Save a piece of Gulf Coast history!!!

[Louis C LaCour Jr]

My letter to Carl Cramer, publisher of WB Magazine, says it all:

===Quote===

Dear Carl:

As publisher of Wooden Boat Magazine, I’m passing this information on to you with the hope that perhaps you can direct it to where it would do most good.

My family all live in Southeast Louisiana (New Orleans area), and were severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina. But aside from the obvious things like flooded homes, lost jobs, etc., we suffered an additional loss. We are the owners of a 60-foot, cypress-hulled Biloxi Lugger, named the “Starry Night,” built by the Covacevich Yard of Biloxi, Mississippi in 1928. I’ve attached a picture taken when she was looking her best so you can have some idea of what the boat looked like.

At the time Katrina hit, she was docked at Oak Harbor in Slidell, Louisiana. The reports I’ve received is that Oak Harbor hand winds peaking at 179 mph at the height of the storm, with a storm surge approaching 30 feet. Regrettably, the Starry Night could not endure the onslaught and she foundered. She now lies at the bottom of Oak Harbor as I write this.

The insurance we had on the boat was but a fraction of what it would take to make her usable again, and I’m trying to avoid seeing her go to a scrap heap.

So, my message to you is this: if you know of anyone, or any organization, that would be interested in having Starry Night as a restoration project, we would be happy to make the donation.

Please get the word out in the wooden boat community; I can only hope that someone can give her what she needs.

Best regards,

Louis C. LaCour, Jr.
11911 Ellen Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70811
225-778-1008 (home)
225-205-3874 (cell 1)
205-317-4832 (cell 2)
225-615-8449 (work)

===EndQuote===

P.S. As I can't include a picture here, please let me know if you'd like me send you a photo of the boat taken 2 years ago.

Thanks to all.

[Louis C LaCour Jr]

Here's the picture:

http://tinyurl.com/8pjzo

[Wild Dingo]

Sorry to hear of your loss Louis she looked to have been a true beauty

Heres hoping someone will give you a hoi and set a rescue underway

[Doug Wood]

Louis - this is just heart breaking. STARRY NIGHT is a beautiful boat and it's sad to know she didn't fare well in the storm. I hope you and your family are doing well.

In terms of looking for possible donation choices, you may want to consider the folks at IYRS (http://www.iyrs.org/) or the Apprenticeshop (http://www.apprenticeshop.com/).

Best of luck moving forward.

[George Roberts]

You might read the long recent thread from another who came asking for money.

Not to offend ...

You saw fit to not have sufficient insurance.

[Gary E]

Hey Georgeeee

Dont be to hard on the guy, all those people lost not only their boats but homes, cars, and EVERY OTHER DAMN THING THEY OWN...

And as has been shown here NUMEROUS times, wood boats are very hard if not impossible to insure unless it's your little box of boards sitting on a trailer and stored in your garage.

That area of the coast is devestated, it will NEVER come back to what it was.

Again Louis, I am sorry you lost it, but I really doubt there will be any interest, but who knows.

Good luck

[ 10-14-2005, 04:54 PM: Message edited by: Gary E ]

[Dave R]

Sorry about your loss. I hope somone will be interested in bringing her up and setting her to rights.

Geez, George. This seems entirely different than the clown you referred to. Loius hasn't asked for money. He's only asked if there's someone or some organization to which he can donate the boat in hopes they'd recover and restore it.

[StevenBauer]

Sorry George, I'm with Dave on this one.

Good luck, Louis, she's a beaut.

Steven

[Adamant]

Louis, you don't mention if she's still on the bottom of the bay but I assume she is. Even though, you might want to conceder donating her to the Wooden Boat Rescue Foundation. They may be able to find a person willing to save her and that seems to be your goal.
I'm so sorry for youre loss. I'm sure by the look of the picture you were very close to her and it's going to take you some time to get over her but time is important if she is to be saved.
best of luck, Don.

[Louis C LaCour Jr]

Thanks for all the kind words. And, no, I sure wasn't looking for a handout, just a hope that I could put Starry Night in the hands of someone (or some organization) that would be interested in renewing her. As best I am aware, no insurer would have written a policy for replacement value, even if one could afford the premiums; as one company rep once told me, that won't do that because it simply invites too much fraud. So, you're limited to market value/purchase price, which is but a fraction of replacement cost.

Thanks to all - I'll post again when the boat's ultimate fate becomes clear.

Louis

[Louis C LaCour Jr]

I've entered a listing on the Wooden Boat Rescue Foundation's site. Here's hoping...

Thanks for the suggestion.

Louis