Mystery of tattered 'ghost ship' that washed up on Florida beach is solved - and there's a heartbreaking twist READ MORE: Florida woman who lives on a 39 foot catamaran talks life at sea By James Cirrone For Dailymail.Com Published: 20:04 BST, 1 July 2024 | Updated: 20:18 BST, 1 July 2024 e-mail 20 View comments Pensacola Beach in Florida was the site of something extremely unusual last month - a shipwreck. A tattered, 45-foot sailboat washed up on shore sometime on June 18, catching the eye of many nearby residents who took to calling it the 'ghost ship.
' For people like 46-year-old Francine Farrar, who was one of the first to see the boat coming in, it carried mystery and intrigue. But for its owner, Michael Barlow, 39, the ship had a name: Lady Catherine III. More crucially, he had spent much of his life savings to purchase the now-destroyed vessel.
He sank $80,000 into the sailboat intending to 'explore the world' only to have to abandon ship and enlist the Coast Guard in a daring rescue operation. Pictured: The 'ghost ship' the washed onshore Pensacola Beach in June, weeks after its captain and owner, Michael Barlow, had to be rescued by the Coast Guard That's how the empty Lady Catherine, bought by Barlow in May, would eventually make its way to the sandy shores of the Florida panhandle, but the full story is much longer and more complicated than that. It started with Barlow's dream to live a freer, more fulfilling life with his wife and 9-year-old son.
'We were just go.
