Digest>Archives> March 2008

Peggy's Cove Shines, But Not Brightly

By Chris Mills

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"Noel" left boulders strewn across the parking ...

It's likely the most-photographed lighthouse in Canada, and one of the top in North America. The little red and white tower at Peggy's Point, near Halifax, has become a Nova Scotia icon, drawing hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, who come for a little slice of Maritime life.

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The first Peggy's Point (or Peggy's Cove) light ...

But those who brave the off-season gales and biting cold temperatures will notice something different about the Peggy's Cove Lighthouse — instead of its steady green glow, there's just a tiny flash now, coming from a funny looking hexagon with a little LED light on top.

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This Tideland SolaLED 140 lens has, for the ...

The reason for the change is the weather, or rather, a weather event. On the 3rd and 4th of November, 2007, post tropical storm Noel came barreling over Nova Scotia, packing winds of up to 95 knots (109 mph). Peggy's Cove was hit hard with huge seas that tossed boulders onto the parking lot near the popular Sou'wester Restaurant and gift shop. The concrete lighthouse, built in 1915, was right in the line of fire as well. The sea smashed a window on the bottom level of the lighthouse, where Canada Post maintains a post office during the summer months.

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A visitor snaps a photo of damage caused by post ...

Massive seas also tore up a concrete walkway to the lighthouse, containing the power cables for the tower. As a temporary measure, Coast Guard technicians installed a Tideland LED light to replace the tower's fourth order Fresnel drum lens.

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When Noel's huge seas tore up concrete walkways ...

There are rumblings that the Coast Guard will replace hydro power to the lighthouse. It would be the right thing

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The fourth order Fresnel drum lens from the ...

to do, given the light's importance as an ambassador to Nova Scotia and its wild coastline.

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This Tideland SolaLED 140 lens has, for the time ...


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Seas from post tropical storm Noel hammer Peggy's ...

This story appeared in the March 2008 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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