A Florida sailor lost his dream during Hurricane Helene. The Coast Guard ended up rescuing the sailor and his dog after his boat motor stalled just hours before the storm hit.
While the Florida sailor and his dog survived, his dream boat ended up sinking underneath the Gulf of Mexico. Earl Barcome and his 10-year-old Golden Retriever Gunn lived to see another day. For the past year, Barcome had been living on his 36-foot sailboat. He had hoped to start a new life in Florida sailing around.
Shirley Barcome said in a GoFundMe page that the sailboat was "the culmination of a lifelong dream, offering him solace and purpose after a difficult chapter in his life." The sailor planned to navigate around Helene, going 100 miles south to an inlet. Unfortunately, his motor failed him at the worst possible time. The bilge pump then blew and began taking on water. He was literally up to his chest in water.
"It was moving mountains of water. Every which way you turn. And these waves were just everywhere you look," Barcome told WBBH. "I said, Gun, this isn't the day we're going to die I'm calling the Coast Guard."
Sailor Almost Dies
He called for help with his radio. They ended up sending a helicopter with rescue swimmers to his location. They equipped Barcome and his dog with life vests."He falls into the water and just power swims to my boat," Barcome told the outlet. "And he's like, 'I need you guys in the water now.'"
