Although Ed Eelman spent his adult life sailing the world his heart was in Texel where he grew up. Texel is one of a chain of islands that separates Holland’s Ijslemeer Sea from the North Sea. So when Ed Eelman retired he headed back to the farm his great-grandfather built. He knew a little history about the place like the fact that the beams supporting the farmhouse’s roof came from a shipwreck. This was not unusual on Texel where in the early days, shipwrecks were the usual source for timber and beams strong enough to support a farm roof. But Ed Eelman wanted to know more and started his research first locally and then nationally. He found out that the beams he gazed upon everyday came from a barque called Revolving Light which was built in 1875 at the Gaius Turner shipyard in Harvey, New Bruswick and ended its life in 1902 when it washed up on a Texel beach.

It was when he turned to the Internet and typed in the keywords “Harvey” and “Turner” that he eventually came up with the name Mary Majka and the beginning of an unexpected friendship.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Mary Majka, a Polish-Canadian was instrumental in restoring an aged and neglected wharf. It was all that was left of the Gaius Turner’s shipyard that built the Revolving Light. Her passion and commitment saved a significant chapter in the history of shipbuilding in New Brunswick. Ed Eelman was delighted to discover that the birthplace where his roof timbers were hued and shaped was so lovingly restored and the e-mails started to fly across the Atlantic. Ed and Mary soon discovered they had other passions in common like bird watching and photography.

Land & Sea followed the events that brought together these two strangers from opposite sides of the Atlantic because of a hundred year old ship wreck.