Category Archives: Foreign

Travel-Northern Samar Offers Undisturbed Paradise Islets

Many of you know I have travelled to the Philippines to visit many times, and I have seen some parts of the 7,107 island paradise. Also, because of my former occupation which led to this website, I am also interested in lighthouses, so when the two of them come together, then it is of interest to me, and hopefully to you also.

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 Northern Samar Offers Undisturbed Paradise Islets

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte—Northern Samar will soon be found on the tourism map.

The provincial government is developing four beautiful, undisturbed islands as premier tourist destinations—Biri, Capul, San Antonio and San Vicente, all along the San Bernardino Strait separating Samar and Luzon. . . . 

. . . Capul boasts of a 16th-century church and a century-old lighthouse. The church was not only a place of worship but also a refuge from Moro raids in the early days. Recently, it was declared a historical site by the National Historical Commission.

To continue reading on this fascinating area, please visit the website of the Inquirer News here.

Travel – Space and Lighthouses Combined

Cape Canaveral lighthouse

Now this is something I would like to see! Visit Cape Canaveral and also see a lighthouse on the property. Too cool!

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http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110820/NEWS01/108200315/Tours-shine-light-Cape-s-heart-soul-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Local%20News 

Another article on the Civil War history of the Cape Canaveral lighthouse appeared here:

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/civil-war/2011/aug/29/civil-war-little-known-story-cape-canaveral-lighth/

 

 

Italy Still Has Manned Lighthouses

THE TWILIGHT OF ITALY’S LIGHTHOUSE KEEPERS

Italy will still need lighthouses. But with new technology, lighthouse keepers are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Already just 62 of the country’s 161 “faros” have actual human operators.

Lighthouse in Vieste, Italy (Roby Ferrari)Lighthouse in Vieste, Italy (Roby Ferrari)

 By Fabio Pozzo

LA STAMPA/Worldcrunch

More on this story here.

How Many Countries in the World Have MANNED Lighthouses?

 

vector-world-map-v2.2

I am often asked how many countries in the world still have manned lighthouses, and how many.

Do you know?

There is one minor problem – How Many Countries Are There? Watch this short Youtube video to find out . . . or not!

I am asking for help in finding out which countries actually do have people on the lighthouses, performing the duties of a lighthouse keeper.

If you live in a country that maintains people on the lighthouses as lighthouse keepers, or have visited a country that does, please let me know in the comments box below, or contact me. I would like a webpage link or reference if you have one, and maybe, if you know it, how many manned lighthouses there are.

I will post and maintain a list of worldwide manned lighthouses by country.

Appreciate any help I can get, and yes, I know Canada has a few!

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Africa (?)

Democratic Republic of the Congo(1) http://www.labaleine.co.za/things_to_do.html

British Virgin Islands (1 +?) http://www.cyberdiver.net/cuan_law.html

Canada  (50) http://www.ohscanada.com/news/manned-lighthouses-reviewed/1000347338/ Canada’s “staffed lighthouses across the country now number only 50: 23 in Newfoundland and Labrador and 27 in British Columbia.”

Between 1970 and 1996, 264 [Canadian] lighthouses were automated, . . . http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001271

Unmanned Cabot Head Lighthouse; Update http://www.guelphmercury.com/opinion-story/4179091-lighting-the-future-with-the-past/

Continue reading How Many Countries in the World Have MANNED Lighthouses?

Now we need a Canadian One!

Illustrated Map & Directory Locates Every Lighthouse in the United States 

RHINEBECK, N.Y., Aug. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –Every year millions of travelers visit the historic beacons that light the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Gulf Coast, Great Lakes and inland waters. To aid those voyages of discovery, Bella Terra Publishing – http://www.bellaterramaps.com – has produced an all-new edition of the United States Lighthouses Illustrated Map & Guide. More than 75,000 copies of the map have been sold since 1999, with the last update in 2004.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110802/NY44218 )

New US lighthouse map

The United States Lighthouses Illustrated Map & Guide locates nearly 800 standing lighthouses across the 50 states. The detailed cartography and comprehensive directory are complemented by 46 original watercolor illustrations, most of them specially commissioned. Lighthouse buffs can engage in armchair travel, plan future trips, or simply enjoy the evocative paintings—from Portland Head, Maine, to Kilauea Point, Hawaii. See the rest of the story here.

Royal Sovereign Lighthouse – very unique!

The photo below from the Guardian.uk does not  show the lighthouse very well, but the photo was so unique I had to post it. More photos can be seen on this Google Search here. That would have been a fun place to live. Wonder what it was like in windy weather?

Rozal Sovereign lighthouse

– from Wikipedia article here.

Royal Sovereign lighthouse at Eastbourne is a lighthouse marking the Royal Sovereign shoal. Its distinctive shape is easily recognised as it comprises a large platform supported by a single pillar rising out of the water.

The lighthouse replaced a light vessel which protected the Royal Sovereign Shoal since 1875. Originally, the platform was manned, accommodation being contained in the ‘cabin section’, a practice which ceased in 1994 when the light was automated.