Light Hearted

Light Hearted ep 262 – Old Point Loma, California

Congress authorized lighthouses at several California locations in 1850, including San Diego. Construction began in 1854 on a lighthouse on a high bluff at the end of Point Loma, more than 400 feet above the sea. The lighthouse began service in November 1855. Its active life was fairly short, as it turned out. The great… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 262 – Old Point Loma, California

Light Hearted

Light Hearted ep 261 – Cornelia Cesari, Baker island, Maine

Maine’s Baker Island is about four miles southeast of the much larger Mount Desert Island. A lighthouse was established on the highest point of the island in 1828. The early history of the light station is very much tied into the history of the family of William and Hannah Gilley. The Gilleys had taken possession… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 261 – Cornelia Cesari, Baker island, Maine

Light Hearted

Light Hearted ep 260 – Julie Barrow, Pigeon Point, CA

California’s iconic Pigeon Point Lighthouse, located on the central coast between Santa Cruz and San Francisco, has been guiding mariners since 1872.  Today, the historic light station is managed by California State Parks, and the former keepers’ housing serves as a youth hostel. The lighthouse has been closed to climbing since December 2001, after the… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 260 – Julie Barrow, Pigeon Point, CA

Light Hearted

Light Hearted ep 259 – A look back at the career of lighthouse technician Harry Duvall

Harry Duvall enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in the 1960s and trained as an electronics technician. After graduating from college, he returned to the Coast Guard as a civilian employee based at the district engineering office in Boston. For well over 30 years, he coordinated all the lighthouse automation and modernization projects for the… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 259 – A look back at the career of lighthouse technician Harry Duvall

Light Hearted

Light Hearted ep 258 – Bob Trapani Jr.: New England’s fascinating day beacons

A day beacon (or daybeacon) is defined simply as an unlighted nautical sea mark, serving to aid navigation during the day. The U.S. Coast Guard maintains many modern day beacons around the country, but the subject of this episode is the historic day beacons of New England. Some of them date back more than 200… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 258 – Bob Trapani Jr.: New England’s fascinating day beacons

Light Hearted

Light Hearted ep 257 – Ford Reiche, Little Mark Island, Maine

Little Mark Island—about one acre in size—is in Maine’s Casco Bay, near the town of Harpswell. On the island is a 50-foot tall, stone, pyramidal tower that was built in 1827. It’s known as the Little Mark Island Monument.  It wasn’t built as a lighthouse—it was originally intended to serve as a day beacon or… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 257 – Ford Reiche, Little Mark Island, Maine

Light Hearted

Light Hearted ep 256 – Boston Light Keeper Sally Snowman and the end of an era, part 2 of 2

At the end of this year, Sally Snowman will retire after 20 years as keeper of Boston Light in Massachusetts, America’s oldest light station. As a civilian employee of the Coast Guard, she oversaw tours and managed the Boston Light Augmentation Program, under which members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary perform various functions at Boston… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 256 – Boston Light Keeper Sally Snowman and the end of an era, part 2 of 2

Light Hearted

Light Hearted ep 255 – Boston Light Keeper Sally Snowman and the end of an era, part 1 of 2

In 2003, the active duty Coast Guard personnel that had been assigned to Boston Light on Little Brewster Island, America’s oldest light station, were reassigned to meet the needs of Homeland Security. Sally Snowman was named the new keeper. She became the first woman keeper in Boston Light’s long history, which dates back to 1716.… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 255 – Boston Light Keeper Sally Snowman and the end of an era, part 1 of 2

Light Hearted

Light Hearted ep 254 – Laurie Perkins, Tawas Point, MI; Dan May’s new book “Preserving America’s Lighthouses”

Daniel R. May graduated with a degree in ocean engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, in the class of 1979. During his time as the ocean engineer for the Fifth Coast Guard District, Dan worked on lighthouse projects from Delaware Bay to the Carolinas. Dan eventually moved to Civil Engineering… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 254 – Laurie Perkins, Tawas Point, MI; Dan May’s new book “Preserving America’s Lighthouses”

Light Hearted

Light Hearted ep 253: Gary Kalan, Stamford Harbor, CT; Judianne Point, Pomham Rocks, RI

The entrance to Stamford Harbor in Connecticut, on Long Island Sound, is obstructed by treacherous ledges. One of them is known as Chatham Ledge. The construction of a lighthouse to mark the dangerous location was completed in 1882. The finished tower, 3,600 feet from shore, was a fairly typical cast-iron “sparkplug” style lighthouse of the… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 253: Gary Kalan, Stamford Harbor, CT; Judianne Point, Pomham Rocks, RI