update on Gill

http://staugustine.com/stories/100608/news_100608_045.shtml click on above link for update and good news. An outpouring of aid! Gill Le Houx lost everything when his 64-foot, 100-year-old wooden hull sailboat ran aground and broke up on Vilano Beach in August. He now has a new boat and is restoring it in GibsonÕs Dry Dock in San Mateo in hopes of continuing his journey to Cuba. By PETER WILLOTT, peter.willott@staugustine.com Looking at Gill le Houx's 29-foot sailboat and shiny, black Ford pick-up truck, it's hard to imagine that just a month ago he was homeless and penniless. The Canadian was stranded on Vilano Beach after Tropical Storm Fay destroyed his 64-foot sailboat while he was traveling to Cuba. But good Samaritans have him more than back on his feet. "I have never been in a position where I needed anything," le Houx said. "It's overwhelming, the generosity." Le Houx, 56, had put all of his money into renovating the 100-year-old wooden sailboat. The boat ran aground on Vilano Beach and was torn apart by violent waves. Also in the storm, he lost his glasses, almost all his clothing, about $300 of his last bit of money; his two front teeth were knocked out while getting off his boat. St. Augustine residents read about his plight in The Record and bought him new glasses, clothing and put more than $500 in a bank account for him. A St. Augustine dentist charged le Houx half price to fix his teeth, bringing the cost to $2,000. He's making payments using the funds from the bank account. A Gainesville resident, Ann Welch, who heard le Houx needed help, sold him her sailboat for $1. A St. Augustine resident, Sue Upchurch, is letting le Houx use her pick-up truck for as long as he wants. "I'm very surprised how fast things went from homeless to a truck and a boat and a bank account," he said. "I mean, geez." Upchurch could not be reached for comment, and Welch did not return calls. Le Houx is fixing up Welch's boat, held at Gibson Dry Dock in San Mateo in a scenic, wooded area along the St. Johns River. Welch is also allowing le Houx to use her old Volkswagen van, which he is living in while he works on the boat. He uses Gibson's bathroom and shower facilities. "It's pretty nice, eh?" he says pointing to Gibson's beautiful grounds. "This is my new home." But he hopes to be gone by January. Le Houx expects to have the boat's renovation completed by then and will sail to Cuba. He wants to start a travel agency there because it is a popular vacation spot for Canadians. "If I ever don't want the boat anymore, I give it back to Annie (Welch)," he said. "It's a fair deal. I'm investing 600 hours to redo the boat. That would cost $3,000 to $4,000." Le Houx is using some tools donated to him to work on the boat, and he salvaged a few items from his sailboat. To get money for other needed supplies such as a new engine, he's done a few odd jobs including painting a Vilano Beach resident's back porch. Le Houx did not have insurance for his first sailboat, leaving him broke when it was demolished. He also did not have updated nautical charts. After everything, he still does not plan to buy insurance for his new boat because it is "too expensive," but he says he will get new charts. A fellow boater gave him some GPS equipment. Le Houx says he couldn't be happier or feel luckier to have been stuck in St. Augustine. "These people are great," he said. "This is, in fact, the best place to be stranded."