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Man donates boat to couple who lost houseboat in Debby: 'I’d rather the boat have a good home'

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Published  August 21, 2024 11:26pm EDT
Hurricane Debby
FOX 13 News

Boat gifted to couple who lost everything in Debby

A Gulfport couple who lost their houseboat to Hurricane Debby now has another boat, thanks to the generosity of a Polk County man.

GULFPORT, Fla. - A Polk County man offered to donate his sailboat to a Gulfport couple who lost their houseboat in Hurricane Debby.

FOX 13 recently told you about the story of Kaylee Walker and Ian Wylie.

The couple put everything they had into restoring a sailboat to move from Kentucky and live on. They endured Debby on the boat and were pushed into a seawall next to the Gulfport Rec Center.

On Monday, they signed the rights of their boat over to the City of Gulfport after officials deemed it a hazard.

"We were kind of at a point where we felt like it wasn’t going to work out. That we were just going to have to leave," Walker said.

"Our dream was dead. We thought, ‘why go on any further?’ It’s just going to bring us heartache," Wylie said.

PREVIOUS: Gulfport boaters say 'everything was taken' after Debby leaves behind damage

Meanwhile, Tom McLaulin of Polk County was getting ready to put his 32-foot Endeavor sailboat he's had since 1998 on the market.

"I was going to fix it up, but I finally convinced myself it was time to sell it," he said. "But I heard the story of Kaylee and Ian and I thought I’d rather the boat have a good home."

McLaulin reached out to FOX 13 asking to connect with the couple.

"I just had a feeling of compassion for them and I thought if I could do something that made their day better, that’d make me feel good. I’d probably get more out of it than they do," he said.

For McLaulin, the sailboat named "Witchy Woman" holds rich memories.

"My wife and I sailed it and it was pretty much coastal," he said. "We’d go down to Sarasota. The boat has been down to the keys and back and then Tarpon Springs. We'd go up to the Anclote River."

His wife Linda passed away 11 years ago.

McLaulin is also a Vietnam War veteran. He served in the Navy for nearly four years as a Petty Officer 2nd Class. Then a heart attack nearly took his life.

"I had 100% blockage and the cardiologist told me if I hadn’t gotten to a hospital, if it was 30 or 40 minutes, I wouldn’t be here," he said.

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Now he's using his second chance at life to help others, like Walker and Wylie.

"We will certainly do our best to keep it going and cherish it. She needs to be sailed and enjoyed," Wylie said.

"We’ve been saved basically by somebody we’ve never even met before," Walker added. "But they cared enough to see us and our story and actually stepped in. I don’t know how to explain to feeling to that. Knowing there’s people in the world like that. It’s a very surreal feeling."

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