ST AUGUSTINE, Fla -- Candles will flicker in the night to remember two crew members and the HMS Bounty - the ship that went down off the coast of Florida.
It was nearly two weeks ago the HMS Bounty sank as it attempted to travel from Connecticut to St Petersburg.
Rough waters from Hurricane Sandy were too powerful for the HMS Bounty. The three masted ship sank 90 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras. Two of the 16 crew members on board lost their lives.
"The loss of two beautiful people, the loss of a ship, it's really almost too much to put into words," said Kathy Gilbert.
She has volunteered with the HMS Bounty for years doing ground support. She can't describe the heartbreak she feels for Captain Robin Walbridge who went down with the ship.
"Very beloved captain by the crew. And Claudine, even though she was a new crew member, I had the honor of meeting her in May," she said. "All I can say is both are beautiful souls. And I'm honored and privileged to have known each one of them."
One crew member, John Jones, is from St Augustine. On Friday night, his community honored Jones and his crewmates with a candlelight vigil during the St. Augustine Pirate Gathering.
"We knew it was something near and dear to pirates and we wanted to make sure we did something to reach out to them," said event coordinator Faith Hirsch.
While everything was lost when Bounty went down, Gilbert just hopes a little piece will live on. A lasting memory of a ship rich in history and so full of life.
"I hope, through people never forgetting about it, always talking about it, I hope it will continue to live on forever," Gilbert said.
All money collected for the HMS Bounty this weekend will go directly to the families of the two lives lost and the 14 surviving crew members.
Crews have not been able to locate the ship underwater. But ground support volunteers hope one day they'll find it and will be able to salvage at least part.
