This Couple Sold Everything to Buy a Sailboat... And It Sank Two Days Later

Tanner Broadwell and Nikki Walsh were going to sail the world.

According to The Tampa Bay Times, Broadwell and Walsh sold everything they had so they could buy a $5,000 sailboat—they named the 28-footer ‘Lagniappe,’ which is Creole for ‘bonus’—and they spent another $5,000 getting the boat ready to sail.

It took the pair two years to save enough for the expedition. Broadwell, a salesman, drove an Uber in his spare time to make sure they’d have enough cash for the extended vacation.

On Feb. 6, the couple—armed with very little previous sailing experience—set sail from Anclote Key, Florida with all their remaining belongings and their two-year old pug, Remy, but the trip was painfully short-lived.

On the evening of Feb. 7, they intended to dock the boat in John’s Pass, Florida, but it was dark and foggy when they arrived, and they’d never navigated the channel before (let alone without light).

Broadwell tried to steer with Walsh on the bow, lighting the water with a flashlight and trying to make sense of the buoys, but they weren’t where she expected them to be and the Lagniappe hit something under the water.

The keel had been ripped off the bottom of the boat, and water immediately started to flood the boat. Broadwell and Walsh grabbed what possessions they could, put on lifejackets and waited for help (a.k.a. Sea Tow) to arrive.

“I’m just standing there in awe,” Walsh told The Tampa Bay Times. “I just lost everything I ever owned. I see my things floating away and I can’t get to them.”

Broadwell and Walsh narrowly made it out with just their social security cards, some cash, Broadwell’s ID and Walsh’s phone. Now, they’re being told not only will the Lagniappe never sail again, but they need to pay for its removal from the dock, which could cost up to $10,000.

The couple is surviving on the help of friends and family, but they’ve also started a GoFundMe to help kickstart the process of rebuilding their lives.