Volume 2 Issue 13

November 3 , 2006

Lettitor
By Heather Holbrook

  The medium sized brown box on the table was making suspicious noises. A kick, a squawk, a flapping bumpity bump. A teeny African owl about the size of a poptart was making it plain that he wanted out. Kin to the screech owl, this white faced Scops was awaiting his turn to meet the kindergarten classes at Sullivan’s Island Elementary on October 20.
      “Does he eat squirrels?” asked one wide-eyed little girl. “Nope,” said Stephen Schabel, Education Director for The International Center for Birds of Prey. “He’s about the same size as a squirrel!” And then we held our breath as the owl flew noiselessly back and forth at his keeper’s whistle, over our heads to his reward of bits of beef.
      I was an honorary kindergartener that day and just as excited as the five-year-olds to see an assortment of magnificent flying creatures. One by one, Stephen presented a hawk and two owls. And while I do not own a bird myself, and am easily creeped out if a parrot or macaw perches on my shoulder, I like animals that fly. Our firstborn’s first word was indeed ‘bird’. Driving home over the causeway, I automatically look up to the power lines on the left for “my” kingfisher that can be found overlooking the marsh to the north, seeking out a snack. He’s almost always up there.
      I’m sure I’m among many Islanders who enjoy watching the enormous osprey nest be built atop a pole just over the Connector on the mainland. Every year I happily note the season when big baby beaks appear from within and the mama osprey perches nearby with a writhing breakfast snake in her talons.
      Speaking of talons, Stephen passed around two severed claws of an eagle and an owl for us to admire their bleak ferocity. “Since birds of prey don’t have hands to hold a knife and fork,” he explained, “They hold their food with their beaks and cut it up with these.” The children thought this was cool.
      Another bird he brought was Red Tailed Hawk #14 (not pets, the rehabilitated birds remain unnamed at the Center) who sat quietly on her perch in the back corner of Mrs. Hipps’ room, eyeing the blue skies beyond the classroom window. #14 arrived at the Center in 1992 with a broken wing after being run over by a car, only the 14 th bird to pass through the hospital there. How do large birds get hit by cars you ask? Stephen instructed his rapt audience not to throw scraps of food out the car window onto the road. Why? Because rodents would be attracted to the food, therefore hawks or other birds would be attracted to the rodents, thereby endangering them to run ins with SUVs going 70 mph on Highway 17. Ahh, the children nodded wisely.
      To round things out, Stephen brought out an Asian Brown Wood Owl with beautiful dark feathers circling its eyes. These birds have excellent hearing. “Do you see any ears on this owl?” he asked the children who craned their necks to get a better view. We were treated to a glimpse of the owl’s otherwise invisible ear holes located on the sides of its head beneath short feathers. The concave feathered area surrounding both eyes served as a sort of funnel for sound waves. I couldn’t write fast enough, I was learning so many things. It made me want to make the trip to the Center and discover more about the other 197 birds they have in residence there.
      The International Center for Birds of Prey is dedicated to the study and welfare of birds and their habitats. Located at 7130 N. Highway 17 in Awendaw, the Center’s medical clinic treats hundreds of injured hawks, owls, falcons, ospreys, eagles, and other birds of prey each year, releasing the majority back into their natural habitat. The clinic operates 365 days a year with staff support from more than 60 trained and dedicated unpaid staff members. Some of whom perhaps were kindergarteners once upon a time who remember vividly a birds of prey presentation in class.

What to do if you find an injured bird of prey

Call the International Center for Birds of Prey at (843) 928-3494. They will help you with the following steps:

Carefully catch the bird.
Use a pair of heavy gloves—even a weak bird will attempt to defend itself. Approach the bird very slowly and from the front. Cover the bird with a towel, blanket, or jacket, and pick it up, taking care to fold the wings against the body and secure the legs and talons.

Place the bird in a sturdy cardboard box.
The box should be just slightly larger than the bird, with ventilation holes and a blanket or towel on the bottom. Keep the box in a warm, dark, quiet place away from children and pets. Do not disturb the bird once placed inside the box.

Do not offer food or water to the bird.
The bird may not be strong enough to digest solid food, even if it appears hungry, and feeding could harm or even kill the bird.

Injured raptors require specialized treatment and care from a licensed, experienced practitioner. It is illegal to possess any migratory bird without state and federal permits.

With your assistance, an injured bird of prey can be provided appropriate medical attention and a good chance for recovery and return to its natural environment.

Life aboard a Liveaboard:
Meet the Carton Family
By Heather Holbrook

     It’s 7:30 am on a typical school day. Parents on the island all have the same goal: to get their K-5 th graders to Sullivan’s Island Elementary School before the tardy bell rings at 7:40 . Cars and golf carts are lined up in front of the building for drop off (Hi Lincoln! Hi Jenny!), moms and kids on bikes pedal a little faster (Hey Carol and Sammy!), neighborhood kids and dads with dogs on leashes make their way up I’On Avenue (morning, Abedons!) And every day, rain or shine, you’ll see a French family walking purposefully from their catamaran ‘Twiny’ moored in the creek behind Sullivan’s Island at Station 15. “Oh, we like to walk,” smiled Frederique, referring to their morning routine. “It gets the blood moving and when Caesar gets to school, he is wide awake.”
      Caesar, a fifth grader, lives aboard the family’s 44 foot Cat Flotteur, one of only 10 in the world, with his mother and father, Frederique and Pascual, and his brother and sister, Robin, 15, and Victoire, 13. Originally from Northern France between Paris and Belgium , Pascual and Frederique Carton left France with their children in 2003 to see the world. “Everywhere you go you see men building houses; the world is changing very quickly. We want to show it to our family before it changes completely,” said Frederique.
      “We sold everything, furniture…we are not very attached to these things,” explained Pascual, a former businessman, mountain climber and a do-it- yourselfer. Spreading out their laminated map of the world, they retraced their journey thus far to Sullivan’s Island , specifically to the dock behind Mike and Linda Rumph’s house at Station 15 where they have temporarily tied up their floating home. I sat down in their sunny yellow galley with a strong cup of coffee to hear about their life.
      “We were very successful in France , but we said to ourselves, ‘Now what? Where do we go from here?’ We did not want to acquire more things; we decided to go see the world before it changed too much,” explained Pascual. So they sold everything but their heirlooms and other memories and headed out to a life on the water. “At first I wasn’t sure I would like it,” admits Frederique, a nature lover who says leaving behind a comfortable life, friends and family was not an easy decision. “But I’m glad we did it.”
      The richness that life aboard a boat and the unique experiences it affords their children is one that not many traditional families are brave enough to undertake, but it clearly offers a front row seat to a life of adventure. Before taking off, Pascual and Frederique took basic medical training to learn how to suture, give injections and set broken bones should the need arise in an emergency. They also made sure that their boat was equipped with every navigational tool they would need, in addition to a satellite phone, a lifeboat, solar panel, wind generator and rainwater collector.
      From St. Tropez, they sailed for Africa by way of the Canary Islands to Dakar and explored the Senegal River and Cape Verde . Next they sailed across the Atlantic to Salvador , Brazil and up to Belem where they ventured 1,000 miles up the Amazon, spending 5 months deep in the rain forest. There, as in Africa , they brought school supplies to donate to each village they visited.
      “You know the saying about the glass half full, half empty?” asked Frederique who still home schools the children in French. “The Brazilians always see it full. (In the smallest villages) they gave us gifts just because they were happy.” And finally they landed in Martinique (because it is French!) to repaint Twiny’s aluminum hull before setting their sights on America to improve on their English. First considering New York City and then Annapolis , a sailor they met suggested the Cartons go to Charleston . Once here, they found it a perfect city in which to stroll. The gardens were in bloom and smelled beautiful and the artistic side of Charleston was in the full swing of Spoleto season.
      Soon thereafter, Pascual found himself in search of a Suzuki dealer to repair their dinghy’s motor which led him to Mike Rumph. Mike offered them a boat slip in June and that is how they ended up in this community. Eschewing marina life downtown, the family prefers Sullivan’s Island , stating that the boating community where one sailor always helps another was complimented by the kind nature of the island community.
      As for the younger Cartons, Robin, age 15, is now at Wando High, and is the fisherman of the family, an obvious fact drawn from the multiple digital photos flashing by on her laptop. Frederique mentioned how the computer link to the world was a comfort to the family while they were making their way across the ocean, in the middle of nowhere.
      Victoire, age 13, is a freshman at The School of the Arts where she studies ballet. I admired photos of her trading autographs with children in a village on the Amazon. Both were at school while I visited with their parents, but I was shown both their quarters and was impressed by their tidiness: unusual for teenagers, but essential to life on a boat. And I further appreciated the clever use of storage, particularly under the stairs. Keenly aware of the differences between my familiar American consumption ratio to this family’s almost Spartan … This lifestyle demands conservatism of almost every kind and one is careful not to let water run at the sink or buy a new sweater unless another is worn out.
      How are the children adjusting? I asked. Both parents agreed that they are very independent and that the transition to the school system has been a challenge, especially for Caesar. But that learning different disciplines is important.
      What’s next? The Cartons plan to fly back to France for the summer and rent an RV and travel though the Western United States next fall. Then, Pascual and Frederique plan to sail for Cuba , the Panama Canal , the Galapagos Islands and French Polynesia .

Want a ship built right? Talk to master shipwright Mark Bayne
By Kristin Hackler

      Local islander Mark Bayne must have one of the best jobs in the world. When he isn’t simply enjoying life on the Isle of Palms, Mark is a master shipwright. He has built several dozen boats for customers all over the continent and many around the islands. From 15 foot Chesapeake Bay styles, the most recent of which he built by hand with his 14 year old son, to the 140 foot pride of Charleston, The Spirit of South Carolina, Mark Bayne has built it all. His current project, a 35 foot catamaran, will have its final hull turning this weekend in a celebration ceremony that has been around for centuries. “Basically we have a few kegs of beer, a bunch of good barbeque and some hundred volunteers who all grab a side of the boat at the same time and flip it over,” Mark smiled. “It’s always a good time and it’s the best way not only to turn a boat, but to celebrate its construction as well.”
      The Spirit of South Carolina is his current project and all of his attention is focused on this giant beauty. Based on the 1879 pilot schooner the Francis Elizabeth, this sailing school vessel is built according to old world construction with all the modern upgrades. Including two Cummins Diesel engines and all the latest electronic communication and navigational technology, the ship itself will be able to hold up to 29 passengers, though 5 – 9 of those spots are reserved for crew and captain.
      The construction of the schooner actually began back in 2002 and has only recently begun to take shape. After a couple unexpected delays, February 2005 saw the raising of the great white tent in Calhoun Park next to the South Carolina Aquarium and the ship began its final journey toward completion.
      The plans for the original schooner, the Francis Elizabeth, were found at the Smithsonian Institution and sent to Peter Boudreau and Andrew Davis, proprietors of the preeminent tall ship design firm TriCoastal Marine. With a star-worthy background of famous ships, including the Amistad, the Spirit of Massachusetts and the USS Constellation, the TriCoastal team put together an excellent blueprint for the Spirit of South Carolina and passed the duty of bringing it to life to Mark Bayne.
      Mark’s twenty eight years of experience in traditional shipbuilding helped him find some of the most highly qualified staff in the country to assist in the building. A traditional ship seam artist, Chris Nelson, was brought down from New London, Connecticut to fill the seams throughout the entire ship.
      By using the long-established method of pounded caulk, a process that involves tapping oakum, a strand of old tarry ropes and the cordage of vessels impregnated with tar, into the seams of the outer boards, followed by topping it with lengths of raw cotton, Chris is able to make the ship absolutely water tight. “By filling the seams with oakum and cotton, we’re able to make the boards fit against each other perfectly so that the boat becomes one solid piece of wood. We finish the pounded caulk with a caulk sealant to keep the water off the strands, but the fiber is what keeps the boat completely sound and solid.” He demonstrated part of the method, showing how the oakum needed to be tapped in so that the seams looked like the beads of a weld before the cotton was applied. “The even application is what makes the perfect seal. It really is an art,” Chris said as he tapped away at the hull. “I’ll probably put about half a mile of pounded caulk in this boat before I’m finished.”
      Chris wasn’t the only artist applying his trade to the Spirit. Along the front, sorry, “bow” of the boat, we ran into Jim Knowles, a professional sculptor specializing in wood. He was meticulously applying gold paint to the hand carved trail boards running along the bow. All of the intricate wood carvings along the ship, of which there are plenty, are all his handiwork. He even hand painted the name of the ship across the back in tall gold lettering. Having been a sculptor his whole life, it was only about eleven years ago that he decided to specialize in carving for ships. Since then, he has been in an almost constant demand.
      Mark continued the tour of the ship, pointing out the spot where the galley would be, where to main mast and second mast would run through the hull, where the head would be, and where the twenty eight bunks would line the rooms below decks. He finished with a once over of the solid teak deck, part of which was being worked on by another local artist, Teddy Huff of Isle of Palms, and listed the types of wood that would be going into the construction. “All of the traditional woods, really. We’re using long leaf pine, cypress, live oak, purple heart and Douglas fir. The live oak and cypress are what we call “road kill”, you know, the trees that have been approved for cutting down during road expansions and lot clearings.” As if to prove it, a chunk of live oak lay to one side of the construction site, no less than three and a half feet wide and about six feet long, looking like it had just been hauled from a construction site.
     To Mark, shipbuilding is the best way to live. Imagined concepts take shape through his hard work and skill and every completed project is an overwhelming source of pride. Though he’s pretty wrapped up with the Spirit of South Carolina and the construction of the Adventure, the traditional tallship being built at Charles Towne Landing, Mark is still available to discuss new projects. Find out more about his building skills and past experience on his website www.islandboatworks.com. And for more information on the progress of the Spirit of South Carolina, check out the ship’s website at www.scmaritime.org.