UPDATE: Future promising for British sailboat that washed ashore in Johnson Bayou
Published 6:50 pm Friday, May 23, 2025
(Ashlyn Little / American Press)
Alex Carter and his beloved boat, Acid Rain. (Ashlyn Little / American Press)
(Ashlyn Little / American Press)
Kibodeaux Services and 5M Services load the battered Acid Rain for transportation to a repair yard. (Ashlyn Little / American Press)
Alex Carter and his beloved boat, Acid Rain. (Ashlyn Little / American Press)
Alex Carter celebrates the loading of his boat, Acid Rain, with Johnson Bayou residents Bill and Lila Terry. The Terrys have been helping Carter by letting him stay at their home and setting him up a checking account for donations to help him fix Acid Rain and sail home. (Ashlyn Little / American Press)
Alex Carter and his beloved boat, Acid Rain. (Ashlyn Little / American Press)
United Kingdom native Alex Carter has been in Louisiana for three weeks tending to his beloved Acid Rain. The sailboat washed ashore in Johnson Bayou after Carter had to abandon ship when the rudder was ripped from its base near Guatemala.
Carter said he assumed he would never see Acid Rain again until he received a message from the Cameron Parish Sheriff’s Office that the boat was along its shoreline.
Unsure how the vessel would be once he reached it, Carter said he “fell on my knees and was in tears. I had spent the last couple of weeks thinking I’d never see her again and there she was all bashed up and broken into and in pain now on the beach.” Carter said sadly.
Thanks to the help of Kibodeaux Services and 5M Services — and the hospitality of several Cameron families — Acid Rain’s next era is promising.
Mark Kibodeaux with Kibodeaux Services said he has taken on many jobs before — mostly tree-related and pool fill-ins — but not one quite like this. For the better part of the day on Friday, Kibodeaux’s team had the mighty job of lifting Acid Rain and putting her on a trailer.
The biggest challenge was the weight of Acid Rain, Kibodeaux said.
“We’re sticking to trees,” Kibodeaux said, chuckling after being asked if his company would move more boats in the future.
After a long day of work getting Acid Rain off the beach and onto the trailer Kibodeaux had some final words for Carter, “I just want to wish Alex the best of luck.”
John Moss with 5M Services also played a big role in helping Acid Rain get from Johnson Bayou to its temporary home in a repair yard.
Carter said his next step is to go back home to the United Kingdom, work and make enough money to come back to Louisiana and fix Acid Rain. His goal is to get Acid Rain back on the water, launching in Lake Charles and going towards the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
Before departing, Carter asked a local Facebook group if anyone had American flags he could use to pay respect and gratitude to the people who have helped him. Acid Rain now has two American flags on display.
“I now have a family in Louisiana, I will be coming back,” Carter said. “I thought I had lost it all and now I might be able to continue my adventure, I feel overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude.”
Carter has been staying with Bill and Lila Terry the past three weeks. The Terrys have taken Carter in under their wings and been helping him through this time.
“Heaven sent” is the word the Terrys use to describe how they feel about Carter entering their lives.
“He’s got a really soft heart and he’s become one of us,” Lila Terry said.
“It was a blessing, he came at a really odd time in our lives, but we were able to bring Alex in when we met him in Johnson Bayou, we bonded immediately,” they said.
The Terrys also set up an email account — saveacidrain@gmail.com — for those wishing to donate to Acid Rain’s recovery.
“I can’t wait to continue on the voyage,” Carter said with a smile.
