Not too long ago I again had the pleasure of shooting a feature for Intelligent Life Magazine's Places section. This time I headed to the tiny island of Salt Cay in the Turks and Caicos.
The story is by writer and journalist Charles Laurence who lives on the island part of the year in the Charming House, and takes his beloved boat, the Captain Haddock, sailing. Built by a local builder named Edwin, the boat is a last vestige of a long family-line of traditional boat builders that may end with Edwin.
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| Captain Haddock and Tin Tin |
I spent a few magical days on the island photographing the building and the sailing of the Haddock as well as island "life". Although I found that to be a bit of a misnomer as life generally indicates something with a faster pulse then what I found. Rush hour traffic is pretty much two donkeys on the same road, and during the majority of the day you can find barely a soul out of the 50 inhabitants on the streets.
But therein of course lies the charm. Time doesn't exists unless you want it to, guided only by celestial cues, the island embodies a reality all it's own, skipping between history and the present as easily as an afternoon stroll. The real beauty doesn't just lie in the natural Caribbean geography that surrounds, but in the people with their own set of idiosyncratic lives that occasionally intersect to create a singular shared reality that is as fleeting as the wind itself.
Check out Charles's story in the Nov/Dec issue of Intelligent Life, you can get a copy at your local newsstand or bookstore.
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| Edwyn sanding the keel before applying the fiberglass |
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| Edwyn working the fiber glass on the keel of the Captain Haddock. After the fiber glass dries it will have to be sanded and painted before the boat can be returned to the water. |
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| Edwyn working the fiber glass on the keel of the Captain Haddock. After the fiber glass dries it will have to be sanded and painted before the boat can be returned to the water. |
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| Edwyn's hands |
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| Edwyn at the end of a long day. At 82 years old, he believes the Captain Haddock will be the last boat he builds |
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| Herbert Simmons attends service at St. John's Church with his granddaughters. |
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| Friday morning service at St. Johns Church on Salt Cay |
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| Flamingoes flying over the South Creek of Salt Cay behind Charming House. Every morning this flock can bee seen well into the afternoon taking in the sun and feeding. |
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| Lionel preparing one of the Conch shells we pulled out for lunch |
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| Lionel eyeing a flock os seagulls while fishing and sailing on the Captain Haddock |
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| The Salinas at sunset with the white house crowned by the setting sun. Salt Cay has been dominated by Bermudan salt traders, since the late 1700's, specifically the Herriot family whose White House has been a Salt Cay landmark since the early 1800's. |
