News Video, Life inside a remote island lighthouse (Rockland: houses, gated) - Maine (ME) - City-Data Forum

JD59 · 10-19-2012, 11:14 PM

Every summer, two volunteers head two miles off the coast of Maine to live in and maintain a 150-year-old lighthouse on Seguin Island.

Life inside a remote island lighthouse - Video - Personal Finance

pc-not · 10-20-2012, 07:22 AM

Seguin was one of my favorites. Back in the day I used to pass it on the way to Monhegan when we were chasing the elusive "horse mackerel". ( Bluefin Tuna for non - Mainers ) It was pretty spooky comming up on it in the fog. Had a great fog horn. Back then most boats did not even have Loran. so we hugged the coast on foggy days and then ran a compass heading from a known point to get to the next one.

mainegrl2011 · 10-20-2012, 07:35 AM

When I read your post I thought of one of the paranormal tv shows I'd seen on a cable channel....not sure if they were talking about Seguin or another. Haunted Lighthouses

pc-not · 10-20-2012, 10:57 AM

The thing that made Seguin so eerie was the sight of the heavy surf breaking on the rocks. This, combined with the fog, made for one of those indelible brain images that can instantly be recalled years later. On clear days, we did not have to steam near the island, as visability allowed for more line of sight navigation.

My most vivid memory of lighthouses in the fog, is my experience of just avoiding the rocks on Boon Island. As I said before, we navigated with the chart, compass and wrist watch, running at a certain RPM. We could calculate a rough ETA long before the days of inexpensive loran or GPS. One foggy morning we left the mouth of the river at Portsmouth and took a heading for Boon Island. I guess I was not paying attention very well and the engine noise was drowning out the sound of the foghorn. All of a sudden I was shocked to see two things simutaneously. The surf crashing on the rocks, and the light which had never appeared at such a high angle. That meant only one thing. if I hadn't backed down hard reverse on both engines we would have been history.

That experience taught me to be more alert and to check the fathometer for quickly shoaling water. The day ended up on a much better note, as the fog lifted and we were able to harpoon a couple of 600 pounders.

Catras · 10-20-2012, 12:32 PM

I would volunteer to live there. It would be so interesting and fun. I could get a lot of writing done too.

Thanks for sharing that link. I have always been interested in old lighthouses.

SportFury59 · 10-21-2012, 06:23 AM

Back in the day when these lighthouses were manned, I was stationed on the CGC Laurel, a 180' buoy tender, out of Rockland, and we would deliver supplies to the mid-coast Maine lighthouses.

Usually one of our small boats would take the fuel oil hose ashore to fill up their oil tank. My fondest memory is, when at 2AM it would be announced "all hands on deck to handle hose". Especially in Jan/Feb.
The small boat would take the hose to the island but we had to haul the many feet of hose back in to the ship by hand.

pc-not · 10-21-2012, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SportFury59

Back in the day when these lighthouses were manned, I was stationed on the CGC Laurel, a 180' buoy tender, out of Rockland, and we would deliver supplies to the mid-coast Maine lighthouses.

Usually one of our small boats would take the fuel oil hose ashore to fill up their oil tank. My fondest memory is, when at 2AM it would be announced "all hands on deck to handle hose". Especially in Jan/Feb.
The small boat would take the hose to the island but we had to haul the many feet of hose back in to the ship by hand.

The bouy tenders sure were the workhorses of the CG. For a few years, while I was in the Coast Guard Reserve, they had the awareness to line up our civilian talents with what we did in the military. Being a builder, I would receive orders every month to take a helper and drive to various light houses on the Maine coast for repairs and restorations. This was very interesting and fulfilling, both for us and some of the light station's family, as we got to see their routines up close.

Of the many lights I worked on, the most memorable was the one at Doubling Point, on the Kennebec.
It was the summer of 1974 and I spent two weekends there making repairs to the keeper's house. He was originally from the midwest and had a wonderful wife and two children under the age of ten. They just loved being there. Had a big garden and every day was an adventure for them.

Unfortunately, when the Carter administration came to power, the Coast Guard budget was severely cut and my unit was forced to stop these projects. The lack of funding forced us to sit around in a Quonset hut all weekend playing sea scouts. I got discouraged and did not re-enlist.

SportFury59 · 10-22-2012, 06:17 AM

pc - sounds like that was good duty. Thought came to mind - if the lightwhouses were still manned that would be a good, interesting theme/scenario for a modern day reality show, maybe on the Home & Garden Network or Public TV.

Carpentry skills along with the lightkeeper's lifestyle could be shown. I think it would be a hit. But those days are gone.

I was most familiar with West Quoddy Head Lighthouse as I was stationed at the Quoddy Head LIfeboat Station just down the road, for awhile. This was before the Laurel assignment.