Paul Carter’s final years in the Navy were largely spent working long hours on deployments.
When he returned to Oak Harbor after retiring in 2013, the shop in his backyard became his space to unwind.
“Right after I retired, I kind of hid away to decompress from the Navy,” Carter said. “I was deployed about 70 percent of the time my last three years. Just to decompress, I went in there and started making cabs.”
Cabs are a rockhounder’s shortened term for cabochons, which are rocks that are cut, shaped and polished into a domed formation for use in jewelry, pendants and other items.
The art of cutting and polishing such stones is called lapidary.
Carter, 50, has held a lifelong love for rockhounding, lapidary and some of the other skills associated with his hobby.
After finishing 30 years in the Navy, he found others who shared his passion in Oak Harbor and became a member of the Whidbey Island Gem Club.
His enthusiasm quickly recognized, Carter found himself in deep as he was picked as the club’s vice president and now oversees the group’s signature event that is as old as he is.
Carter is chief organizer of the 50th Annual Rock & Gem Show, which will take place Feb. 7-8 at the Oak Harbor Senior Center.
A thunder egg, found near Bend, Ore., reveals small holes that can be a rockhounder’s clue to what might have formed inside.
As a former aviation operations warrant officer in the Navy in charge of a mobile command center in locations all over the globe, Carter won’t lose too much sleep over his new responsibility.
Nevertheless, it’s an event he wants to see go well, showcasing a hobby and associated craftsmanship he and other club members are eager to educate younger generations about.
Silver smithing, cabbing, knapping, wire wrapping and other skills will be demonstrated at the event, which is free to the public.
“It’s not getting any more popular,” Carter said of the Whidbey Island Gem Club, which was formed in 1936 and currently has 107 members. “I’d say the average age of the club is about 60 years old. I’m probably the youngest one in the club.”
Carter caught the rockhounding bug at the age of 5 when he and his brother used to comb the Mojave Desert in search of agates, jasper and other stones with their father, who was then stationed at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.
Their mom also would often go on family rockhounding adventures.
“He had an old Jeep Scout,” Paul Carter said of his father, who died two years ago. “We’d get in the Scout and take off. We’d be gone all day long. We’d have stayed overnight if we could have.”
Carter took his father’s name and followed in other ways. His dad also spent a career in the Navy and was president of a gem and mineral club in Paradise, Calif.
After his father passed away, Carter took a trip to Paradise and brought back about 1,000 pounds of rocks his dad collected, along with some of his power tools.
In Carter’s shop are various polishers, buffers, trim saws and other mechanical devices used to transform rocks.
Carter’s wife, Cindy, had the shop built for him during one of his deployments.
He still spends most days in his shop, creating cabochons for use in jewelry, belt buckles and pendants, among other things.
He and his wife both work together in the art of wire wrapping, something longtime member Dick James teaches during classes at the senior center on Thursday nights.
The Carters have sold some items to help pay for their hobby, but that’s about all they can hope for.
The inside of this thunder egg reveals an agate.
“It’s an expensive hobby,” Paul Carter said. “That’s why being a part of the rock club is such a great deal. They have all the machinery you need.”
The club makes it a point to reach out to younger generations. Carter and other members visit North Whidbey Middle School to teach rock identification and the club has inspired the formation of a group of junior rockhounders.
“A lot of people are surprised at how ugly a rock can be, yet when you cut it open and see inside, it’s a thing of beauty,” James said. “It really amazes them.”
Whidbey Island isn’t necessarily a mecca for rockhounders; however, the beaches can offer a prime place to uncover some interesting geological finds as junior rockhounders have discovered jade, dinosaur bones and even mastodon teeth, Carter said.
However, rockhounders typically have to travel to Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington to find sought-after rocks such as thunder eggs and geodes.
Carter has traveled the globe looking for rocks during his time in the Navy. It’s a passion he and his wife share with their children and grandchildren.
“Kids nowadays are always on computer games,” Carter said. “It gets you outdoors. It gets you to see a lot of the country. It teaches you to take care of our resources, too. If you see litter, you pick it up. You don’t leave trash out there. If you dig a hole, you fill it back up. You always leave a place better than how you found it. There are certain rules of a rockhounder. It’s just an appreciation of the land.”
Rock Show
The 50th Annual Rock & Gem Show is Feb. 7-8 at the Oak Harbor Senior Center. Several vendors and demonstrators will be at the event, hosted by the Whidbey Island Gem Club. There will be demonstrations in silver smithing, cabbing, intarsia, stone bead making, wire wrapping, knapping and primitive tools. The show is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 7 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 8. Admission is free to the public; however, there is a cost for food. Oak Harbor’s Roger Anglum will be providing barbecue. There will be door prizes and a spinning wheel. The senior center is located at 51 SE Jerome St.
