Desperately calling the Coast Guard for help from a radio onboard, a helicopter was sent to his location, which was just 25 miles west of Sanibel Island, Florida.
The USCG Air Station Clearwater’s rescue swimmers then spotted the boat at 3pm on Thursday, with the dramatic rescue caught on tape by the Coast Guard, as both Earl and his dog were in life vests and escaped the sinking boat by diving into rough waters.
He added: “He (the rescue swimmer) falls into the water and just power swims to my boat, and he’s like, ‘I need you guys in the water now.’”
They were then lifted into the helicopter by a basket as the sailor left his vessel behind for good, for the livelihood of him and his pooch.
“So what, what comes next? Time will tell, you know, do I have hope? I have, I have a new, I have a new understanding. And that’s a beautiful thing,” he later said.
Earl continued: “The realisation that life is a little more important was, that was a new day. It was a new day. And, what do I got to complain about? I got shirt and pants.”
With his new view on life, he now has to get back on his feet and begin to rebuild before potentially going back out to sea.
Shirley wrote on the GoFundMe page: “Earl has lost everything. With no funds and his dream shattered, rebuilding from this tragedy feels impossible without help,” revealing that there is a $25,000 goal that they want to hit.
Hurricane Helene has killed at least 63 people, according to the BBC, wrecking havoc from Florida to the Great Lakes region after hitting the coast as a Category four storm.
