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 //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 (//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

wow sounds like you've been busy! Welcome- however delayed it is!