Help for a Cruiser whose boat sank off Savannah last night

[starfishy]

Good Afternoon,

I am contacting you on behalf of a friend of ours who is in a terrible situation that I hope to never have to be in myself. Our friend Charles left Fort Pierce, FL on Wednesday headed north for the Chesapeake Bay offshore. We received a call from him this morning and this is what happened: about 13 miles offshore from Savannah, GA last night he was hit by a thunderstorm that he described as being worse than any hurricane he has been through, his main sail was shredded, and he began to take on water and could not find the source of the leak. He called the Coast Guard for help and fortunately there was a Russian freighter approximately 1 mile away from him that was able to rescue him and his dog. The Coast Guard initially told him they would be able to tow his vessel in but have now told him they were unable to do so. The current status of his vessel is not known, but based on the information we just received the CG helicopter was not able to locate his vessel.

His problem right now is that he and his dog are sitting in Savannah right now without any money or identification. His wallet was unfortunately left aboard a midst the confusion, he was not able to locate it. My husband and I contacted a hotel and have paid for a room for him and his dog through Tuesday. I am contacting all of you because I know that you all know alot of people in the cruising community and I know Charles is far too proud to ask for help. He is stranded until his bank can get him a new debit card and the state of FL can issue him a replacement driver's license.

I was wondering if you could put the word out and see if there are any cruisers who live in the Savannah area that could possibly be of any assistance to him? He is far too proud to ask for the help himself but he is a single-hander older gentlemen who would give the shirt off his back to help another cruiser in need and he needs the help now.

We are primarily looking for someone or a couple of someones that you could put him and his dog (a small, well mannered dog) up for a few days until he is able to get replacement credit cards/debit card and he is able to get a replacement driver's license. We are certainly not asking for monetary donations, we are just looking for some good cruising folks to help out a fellow cruiser in his time of need.

If anyone was able to donate a bag of dog food and a few days worth of groceries until Charles was able to get access to his bank cards, I am sure that would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone has some old clothing (mens medium size), shoes, and a pair of sunglasses, it would certainly make his life a little less difficult at the moment. He lost everything he had on his boat.

I can be reached by email at nicole.chambers@live.com

We are grateful for any help that could be provided to our friend.