For Sparky and myself, curiosity drives passion which in turn fuels our life's engine. Our passion was capturing the story of both unbuilding the Grace (1929 - 2007) and Pearman (1966 - 2007) Bridges and discovering the unbuilders. It takes a lot of passion to track a project from July 2005 until April 2007 - rain, shine, hurricanes or moving to Singapore. We discovered the joy of discovery learning. Ken Canty opened the front door for us - then Steve Testa, Ponch Billingsley and Mickey Rogers opened many side doors. Below are the highlights of what we discovered, who we met and what we learned.
And a reminder from T.S. Eliot (East Coker from the Four Quartets)
Home is where one starts from. As we grow older The world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated Of dead and living. Not the intense moment Isolated, with no before and after, But a lifetime burning in every moment And not the lifetime of one man only But of old stones that cannot be deciphered.
This was a day for Sparky. Long time friend Mark Bayne, the shipwright for the Spirit of South Carolina, and his team had conpleted the construction of the pride of Charleston. Here is the story, photos - and Sparky will fill me in on the details.
Everything takes place under the watchful eyes of Cousin Arthur
Introducing the "Spirit of South Carolina"
With lots of folks to help
One of the very pleased craftsmen
Another view of Mark's creation
Getting ready (for something)
Last minute discussions - Mark Bayne (left)
From the stern
From the bow
Smiles from Mark - a very happy shipwright
And a serious ceremony
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
C. Frank Starmer