The way Bob Batchik tells it, it all started when he and his wife moved into a home with a wood-burning fireplace. He’d sit by the hearth carving wood shavings from kindling to get the fire going, and once it was burning well, he’d continue carving the sticks into small figures — often fish — that eventually went into the fire, too.
The tragic death last summer of a Chicago-to-Mackinac sailor from the Transpac 52 Imedi led to a re-examination of life-saving techniques and equipment for sailors.
