Skip to main content

Lighthouse Cruises


Good Morning Everyone. We are having a heat wave around here. Just crazy! I haven’t seen the 6 AM temperature this warm in a long time, a balmy 19 degrees. Today is a day for meetings in town and for working in the barn. Kaitlyn painted window screens and primed skylight covers in the barn yesterday. We also worked on one of the small boats. She will be back working in the barn today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that.

Our web guru Jim Dugan has constructed a new lighthouse tour that you should take a look at. I would be interested to hear any thoughts you might have. The goal is to just do a simple tour of the lights that we might see in the course of a lighthouse cruise. I can see all manner of opportunity for developing a history of each light in this tour but we are just taking baby steps for right now.

Speaking of which, the Indian Island Light at the entrance to Rockport Harbor is a one I never see enough of. Rockport was once part of Camden and the lime kilns and ice trade made this harbor a busy place in the late 1800s. The original tower was built in 1850 and decommissioned 9 years later. That tower was rebuilt in 1874 and put into service again in January 1875. The square tapered tower look just like the ones at Grindle Point and Fort Point. The oil house was added in 1904. Finally decommissioned in 1933 and sold to a private owner the fifth order fresnel lens was removed and a pole beacon erected to guide mariners safely in to Rockport Harbor.

Thanks to Ted Panyatoff for his historical notes.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

Comments

Unknown said…
A heat wave, huh? Here in Alabama one can seldom tell what the weather will be like during the winter. On Thursday, 2/15 the low was 26 and the high 40. Today, a week later, the low was 42 and the high 72. So last Thursday I turned on the seat warmer in the car and today the air conditioner.
Anonymous said…
I don't know when I've ever heard the words "balmy" and "19 degrees" in the same sentence. However, the lighthouse tour sounds like a great idea. I'm always looking for interesting tours to include on my site. I will definitely bookmark your site.

Top Vacation Spots.

Popular posts from this blog

Hail Mary

My heart is heavy with sadness as I write this particular blog. Since the beginning of August our dear friend and cook for the last 12 years, Mary Barney, had been struggling with cancer. I have intentionally respected Mary’s privacy and I apologize to you for not sharing any news about Mary’s health sooner. On Monday afternoon Mary passed away very peacefully at home, surrounded by friends and “family”. Her departure was as graceful as the rest of her life. Many people, including Jen, have been doing heroic work to support Mary these last few weeks. Oddly enough Mary was never very excited about transitions though this was about the fastest transition she ever made. And as I struggle to let go of Mary I realize I am terrible with transitions as well. We used to joke about how we liked things just the way they are, thank you very much, so why change what is working already even if it might be less labor intensive. Hard works is its own reward. I used to joke about getting Mary a Cui

Swimming Anyone?

Good morning everyone. Winter is still here in New England though it seems to be taking a rest these days. We have enjoyed a little bit of a thaw. We still have snow covering our field but it is thinning out in the sunny patches. Mary Day rests comfortably in the harbor, bilges dry, cover intact, waiting for the crew to return. Another busy week has passed so I will get you up to speed on everything that is happening here at the global headquarters. Jen is putting the finishing touches on year end taxes. Blockfest 2008 is finally finished. The blocks have received quite the massaging. And while we have the off-white paint out we are starting in on the lifeline stanchions, the davits, and a few other miscellaneous parts. Alex asked me last night how we were doing with our pace. We are doing great but in the back of my mind I know that there is never enough time to do it all. Having perfectionist tendencies is a curse. I want to do it all and know we will never have enough time. There se

Fall Maintenance

Good morning everyone. The sun has been kind to us these past few days and the crew has been spending much time aloft prepping and painting the mast heads and tarring the rig as part of our annual fall maintenance schedule. They were a little silly on tar fumes by the end of the day hence the rat board dance moves. Am I the only one who is reminded of Willy Wonka's little friends at the sight of the crew in their tyvek suits? Schoona-loompas? The smell of tar, after all, is what we sailors live for. Extracted from the stumps and roots of pine trees through dry distillation pine tar will cure what ails you especially some skin conditions and any emotional maladies from being too long away from the sea. All we know for sure is that Mary Day’s rigging is kept hail and hearty by coats of tar mixed with boiled linseed oil. Notice that I specified boiled linseed oil and not raw linseed oil. Tar mix with raw linseed oil will not “kick”. Don’t ask me how I know this… just take my wo