London couple homeless as violent storm destroys houseboat

Ashley Corkish, 35, and Jamie McSeveney, 33, were caught in the unexpected weather onboard their Elysian 34 boat on September 29.

The 34ft long houseboat, which they bought in February, was obliterated in the storm and washed up on the shores of Mersea Island, in Essex, three days later.

The couple are now sofa-surfing with friends in London while they return to work and are hoping to be back on the water by Christmas. 

The couple lived on the boat. (Image: SWNS)

Ms Corkish, from London, said: "I really thought we were going to die when the boat was rocking from side to side.

"It was horrific and really scary. Our anchor had snapped with the violence of the waves which left us fully adrift.

"Someone found the boat as it came back in with the tide a few days later. It had sunk but still looked intact.

"Within the hour of the tide and the waves crashing against the seawall, it was completely destroyed."

They hope to be back in their boat by Christmas. (Image: SWNS)

Ms Corkish, an EMT for the ambulance service, and her partner Mr McSeveney, a builder, bought the boat in February having lived on them before.

They were renovating it to live full-time in Limehouse, London, and had been transporting it from Norfolk by another boat when they anchored up for the night.

Ms Corkish said: "We stopped at 7pm as the tide was too low to continue but half an hour later the tide came back in and brought an almighty storm we hadn't predicted.

"The power went out, everything was going everywhere and the boats were crashing against each other, putting holes in them. 

They now have a Go Fund me. (Image: SWNS)

"We called the coastguard and a helicopter and dingy arrived just under an hour later - we were seven and a half miles away from the shore.

"The RNLI were dealing with multiple incidents and said they weren't able to tow the boat back so they took us to Mersea and we were transported to Colchester Hospital.

"We only suffered minor injuries but we were hypothermic and Jamie had swallowed some water from the spray on the lifeboat."

Locals of Mersea Island donated the couple clothes and food as they had been left homeless and three days later, the boat washed up on Cooper's Beach.

Their insurance will cover the cost of recovering the wreckage of their boat but won't replace anything they lost, including their home.

The couple were not able to save anything. (Image: SWNS)

Ms Corkish said: "We couldn't salvage anything - even our clothes had holes in them. 

"We are devastated. We've had to stay with friends as all we've got left is our jobs.

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"Everything we owned was inside of that boat."

"We put our life savings into it but we hope to be back on a new boat before Christmas.

"We want to say thank you to the people of Mersea and the RNLI for helping us."

The couple are fundraising to help rebuild their savings and find a new boat to live on before Christmas.