Hurricane Alberto. According to NBC News.
The $80,000 boat reportedly sustained extensive damage in the storm.
When Barlow asked for help, he was left with a choice.
“They looked at the radar and said, ‘We’re about to hit again. We can get you out right now, but we’re three hours away and you’ve got to get off the boat,'” Barlow said. He told WEAR. “I told you to come and pick me up.”
Mr Barlow and his companion, who was suffering from hypothermia, were rescued to safety by helicopter, but the fate of the disabled boat is unknown.
The Katherine was found 17 days later, approximately 200 miles from where Barlow disembarked.
“We called it the ‘Ghost Ship,’ and it quickly became known throughout Pensacola Beach as the ‘Ghost Ship,'” local resident Allie Garrett, 35, told NBC.
But far from relief, Barlow, who now lives in Honduras as a scuba diving instructor, is facing a seasickness dilemma.
He told NBC he could choose between paying $20,000 to have the Katherine taken to dry dock and repaired, or paying $28,000 to have the ship removed and destroyed.
But the outlet reported that if he doesn’t take action, he faces a third-degree felony that could lead to a $5,000 fine and/or jail time.
“From the date a Uniform Boating Ticket is issued, you have 30 days to bring your vessel into compliance with regulations,” a spokesperson for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told NBC.
The boat was originally purchased for him, his wife, and their 9-year-old son to sail around the world. He reportedly said the huge purchase was the most affordable way to show his child the world outside the United States.
Mr Barlow recently set up a fundraising page to try to save his dream.
“Removal will be a major undertaking, as will repairs,” he wrote in a GoFundMe post.
“With the last of our strength we left our home and staked our farm, and now it’s washed up on the shore and we don’t know what else to do.”
