Digest>Archives> July 2001

Keepers Korner

Tid-bits from the Tower

By Timothy Harrison

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Sankaty Light only 90 feet from disaster

Sankaty Lighthouse on Nantucket Island is only 90 feet from the edge of the cliff and it may be the next lighthouse that will need to be moved if it is to be saved. The erosion control system at the lighthouse is being upgraded, but it may not be able to save the lighthouse. If moved, the lighthouse would have to be relocated onto a private golf course, the only land available. The Coast Guard still owns the lighthouse, having offered it a number of years ago to the Nantucket Historical Association, which turned down ownership of the lighthouse because of financial concerns.

Next set of Legendary Lighthouses is ready for airing

The next set of programs of the Legendary Lighthouses TV programs is ready to be aired on PBS-TV. This series, underwritten in part by Lighthouse Depot is called Legendary Lighthouses II and is scheduled to begin airing on PBS-TV on August 30 with the first being Lighthouses of Hawaii. Future programs will be Lighthouses of Alaska, Thursday, Sept. 6 at 8 PM; Lighthouses of the Eastern Great Lakes, Thursday, September 6 at 8 PM and Lighthouses of the Gulf of Mexico to air Thursday, September 20 at 8 PM. However we suggest that you check your local listings for exact date and time, which will be slightly different in some areas and time zones of the United States.

Barnegat Light saved

A project costing nearly a million and half dollars to keep Barnegat Lighthouse, New Jersey, from toppling into the water has been completed. Erosion had washed away the sand on the bottom of the water near the western edge of the lighthouse, causing a 50-foot deep hole. Now, only time will tell if the project was successful. The project entailed the placing of 160 stone filled mattresses along the slope at the base of the lighthouse. Each mattress was 6 feet by 20 feet in size and 8 feet thick. Once these were in place they were covered by 9000 tons of boulders.

Barge installing 9000 tons of boulders atop the mattresses at Barnegat Light, NJ Photo by John P. Kozak.

Crisp Point gets grants

Crisp Point Lighthouse once listed as the most endangered lighthouse in the United States, has survived another winter thanks to the efforts of many volunteers and cash donations that were used to stop the erosion at the lighthouse. To complete the project the non-profit group has been awarded two additional grants. They will receive $52,000 from the Clean Michigan Initiative Waterfront Redevelopment Program and $10,000 from the Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program. Congratulations are in order to this hard working and dedicated group of volunteers.

Rockland Breakwater needs Harbour Lights sales

Consumer purchases of the Harbour Lights replica of the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse help the Friends of Rockland Breakwater in their efforts to restore the only lighthouse of its kind in the nation. It was widely hoped that Harbour Lights would be able to present the group with a check this September. However, this may be delayed since the replica is not yet sold out. If you have not yet purchased your Harbour Lights replica of Maine’s Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, please do so now. Your purchase will help restore the lighthouse as well is giving yourself a beautiful replica that will be enjoyed for years to come. It is available from all Harbour Lights dealers nationwide or on line at www.LighthouseDepot.com or by calling 1-800-758-1444. A picture of it is featured on the back cover of this month’s issue of Lighthouse Digest.

St. George Reef to get back its lantern room

The building of an exact replica of lantern room of California’s St. George Reef Lighthouse is proceeding on schedule and is expected to be back in place this summer. The original lantern room was destroyed as it was being flown by helicopter to the mainland for restoration last year. Fashion Blacksmith Co is making the exact replica.

GLLKA new web site

The Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association now has a new web site at - http://gllkakeepers.virtualave.net/

Dog Island Lighthouse Found

An underwater archaeology team has found the remains of Florida’s Dog Island lighthouse, which was destroyed in an 1870’s hurricane. There was no sign of the keeper’s house, although it could be buried under the rubble. There are no more scheduled dives in the area.

Oleszewski gets Special Award

Congratulations to lighthouse author Wes Oleszewski who recently received the Foundation for Coast Guard History’s, “Special Recognition” award for two of his books, Lighthouse Adventures, Heroes, Haunts and Havoc on the Great Lakes and Keepers of Valor, Lakes of Vengeance. Both books are available from Lighthouse Depot.

Lighthouse Monopoly

We have been trying for a long time to convince USAOPOLY to make a lighthouse version of Monopoly. There answer has always been they don’t feel there is enough interest in lighthouses. Wow, are they wrong!!!! We can’t prove it to them, but maybe if they get enough mail for our readers, they might change their minds. Write them and tell them that you’d like to see a lighthouse version of Monopoly and why. Send your letters to Dane Chapin, President, USAOPOLY, 565 Westlake Street, Encinitas, CA 92024 or email them at customersupport@USAopoly.com. If emailing them, be sure to address your email to Dane Chapin.

Money for Cove Point

The Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland recently received a $10,000 donation from the Williams Corporation to be used for improvements to the Cove Point Lighthouse grounds. The money will be used to construct an open sided pavilion to house interpretive exhibit panels and to build a raised observation platform overlooking the bay. For more information visit the museums web site at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com.

Unum Loses Its Lighthouse

Maine based Unum Insurance Company which recently merged with Provident Insurance Co. and changed its name to UnumProvident has dropped its long-standing lighthouse logo. The lighthouse logo, which was familiar to many New Englanders and was seen by thousands of motorists who drove on the highway past its corporate headquarters in Maine, where the logo was displayed on the front lawn, will now slip in the pages of history. The company is the world’s largest disability insurer. The new logo is simply the name of the company printed in blue block letters with a red striped wave. BORING! Personally, I think the people at UnumProvident who came up with this idea must be from another planet. The lighthouse logo was one of the most distinctive and recognizable uses of a lighthouse on a logo in the nation. It was a symbol that showed strength and security, something that the new futuristic logo does not. But that’s just my opinion.

Shattuck Gone

Clifford Bowen Shattuck, 67, of Lincolnville, Maine passed away at his Maine home. Shattuck was owner of the Lighthouse Motel in Lincolnville. He had authored several lighthouse books and was considered by lighthouse historians to know more about the lighthouse history of First Lighthouse District than anyone.

Thieves Dismantle Nuclear Lighthouse

According to a story in Associated Press four unemployed men in search of scrap metal dismantled generators at a nuclear-powered lighthouse in northern Russia, exposing themselves to dangerous does of radiation. The Russian Navy confirmed the theft and that the two men were hospitalized for radiation sickness and the other two are in jail. It seems that scavenging for non-ferrous metals is a widespread and dangerous practice in Russia. Russia uses thermoelectric generators to power lighthouses along the Arctic coast. A report issued last year stated that 14 of the 60 lighthouse nuclear generators inspected are in catastrophic condition. In fact, Russia has 160 nuclear powered lighthouses along the Russian Artic from Vladivostok in the east to the Kola Peninsula in the west.

New Book

Lighthouses and Lifesaving Along the Connecticut and Rhode Island Coast is the title of a new book by Jim Claflin. This is the third in a series of similar titles by the author. Inside you will see the lighthouse keeper at Bullocks Point Light as he survives the damage of the 1938 Hurricane, witness life savers at Block Island’s Sandy Point Station where the first word of the wreck of the steamer Larchmont was received and experience life on an off-shore lightship. The book is 128 pages with approximately 200 black and white photos. It is available from Lighthouse Depot as item #91514 for $19.99 plus shipping.

Keeper Killed

A drowning accident has claimed the life of the lighthouse keeper at Canada’s Puffin Island Light Station which is located near Greenspond, Bonavista Bay. Larry Keeping, 39, had been a lighthouse keeper for the Canadian Coast Guard since 1990. He drowned shortly after leaving Puffin Island in a small boat. The accident is under investigation.

Canadian Border Reopens

Last month we published a story about Machias Seal Island off Cutler, Maine being closed to visitors by the Canadian government. The island is home to a Canadian lighthouse and a large puffin colony, and has been the subject of a long-standing dispute over its ownership. Despite the Canadian lighthouse, there's strong evidence that it belongs to the U.S., and tours from Jonesport and Cutler have brought thousands of bird lovers and lighthouse fans to the island for many years. Well, there's good news! Canada has reversed its decision and permits have been issued, and tours are landing on the island as usual. For information on tours call Capt. Barna B. Norton and Capt. John E. Norton of Jonesport, Maine at 1-888-889-3222, or Bold Coast Charters of Cutler at 207-259-4484.

This story appeared in the July 2001 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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