Fall at Ann's Chateau

Here are us and our bikes! Fall is beautiful here! Ride safe and keep the shiny side up!

AIRHEAD TECH WEEKEND

Great weather, great weekend! link to all picts: http://picasaweb.google.com/ohsolma/AirheadTechWkndOct2008#

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."

Gill doing ok with support from lots of new friends! YAY!

I spent a week in St. A helping with cleaning the beach, getting some support for Gill, and enjoying St.A. On way home now, as he is in much better shape and will be just fine in time.

update from St. Augustine

here is link on local followup story that came out today in St. Augustine Record with a nice picture of Gill on front page. We are making a little headway at getting him up and on his feet again.

update on Gill and Lady Cecile

bad. BAD. its bad. when she first got on the sand, she could have still been saved. the coast guard and environ. and home security and dept wildlife came and made him spend 7 hours sucking the fuel out with a tube and his mouth and putting it in gallon containers. the waves were terrible and were slamming her bad. then the boat broke in half. then the mast fell and broke the front in half. he had to sit in the sand and watch her break into a million toothpicks, and he made piles of his stuff. like 12. like the bell, etc. then the cops came and made him find a room and drove him all over town making him get a hotel room. he could not afford them. finally they brought him back to the south beach where he wrecked and there's a real dump so he got $10 a night. paid for a month. today we start cutting up and cleaning up her cockpit. a guy is supposed to come for the engine which is mostly buried in sand. they paid him $40 and they have to dig it out. this really sucks. it's breaking my heart. we are still in shock and cant believe it. anyway, the next day, the ocean and pirates took most of the piles. he made it into 3 piles. next day, all gone. just this cockpit. i am shocked and horrified and still can't believe a boat that big and beautiful is gone forever. he will be here the month as lots of paperwork and red tape. he did dnr yesterday, coast guard today to take him to office, he has to say yes sir no sir ok sir. so we have no truck or chain saw and have to find that today. its weird the cockpit and the teak i worked so hard on is the only part left. thats not all. the dnr (wildlife) guy comes (he could charge him $35,000 a day till its cleaned up, but was nice and waived it). we ask him about a home for the baby possums and he says he can arrest me for bringing wild animals over the state line! LOL! he was serious! ugh! so he gave me 3 animal resuce numbers which i wanted anyway, but no one answers. and one died last night. we put it in a freezer. the other one still going. so you can run over and kill them on the road but u can't care for them. go figure. room crappy, black mold, wet floor, disgraceful. Gill's spirits ok considering. He still can't believe it. plan: get all stuff done here, find job, get shit back together, get steel catamaran! we are on vilano beach (he beached right in front of the "Fountain of Youth" :) St. Augustine is oldest city in US. good think he beached on cheap end. he can have room near what's left. he could have saved his boat if they would have helped him instead of making him suck fuel!!! this is so crazy and sad! so my cell, to all you boater friends, is 270-699-5651. if u can come or send help, call! love ya awl! a very sad ma ps a miracle i found him! my nose just led me. coast guard on sunday had no idea! amazing. he about fell over when he saw me! he was sitting in front of his room tiny tv (lost his glasses) 2 feet from it zoned out! waiting for dnr. he about fell over. he couldn t believe i came. i was the closest one of all of us.

ma on way to St. A

M A on way to St. A, should arrive Sun eve.