Hood Point lighthouse

Out of all the lighthouses in the World; Hood Point happens to be my favourite! Built 1895; It is the third oldest behind the Donkin Hill and Green Point; However; Green Point and Donkin Hill had 2 different towers there; while Hood Point's Original tower still stands. In 1894; the old Castle Point lighthouse (named for the nearby shipwreck Gateway Castle which sank here in the early 1800's) was deactivated after it was found too obsolete! It was later on torn down; and Imperial Lighthouse Service decided that a new lighthouse was to be built. SO in 1895; the well known Hood Point lighthouse rose from the ground and lit up for the first time on June 4 1895. Back then; I was never painted. Then in the early 1900's; the lighthouse received a black and vermillion-white checkerboard daymark while the lantern room received a silver coating. When the diaphone came out; a singe horn system was installed in a shed outside the compound. This diaphone was the most powerful foghorn on the South African Coastline; with a range of 20+ kilometers! A few years earlier the original parabolic reflector lamp was removed and replaced by Stone-Chance 1st Order Fresnel Lens; which had 6,000,000,000 candlepower; which produced for light beams that could be seen for 21 miles out to sea! After World War Two; the lighthouse was transferred over to Transnet; the South African company that owns all of the country's lighthouses. The checkerboard day mark was later sandblasted off and repainted white; while the lantern room was repainted red. The diaphone was then replaced in 1983 by two ELG 300 nautophones on the harbour which still serve today. However; due to it's historicalness; and its use as a backup horn; the diaphone was reinstated. Today; the keepers continue to run the light; and to keep the historic diaphone up and running. The Fresnel lens still serves wit Hood Point; and the lighthouse is open for climbing all year round for a small fee; and only by appointment. it is only 1 of 12 lighthouses open to the public in South Africa.

Weird Lighthouses

All over the world there are lighthouses with pretty designs. But there are some that sport weird designs and patterns! Take the Berry Head lighthouse in the U.K.; it looks like its lantern room was removed from some sort of skeletal tower and placed into operation as U.K's smallest lighthouse! Then there's the Charleston lighthouse in the U.S.It looks more like a control tower than a lighthouse! Then there's the Girdleness lighthouse in Scotland. It is actually a lighthouse on top of another lighthouse! I wonder if Corsewall is also a lighthouse on top of another lighthouse? Then's there's Duncansby; and it's cousin Esha Ness. These funny square towers look like castles! Then we have the Dungeness 5 lighthouse in Kent; U.K. It resembles a heavy-duty aluminium torch with sixty foghorns built into it; and base that looks like a caramel ice cream swirl! Then we have Bull Point lighthouse in the U.K.; a strange caramel-brick structure with four massive foghorns built into its front! A similar lighthouse is the Tater Du lighthouse in Cornwall; U.K. It had 72 foghorns built into it's front! Then we have Nab Tower; a large cake like structure with a light on top! Then there's Royal Sovereign; an aircraft carrier style lighthouse! I wouldn't be surprised if they did use an aircraft carrier hull! Of course; then there's the screw-pile lighthouses; which I like to call "Spider Lighthouses" due to their legs! Then there's the Oak Island Lighthouse in the U.S. It looks like an oversized pencil stuck into the ground with the lantern room resembling an eraser! Whitefish Point in Michigan also resembles a spider! Finally there's Navesink; an twin light formation with a octagonal and square towers!   

Twins and Lookalikes

While some U.S. lighthouses are built in unique designs; there many lighthouses that look the same or alike. Cape Hatteras and St Augustine look exactly the same! They have the same spiral day mark and same lantern rooms; except that Cape Hatteras has a black lantern room and is taller; while St Augustine has a red lantern room and is shorter. Then we have what I like to call the "Maine Triplets"; which are the almost identical Marshall Point; Isle au Haut; and Ram Island. Doubling Point would have been also identical if it wasn't for it's octagonal/hexagonal shape. Another group of identical lighthouses which I like to call, the "Californian/New Jersey Triplets"; is the almost similar in design East Brother; Point Fermin and Hereford Inlet lighthouse. Point Hueneme would have made these lights quadrilates if it wasn't torn down.

U.S. Lighthouses Part 2

While some lighthouses have been lost to time and money-saving schemes; some lighthouses have won over these problems with the help of man's resistance! For example; the Split Rock lighthouse in New York State; was turned off in 1928 and replaced by a skeletal tower. Today; the skeletal tower has rusted to a crisp! The light was moved from the rusted skeletal tower and placed back into the old lighthouse; which was privately relit in 2003; after 75 years of darkness! Also; the old Barnegat lighthouse was relit on New Year's Eve 2009; after it was turned off in 1944. Another thing about U.S. Lighthouses is some of them are very pretty! Take Cape Hatteras lighthouse; it's 208 meter high candy-cane style tower is visible even before you're near the tower! One of the smartest lighthouses in the U.S. is the Sullivan's Island light in Charleston; South Carolina. It's triangular shape is just modern! The saddest lighthouse in the U.S. is the New Point Comfort lighthouse in Virginia. It's storm battered paintwork and corroded lantern room makes it no.1 on my Saddest  U.S Lighthouse List! What's up with the name "Execution Rocks"? Were there prisoners executed there?

Lighthouses of Maine Part 1

Out of all the lighthouses in America; the lighthouses in Maine are the prettiest! Maine is a beautiful state; prettier than Wisconsin; Maryland; an California! One noticeable thing about Maine's lighthouses is that unlike other state's like California and Michigan which used diaphones as early fog signals; Maine only used fog bells; until they were replaced by the more modern FA/232 nautophone foghorn. There were never any diaphones in service in Maine; except for Daboll Trumpets and steam whistles. There are many beautifully maintained lighthouses in maine; except for a few. There is the badly abused Nash Island lighthouse; the poorly maintained Matinicus Rock lighthouse; and the in-bad-shape Dyce Head lighthouse.

U.S. Lights Part 1

The ugliest overall lighthouse in the U.S. is the Santa Cruz lighthouse in California! With its dull square tower; and attached building; its an eyesore to me! And Point Stuart; what is it a lighthouse or a some sort of bunker? I mean; it certainly doesn't look like a light station; unlike Point Blunt and Point Diablo. And Point Knox? That didn't certainly look like a light station. And not to forget; Lime Point! They say it's a 'lighthouse'; but it looks more like a fog signal station. And what's up with Point Augrello? Why did they demolish that perfectly intact lighthouse? There were so many pretty lighthouses that were replaced by ugly looking things; like Racine Reef; Shinnecock; Point Augrello; Windmill Point; Fishing Battery; Grand Traverse; Dyce Head; Blue Hill Bay; Cape Mendocino; Barber's Point; Split Rock NY (now relit); The Buffalo Bottle lights; The South Buffalo South Side light; Santa Barbara; and Pumpkin Island. Some were replaced by buoys; for example; Nash Island and Winter Harbour. There are many inactive lights in the U.S.; mostly the tiny ones. There are many; Key West; Tenant's Harbour; Pumpkin Island; Nash Island; Split Rock; Winter Harbour; Blue Hill Bay; Michigan Island old; Dyce Head; Lake Cobo; Cape Elizabeth no.1; Ano Nuevo (demolished); Ballast Point(demolished); Point Reyes; Cape Mendocino; Cape Meares; Cape Arago; Tillamook Rock; Old Point Loma; Fort Point (California); Oakland Harbour; Point Stuart; Point Knox; Punta Gorda; Southhampton Shoal; San Luis Obispo; Table Bluff; and many, many, many more! =O Sadly; some of these have been demolished: Racine Reef; Shinnecock; Cape Fear; Cleveland; St Joseph's Point;
Mile Rocks(truncated); Humdbolt Harbour; Ano Nuevo; Ballast Point; Mayo's Beach (turns out that the long lost thought to be demolished Mayo's Beach lighthouse is actually Point Montara lighthouse now!); Hog Island; Brandywine Shoal (America's first screw-pile lighthouse); Old Cape Charles; Hatteras Beacon; Avery Rock; Alcatraz Island(Old Light); Point Augrello; Bishop and Clerks; Buffalo Harbor; Minnesota Point; and Hell Gate.      

I have been fascinated with lighthouses ever since I was told about the old diaphone at the Hood Point lighthouse here in town. After that; my love for lighthouses and lightships began. My favorite U.S. and overall lightship is the Frying Pan Lightship. In 1964; while the local officials argued over the ship's fate; it sank in the harbour.

Figure1: The Frying Pan Lightship.

Figure 2: The Lightship sinking into the harbour.