ROCKLAND, Maine — Family members of mariners lost at sea gathered Sunday to hear about a proposed memorial to honor their loved ones.
“I love it. It’s a wonderful thing,” said Stephanie Aiken.
Aiken’s 23-year-old brother Christopher Whitaker was lost at sea in October 2008 while fishing off Matinicus Island.
“This will bring us together as a community,” Aiken said.
Maria Randolph of Rockland came to see what was being proposed. Her 34-year-old niece Danielle Randolph was among the 33 merchant mariners lost at sea on Oct. 1 when the cargo ship El Faro sank off the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin.
She said she came to the gathering at the Trackside restaurant in Rockland to hear about the artist’s design.
The memorial is designed by sculptor Steven Carpenter of York. Carpenter has sculpted other mariner-related monuments.
He said he was contacted by Thomaston resident Jen Chapman who has organized the effort to get a memorial in Rockland.
The loss of the El Faro “has brought to light that there is no Lost At Sea Memorial for the midcoast Maine community. There is nothing where family members can engrave a person’s name who was lost at sea, to honor, immortalize and visit to remember their lost loved ones,” Chapman said on a Facebook page she created for the memorial effort.
Not all family members of mariners lost at sea support the design.
Deborah Dyer, the aunt of 23-year-old Dylan Meklin who was lost aboard the El Faro, said she would prefer a design that was less specific than the proposed memorial. Dyer said she would like a memorial that allows families to sit and reflect and be more comforting.
The memorial proposed by Chapman includes a 7-foot-tall rough granite monument of a man, dressed in foul weather fishing gear, throwing a life ring.
The plan includes placing large, solid pieces of smooth, polished granite where the names of those lost at sea will be engraved.
Dyer said that her family wants a memorial, just not this design.
Chapman said she wants to show the city of Rockland that there is support for the effort. If the memorial were placed on city property, it would need the approval from City Council.
An account has been established at the Midcoast Federal Credit Union, Chapman said, and donations are welcome. The goal is to raise $75,000.
She said the monument would be a gift to Rockland with the condition that it is placed at Buoy Park, overlooking the bay, the breakwater and the sunrise.