Ship in a Bottle

I think it was a prune juice bottle, the vessel inside was handmade by my maternal grandfather. Grandpa was a lifelong mariner from the far Down East Coast of Maine. He first went to sea in the age of sail, eventually becoming Captain in the heyday of coal hauling steamers plying the Atlantic coast from Virginia to Boston. In his early career he entered the Lighthouse Service as a surfman, patrolling the coast, rescuing fellow mariners in vessels run aground, capsized or in trouble along the rocky shores. Later, he served as quartermaster on a Lighthouse Tender, delivering goods to Maine lighthouses. 

After his stint as Master of vessels loaded with coal he joined the Coast Guard and served on Lightships anchored on dangerous shoals off of our New England coast. He served proudly on vessels with names like the Pollack Rip, the Handkerchief, the Relief.  

Bottled for time, I'm lucky enough to have the Relief on my windowsill. A ship model somehow inserted in a bottle as green as the Atlantic where the real Relief bobbed and rolled at anchor protecting vessels so many times her size.

http://www.uscglightshipsailors.org/lightships/old_cglightships/

For the Record,
This day came in cold and sunny. Light snow on the way for tomorrow.

All hands healing

Extras, glass negative( shot by my great grandfather) of the Lighthouse Tender, Lilac(they all had flower names, Grandpa served on the USS Zizania.  A collage of my grandfather and his future brother in law, Nora's brother Paul, and Grandpa at sea with the ship's dog.