I read this on Capt Matt's FB page and felt it needed to be shared here from his friend Tim Collins:
I know this is a long post. Please take a moment to read.
I’ve known Matt Nunes through work for quite some time. During his last year or so leading up to retirement I was fortunate to be his partner as we handled Ford dealerships in the Atlanta region. While Matt always made sure to get his work done… most of the time I watched as he would scroll through boat listing after boat listing looking for the perfect boat to buy and live on once he retired.
He finally retired and he finally found his new home…Makai! I still remember the day he got Makai, he was so happy to be moving forward with his dream to retire, live on a boat and be an author. Oh yeah, if you are looking for a good murder mystery, check out the book “Last Call” by Matt Nunes. Anyways, I think he made it about couple hours out from the previous owner’s dock before his engine went kaput!!! A few months later and quite a few thousands of dollars and Makai had a new engine and it was time to finally go “home”.
Home was at Port Canaveral and every day, weather permitting, over the past couple years… Matt made Makai available to everyone and anyone that wanted to go for a sail. His home was truly open to all.
Recently when Hurricane Nicole came through it required all boats in the port to evacuate. Matt was forced to get Makai to a new place to ride out the storm and ended up down in the Melbourne area in what appeared to be a safe spot. All was good until around 3am when a big surge raised Makai several feet above the dock area, causing her to lean over. As the surge left as quickly as it had come, Makai crashes down on the wall. Water immediately started to pour in and Matt barely made it out before Makai was sunk.
I attempted to dive the boat this Saturday to get some personal belongings but the inside was pitch black and murky from the mud. And, there was all the floating debris like the carpet and bed comforter that wanted to wrap around me. I’ll be honest, a couple times… I panicked when I thought some items had fallen and blocked my path out. Nothing makes you appreciate being alive more than thinking you’re about to die.
Anyways, if you have made it this far… please read a bit more as I ask for you to consider contributing to this go fund me set up for Matt. The boat that he made available to so many people was his home. Insurance on a boat that was 50 years old is hard to come by so once the coverage he does has pays for it to be junked… Matt will still need a new home. The go fund me is almost at its original goal of $5,000 but we can go further! Can we possibly get to $35,000 and provide an entire new home for Matt? Like they always say, every dollar counts. If you can donate… awesome. If you can’t donate, please consider sharing the go fund me and ask others to share it as well.
Thank you very much for your time.
