This photo of the Becky Lyn is one of the first shrimp boat pictures that I ever took. It was one of those days that I love; the bay like glass and the horizon almost impossible to distinguish as the water and sky seemed to blend together. I soon began to think of Becky Lyn as "my " shrimp boat, and I would watch for her leaving the safety of the Bon Secour River as she was going out shrimping and then look for her coming across the bay returning to her dock on the river.

Then one day in early July 2012, I looked out to see a shrimp boat being towed across the bay. It didn't take me long to recognize the blue hull and lines of the Becky Lyn. However, the name on the bow of the boat was difficult to read through the charred and peeling paint. I felt as though I had been kicked in the stomach. I learned that the Becky Lyn had caught fire in the bay early that morning a couple of miles north of Ft. Morgan. Unable to fight the blaze, the crew members had to jump in the water and were rescued by another vessel. Though the boat was a loss, the crew was safe and that is what really matters.

The Becky Lyn image has become very special to me. Not only will there be no more pictures taken of her, but I think that it was this photo that stirred my passion for photographing shrimp boats.