The couple died after their yacht was struck by Hurricane Odile off the coast of La Paz, Mexico
A fundraising campaign has been launched in memory of British sailors Paul
Whitehouse and Simone Wood who tragically died in Hurricane Odile, which struck the Mexican coast last week.
Paul and Simone had moved over to America on 24 December 2012 from Wolverhampton and London respectively, to
chase their dream. Their intention was to open a scuba diving charter company
and live on a yacht, moving from island to island.
When Hurricane Odile struck at around 2am on 15 September 2014, the couple’s yacht Tobasco II
was anchored in the bay off La Paz, in the state of Baja California Sur, where they both made numerous friends.
Paul and Simone had fully prepared their yacht and
themselves for the hurricane but
somehow the boat was lost to the sea. It sank, with just the masts sticking up out of the water.
Paul and Simone were declared missing. An 8 man liferaft was discovered on
the beach which friends of the couple hoped
was theirs.
A search commenced in the daylight hours of Monday to no avail. Air searches commenced
the following day, with the Navy performing sea searches and friends and
community performing land searches.
The community that Paul and Simone had become very good friends with worked
tirelessly until on 19 September 2014 when Simone’s body was recovered. Paul was
still missing.
Rescuers vowed to continue the search until he was found. This happened on Sunday, 21 September 2014.
50k fundraising campaign
Now the brothers of the lost sailors, Simone’s brother Clive and Paul’s brother Jon Whitehouse have launched a fundraising campaign to raise funds for the devastated community, in thanks for the rescuers recovering their loved ones and providing closure.
Jon said: ‘Clive and myself would like to raise money in memory of Paul and Simone and
send it over to the Club president to try and help put the area back to a
condition where others can “chase their dreams” also.
‘Words are never enough to show our appreciation to all involved.’
To make a donation visit www.gofundme.com/ev6plo
Picture:
Paul
Whitehouse and Simone Wood