Florida, United States

A tattered 'ghost ship' appeared on Pensacola Beach in Florida last month and left the nearby residents puzzled. 

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The 45-foot shipwreck washed up on shore on June 18 in an extremely unusual turn of events.

The boat appeared mysterious and was first spotted by 46-year-old Francine Farrar. It was then found out that the boat's name was Lady Catherine III and it was owned by 39-year-old Michael Barlow. 

Barlow had spent a major share of his life savings to buy the vessel, which was now destroyed and tattered. 

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The $80,000 sailboat had sunk while he was trying to 'explore the world'. The owner, who survived a daring rescue operation, was forced to abandon the ship and enlist in the Coast Guard. 

Eventually, broken and ruined  Lady Catherine made a sudden appearance on the sandy shores of the Florida panhandle. 

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Story of the 'ghost ship' 

The owner of the ghost ship, Barlow had a dream of living a freer and fulfilling life with his wife and 9-year-old son.

"We were just going to explore the world. We’re normal people. We have normal finances, very, very basic. And this is the only way I could take my son and show him there’s a whole world out there, beyond what’s in America," said Barlow, while speaking to NBC 6 South Florida.

More than a month ago, Barlow and his friend started an 884-mile journey from Fort Pierce, Florida, back to Texas. 

He had decided to close his excavation business and sold his worldly possessions to fund his new lifestyle.

The owner spent days studying the weather patterns before leaving, reported WEAR News, and concluded that "the forecast was beautiful." 

"We had 15 to 20 knots on our backs all the way home to Texas," said Barlow.

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However, there were drastic changes in the sailing conditions just a week into the maiden voyage of Barlow with Lady Catherine. 

"The seas started building, wind hit us and it was 30 to 40 knots. It pretty much stayed that way for the next two days," said Barlow. 

During the sail, waves erupted in a series of storms and crashed against the ship and high winds ripped it. 

"When it started getting crazy, I knew the boat could handle it and we just sent it," he said.

Barlow battled for three days as the weather slowly damaged his ship. With the help of a Garmin tracker, he was in touch with his family.

"The autopilot broke in the first storm, so we had been hand steering for three days. [My friend] had all the symptoms of hypothermia and he went down below and passed out. He was unconscious throughout all of this," he said.

He decided to hit the SOS button on his Garmin and was able to contact the Coast Guard in New Orleans. After which he was rescued, but had to abandon the ship.

(With inputs from agencies)