Tyler Island Hurricane Recovery Fund

Hi everyone, my name is Scott, and I'm here to raise funds to help Captain Tyler Martin, one of our closest friends and most amazing team members on the Bluesail team. Unfortunately, Hurricane Ian virtually destroyed his boat and home as it rolled through Key West last night.

Before I get into those details, let me tell you a bit about one of the most humble and caring people I've ever had the pleasure to know. Some of you know the story of my friendship with Tyler Martin, but for those who don't know the story, it started back in 2017 shortly after I purchased my boat, S/V Don't Blink. I was looking for a sailing instructor to help me become more competent on the water and ended up hiring Tyler to help achieve those objectives. We spent 10 days sailing the Florida Keys and Cuba, and that's all it took for us to become friends for life. Since then, we've started and now run a successful sailing school and charter company in Key West where we both live. Working with Tyler has been the highlight of my life, and I know he has become such a close friend to so many others around the world as well.

Those who have had the pleasure of meeting Tyler know how incredibly generous and caring he is, no matter the circumstances. He puts the happiness and comfort of his friends, family, charter guests, and sailing students far and above that of himself and would gladly give you the shirt off his back if he felt you needed it. Personally, Tyler has been there for me through some of the most challenging decisions I've ever had to make, and I credit him in such a huge way for being where I am in life today. He has become like a brother to me, and an extended close family member to almost everyone that has met him.

As many of you already know, Tyler has spent no less than the last 5 years both living aboard and restoring his incredible sailboat/home here at one of the boat yards in Key West. He has poured every ounce of his income, along with blood, sweat, and tears, to fulfill his dream of living and sailing her down in Panama. He was just a few short months away from fulfilling that dream when Hurricane Ian hit the Florida Keys. The storm is still passing as I write this, however this morning we discovered the ground below the boat stands holding Tyler's boat eroded from underneath with the storm surge and high tide during the storm, causing his boat to fall off the stands, suffering permanent and irreversible damage. What's worse is Tyler's boat was in a category of boats that was too large to insure relative to the value of the boat, which means his boat and home are nearly a complete loss and he'll be starting from scratch starting today.

One of the boat owners in the Bluesail charter fleet has generously offered their boat, which is unharmed from the storm, for Tyler to stay on until he gets back on his feet. His network of friends and the Bluesail family here in Key West will work alongside Tyler to recover as much from inside the boat as possible, however he's going to need more help for those that are able to do so.

In addition to finding a new place to live, Tyler could use some help with basic living expenses, clothes, and salvage costs associated with cleaning up the wreckage that was his boat. We anticipate needing about $35,000 to get started, and we'll adjust that funding goal as necessary over the next few weeks.

If you'd like to learn more about Tyler, he has some amazing content online including some videos from during the storm, on his Instagram account. Click here to check it out.

Please consider donating whatever you can in order to help Tyler recover from this terrible disaster. If you have any questions about specifics or would like any additional information, please don't hesitate to let me know.