Paddleducks
General => Introduce Yourself => Topic started by: rjenkins on January 27, 2006, 10:26:57 AM
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Hi everybody,
I've been lurking here for a while but I decided now is as good a time as any to introduce myself. I was born in England, grew up in Minnesota, went back to England for a couple years after college, and for the last 10 years or so I've been living in the Boston area. For as long as I can remember I have been a steamship fanatic, as well as an avid model builder.
During my high school and college years, I spent a lot of time photographing the dwindling fleet of vintage steam freighters sailing the Great Lakes, and spent three years as a tour guide on the preserved 1938 ore carrier William A. Irvin. These days I still frequent the Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping website and forums at http://www.boatnerd.com.
After I graduated from college, I spent about two and a half years (1994-1996) in London, and for much of that time I was a barman on the Tattershall Castle. I used to spend the slow winter seasons helping our engineer Terry Prudames clean, paint, and polish the engine room. During those years, I also travelled around the country visiting the other surviving paddlers, joined the PSPS and MQPS, and was a frequent passenger aboard the Waverley during her stops in London.
In recent years I have become actively involved with the Northeastern Maritime Historical Foundation (http://www.northeasternmaritime.org), a new group formed in 2003 with a growing collection of vintage tugboats, including the 1913 Great Lakes steam tug Q.A. Gillmore, which we hope to eventually restore to steam.
Richard Jenkins
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wow sounds like you've been busy! Welcome- however delayed it is!