It’s hard to believe that it's been 20 years since Captain Eliot Winslow logged out. It seems like almost yesterday that we chatted in the Robinson’s Wharf parking lot. Well, mostly I listened, Eliot chatted. He was an institution with plenty to say. We had become buddies over the years going back to my earliest times here in Maine.

My first introduction to Eliot came during one of his famous ARGO cruises. I had been encouraged by Phyllis Washington to go for a boat ride to see some of the remarkable scenery along our beautiful Maine coast. I missed out on the “Chicken cruise” which became quite a draw over the years, accompanying discussions from the helm by the tour director. I think Jeanne Calhoun was the first mate and attendant, if memory serves me. 

As is often the case, I was digging around through a stash of prints and came across the photo today shared. Odd that it should be turning up 20 years after Captain Winslow’s passing. He had asked me to stop over to the house to make a photo of him and his beautiful Irish setter, whose name I don’t recall. After I made the above photo, Eliot asked me to photograph his pup alone for posterity, which I happily did. But a portrait of Eliot alone was denied, in good spirits. I would catch some with him alone during photography from aboard tugs at Bath Iron Works.

That’s where I got to know more about Captain Winslow and his business modus operandi.

On one of my visits to BIW with the Winslow tug crew, they were moving ships. All the tugs were there and Eliot felt it might be a good chance to get a photograph of the fleet. I was game but it was freezing cold with wind and was difficult getting all the tugs lined up. I directed the show from the roof of a small BIW tug on a radio shared with all the tugs. A difficult dance for sure when suddenly over my radio came the unmistakable voice of the Captain himself. “Jes_s  Chr t, Mitchell, get the shot.  Do you know how much this is costing me?!”

Another adventure with Eliot was almost as embarrassing. I had been asked to photograph the wedding of Gregg and Kathy (Hartley) at the Methodist church. It was a big deal, with a packed house. As the bride made her way down the center aisle, I was walking backward photographing her entrance when all of a sudden I got a tug on my jacket. Who in the world would be bothering me at a critical time like this! It was Eliot. “You might want to remove your lens cap,” he whispered. Oh my God! I was using a then fairly new to me used rangefinder camera called a Mamiya Universal Press. It was a medium format camera utilizing larger film for greater resolution. The issue with any rangefinder camera is you don’t actually view through the lens as with more modern SLR cameras. I had forgotten to remove the lens cap. Captain Winslow never let me forget and I was eternally grateful.

My last major experience with the good captain came at the Boothbay Harbor Opera House when Eliot decided to hold a pre-expiration memorial service. He said he wanted to hear what everyone had to say about him … with the opportunity for rebuttal. It was the show of a lifetime with great fanfare, uproars of laughter and memorable stories.

The man cut a wide swath.