21 October 2009

*lobster pirates at mystic seaport




This past weekend I was able to sit down and go over quite a few images that I've been dying to do something with...

I tackled images I photographed back in 2008... Ages ago now! I went with Jacob, my parents and his mum, visiting from NZ, (when we were in the US) to Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. I love it there! Apparently (I've never seen it but..) my Great Great Grandfather has his boat in storage there.

The story goes a little something like this...

Levi Jackson, 32, fisherman, helped to save William H. Haskell, 46, sea captain; Ida M. Haskell, 34, and 12 others from drowning, Edgartown, Massachusetts, January 23, 1910. In a very rough and treacherous sea following a heavy storm, Captain Jackson and a crew of four men went in the "Priscilla," a small fishing boat, to a disabled schooner that had grounded on a shoal in the Atlantic Ocean four miles from shore. The "Priscilla," after careful manoeuvring, was brought in the lee of the schooner and anchored, and three of the crew, each with a 17-foot dory, made trips to the wreck and rescued its occupants, one at a time. Great difficulty was experienced in effecting the rescues on account of the waves that swept over the wreck, but after two hours’ work, under Jackson’s direction, all were gotten aboard his boat. The "Priscilla" had to make a trip of 13 miles, part of the way through very heavy seas, to reach Edgartown, a huge wave at one time nearly filling the boat.

I found this on the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission website. What's funny, is I vaguely remember hearing bits and pieces of it when I was growing up, but no that I am older, I really understand why it was so important. Go Grampa Jackson!

So anyway, I was so happy to really forge through the images. I feel really appreciative that I had such a cool up-bringing like that. Sea Captains, Lobster Pirates, and Mermaids trapped in seaweed. Ghosts of the wives of men lost at sea, sad and alone, haunting the homes and widows peaks on the rocky coastline, awaiting their lovers’ return.

x

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