Help Sv Volunteer get off the coral
Donation protected
This is the story of Volunteer, an american classic
boat in the search of freedom. Decided to take on an adventure and sail from French Polynesia to American Samoa. The boat sailed great through many days of pretty bad weather but she finally brought us safely to the American Samoan harbor after 20 days offshore.
As soon as we arrived to port, our misfortune took place. The harbor's master did not grant us permission to tie to a safe dock or a quarantine buoy. He said he needed authorization from the governors office, so he ordered us to leave the port and drift outside until further notice. We drifted for 9 hours; exhaustion started to kick in. We contacted the port control again and again and we told him that he was putting our lives in danger. When the night fell we were scared for our safety and the safety of our boat so we tried to seek shelter anyways. We sailed back in the harbor and we dropped anchor but the port captain sent us the marine patrol. They escorted us out to open waters. After that, we tried to escape from the current and the coral reef several times but eventually, out of diesel and energy, our minds fell under extreme fatigue. We drifted back and crashed against the coral reef.
We took the VHF (the radio) and we cried for help, for assistance. We were so desperate. Then police boat approach us commanding us to abandon the ship and to swim to shore for safety. We got badly injured by walking and swimming through coral and climbing the cliffs.
Now the American Samoan authorities are making us responsible for everything and they are demanding us to clean up the mess. This could cost us about $20,000.
We have lost everything we had. We have lost our beautiful Volunteer. We have no resources to respond to their claim. We are devastated. Please help us.
Dear friends,
I realized my bank account in French Polynesia was not supported by GoFundMe so I couldn't get the funds. Fortunately a good friend of mine, Aleece Germano, offered herself to help me with the bank transfer through her account to my bank account. So I want to special thank her for making this possible.
Organizer and beneficiary
Esteban Galvez
Organizer
Oakland, CA
Aleece Germano
Beneficiary