May 5, 2021 • Volume 10, Issue 5 • Complimentary • HiltonHeadSun.com
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THE BOATING LIFE
Tales of a 65-year-old greenhorn attest to dreams realized By Tim Wood CONTRIBUTOR
(Editor’s note: We asked you to tell us your story, and we are so honored Valerie Palmer took us up on that offer.) Dreams have no expiration date. Too often, our will to chase them down is what finally gives out. Valerie Palmer was determined to not let the rigors of life extinguish her dream. It just took her 18,250 days – 50 years – to make it a reality. Water has always been in Palmer’s blood. She was born in Salem, Mass., across the street from The House of the Seven Gables, the seaside mansion built in 1668 by Capt. John Turner, one of the world’s most successful maritime families ever. Her grandfather was the long-time harbormaster in Salem. Her mother was the New England champion for single skull racing, having beat out a man for the title. “I don’t remember a time not being able to swim,” said the 87-year-old Hilton Head Island resident and mother of longtime islander Laurie Bunting. “We didn’t have the money for a boat, but I always found a way to be on and in the water.” As a junior at Marblehead High School
It’s sea turtle season: Be cautious, helpful 12A
in 1951, she saw a film about the Yankee Clipper, a vessel that was taking students for a two-year trip around the world. Palmer knew this was her destiny. “I called Irving Johnson, the skipper, and said, ‘I want in.’ I’ve never wanted to do anything more,” she said. “Problem was the price was $4,000 and I didn’t even have close to $40.” Palmer found a way to quench her thirst for adventure and wanderlust on land at first. She heard of traveling jobs with the government and ended up working for the Air Force stationed in Japan in her early 20s. Palmer constantly worked for much of the next four decades, got her masters degree in psychology and provided as the single parent to four kids after “a marriage that never worked” ended after 20 years. She spent many of those years in a Victorian house in the Philly suburbs, dreaming of a day when she’d move to Cape Cod. She fulfilled that dream in moving to Chatham before a family tragedy forced a life change. A mid-1990s trip to a Marblehead High reunion would change her life once more. “I remember talking to a woman talked
Please see DREAMS on page 8A
Mental Health Month: Help is available 14A
TIM WOOD
Fearless former deckhand Valerie Palmer holding photos from her adventures.
Foundation for Educational Excellence awards grants 18A
Teen drivers to see more options for lessons 22A
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