Reprinted with permission from Maya at the Completely Coastal website. Her article was published September 7, 2012 and can be found here.
A Grain of Beach Sand – Photography Book by Gary Greenberg
“To see a world in a grain of sand…” These are the words of William Blake. Artist and scientist Gary Greenberg takes them literally!
Dr. Gary Greenberg turned his microscope on beach sand! Photo via Art.com. Continue reading Reprint – A Grain of Beach Sand – Photography Book by Gary Greenberg
For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.
Lighthouses in a Bottle
I have heard of ships in a bottle but never lighthouses in a bottle until I came across the photo at the left. It has been sitting on my computer for ages and I forgot where it came from.
Doing a Google Image Search I came up with Village Crafstmen and lots more lighthouses in a bottle – some multiple ones as the photo on the right shows.
Their address and contact information is on their website.
As most of you know I am living in the Philippines now. There are lighthouses in the Philippines, and some of the ancient structures are being rebuilt as historical monuments by the Coast Guard.
As far as I know there are no manned lighthouses here. Most of the lighthouses are automated beacons of low power used by fishermen to return back home, like the one at the left that I discovered at Apatot Beach, San Esteban, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. This is listed in the Lightstations Northern Luzon Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) webpage.
Here is another one closer to my hometown of Candon City, Ilocos Sur. I found this lighthouse by the sea in the Darapidap area. It looks a lot older than the one above.
It was found in the town square. As it is not very high I assume it is only used by the fishermen. This type of tower may be used all over the islands. This is listed in the Lightstations Northern Luzon Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) webpage.
The following interactive embedded map is from ArcGIS Explorer. This online program allows one to create personalized maps about various subjects around the world. This one is about Philippine lighthouses listed on the PCG website. I have marked with coloured circles the various lighthouses, RED for manned stations, BLACK for automated stations, BLUE for ruins, and ORANGE for lights that are tended by PCG living in the area.
Clicking on the dots brings up a name card with information.
One article which caught my interest is The Lost Lighthouses of Ilocos Sur (part 4)
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Published on Page A15 of the July 26, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth of a series of reports on lighthouses in Northern Luzon. The Inquirer is featuring these century-old structures to highlight their importance to the country’s northern sea lanes and call public attention to their neglect.
ILOCOS SUR is one of the oldest provinces in the country and an important trading center for the Spaniards. The Chinese pirate Limahong used to pillage the settlements there and later traded with local folk four centuries ago.
The province has an extensive shoreline, but many residents are wondering why they can’t spot a lighthouse as imposing as Cape Bojeador at the tip of Ilocos Norte.
But the lighthouses of Ilocos Sur are there, albeit forgotten and neglected. Now, local officials are calling for the restoration of the “lost beacons.”
The once important lighthouses during the Spanish times are in Narvacan, San Esteban and Sinait towns, Vice Gov. Deogracias Savellano said.
“These are brick monuments of history. As much as we wanted to restore them, we have no funds yet for this project,” Savellano said.
The structure in Narvacan may not even be a lighthouse but a watchtower.
Michael Canosa, 42, a resident of Barangay Sulvec, said the old brick facility in their backyard was built during the time of the Spaniards.
Canosa said based on the stories shared by his relatives, his great grandfather, Lope Canosa, was among the recruited soldiers who served as sentry under the Spanish government.
The watchtower was used to warn residents of the arrival of pirates.
“They would blow a horn to signal the arrival of the pirates for residents to prepare,” Canosa said.
The watchtower is deteriorating; its bricks chipping off due to exposure to the elements. The ownership of the area where the watchtower sits is also being disputed in court between the Canosas and the municipal government.
Reminders
Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson has initiated moves to restore the lighthouse in nearby San Esteban. “Even if these lighthouses are obsolete, they are still important reminders of the glory that was Ilocos Sur,” he said.
He said lighthouses used to draw the community together. To make his point, he converted the Parola lighthouse in Barangay Darapidap in Candon City into a promenade. The lighthouse was built in the 1950s.
A boardwalk, a fountain and a mini-stage were inaugurated in the area in April. Bands perform onstage during the balmy summer nights. Singson said an amusement park would be added later.
The 20-meter lighthouse is useful to fishermen in the town, Eduardo Villanueva, chair of Barangay Darapidap, said. “It serves as a reference for fishermen during blackouts.”
At first, they used kerosene for the beacon until 1971 when electricity was tapped in the village.
Another modern lighthouse is in Cabugao town.
Savellano said the historic Dardarat lighthouse also guided fishermen’s voyages to the Salomague port. Because of the port, Salomague is among the few Ilocos villages found on ancient mariner’s maps.
“During the American occupation, it served as a mooring place for USS Manauili that ferried thousands of mostly Ilocano residents across the Pacific to work at sugar plantations in Hawaii and California,” Savellano said.
Now leased to a private corporation, it is the transshipment port of goods and products to Taiwan. It is also the unloading point of commercial fishing vessels. [/private]
101-year-old lighthouse is Bolinao’s landmark (part 3) and more photos here.
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By Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes Inquirer Last updated 06/28/2006
Published on Page A19 of the June 28, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
Editor’s Note: This is the third of a series of reports on lighthouses in Northern Luzon. The Inquirer is featuring these century-old structures to highlight their importance to the country’s northern sea lanes and call attention to their neglect.
FOR 101 years now, the Cape Bolinao lighthouse stands proud atop Punta Piedra Point in Barangay Patar in Bolinao, Pangasinan, guiding ships and vessels cruising the international passage along the South China Sea.
Nestled amid trees, the lighthouse was built in 1905 by Filipino, British and American engineers. It is one of the five major lighthouses in the country and the second tallest, next to the Cape Bojeador lighthouse in Burgos, Ilocos Norte. It has become a prominent landmark that tourists frequent.
The 30.78-meter (101-foot) tower provides a panoramic view of the blue sea and white beaches, offshore reefs and rock formations, as well as rolling verdant hills. Once in a while, a passing vessel dots the sea, an international route of vessels going to Hong Kong, Japan and the United States.
The 140-step winding stairway of the tower leads to the illumination room, 76.2 m above sea level. According to Pedro Honrada, the lighthouse’s head keeper, the lantern is visible 44 kilometers away, guiding seafarers (led toward this area by a lighthouse in Zambales) toward the lighthouse in Poro Point, La Union.
The late Bolinao historian Catalino Catanaoan said the original light machine was manufactured in England, while the lantern, with three wicks and chimneys, was imported from France.
“Filipino machinists were able to copy the original [when they repaired it]. The light machine is rotated by a system of gears like that of a big clock with a pendulum of weights, winded and suspended with steel cable,” he said.
Kerosene fuel
The lighthouse was fueled by kerosene during its first 80 years of operation. When the Pangasinan I Electric Cooperative extended its lines to Patar, the lanterns were powered by electricity.
In 1999, the lighthouse was renovated through a loan package extended by the Japanese government to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), which is in charge of the facility. Aside from repairing and repainting the tower, the assistance included setting up solar panels, a new apparatus and two beacon lights. The panels recharge the lights.
The lighthouse has also been getting the attention it deserves from the municipal government.
In June last year, Mayor Alfonso Celeste entered into a memorandum of agreement with the PCG to “adopt” the Cape Bolinao lighthouse to ensure its preservation and maintenance, under the PCG’s “Adopt a Lighthouse Program.”
Under the MOA, the PCG continues to be the sole owner of the lighthouse. It has the right to deny entry into the area during emergency cases and is responsible for the operation, repair and regular maintenance of the beacon light and its supporting mechanisms.
On the other hand, the local government will take charge of rehabilitation and maintenance of the immediate vicinity (except that of the beacon, solar panels and other equipment), provide maintenance personnel, and protect the facilities from vandals.
Cultural heritage
The local government is also tasked with promoting the declaration of the lighthouse as a cultural heritage.
Already, the lighthouse compound has been spruced up. The uphill road leading to the tower has been paved with the help of Pangasinan Rep. Arturo Celeste. A view deck has been put up in the area.
The rehabilitation of the administration building and a public bath was funded by the Department of Transportation and Communications.
Brunner Carranza, municipal planning and development officer, said a worker assigned by the local government keeps the area clean all day.
While the lighthouse has become a tourist attraction by itself, it has failed to do its “job” of guiding sea vessels at night, Honrada said.
In early November 2004, the beacon lights started to dim until it finally shut off on Nov. 8.
“The batteries bogged down,” Honrada said. He has been following up with the PCG navigation command the repair of the batteries that cost about P1 million—to no avail.
“My wish is that before I retire [in October], the lighthouse will be working again,” Honrada said.
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Faro de Cabo Engaño (part 2)
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By Melvin Gascon
Inquirer
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of a series of reports on lighthouses in Northern Luzon. The Inquirer is featuring these century-old structures to highlight their importance to the country’s northern sea lanes and call attention to their neglect.
TERESA Jamorabon was beaming as she recalled the years when living at the Faro de Cabo Engaño was everything she, her husband and their brood of nine could only dream of.
Her husband, the late Gregorio Jamorabon, was among the longest-serving lighthouse keepers in the Cape Engaño light station on Palaui Island at the northeastern tip of the archipelago.
From 1946 to 1968, the Jamorabons called the Cape Engaño lighthouse their home.
“It was wonderful. We were like living in paradise; we had everything we needed. We were happy because best of all, my husband was working while he had with him his family,” Jamorabon, 80, said.
The Cape Engaño is one of the 27 major lighthouses in the country, which, until now, continues to play a crucial role in navigation, especially for ships traversing the Babuyan Channel in Northern Luzon and the Pacific Ocean. It is under the supervision of the Department of Transportation and Communications, through the Philippine Coast Guard’s lighthouse division.
Perched on the northern edge of the island, Cape Engaño is still regarded as one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the country.
Built in 1888, mostly by Filipino laborers, the structure has withstood the Spanish-American War and World War II, as well as the wrath of scores of typhoons.
Fortress-like
The fortress-like station sits atop a hill 92 meters above sea level, overlooking the Cape Engaño cove on the east, the clear waters of the Babuyan Channel and the Dos Hermanas (Two Sisters) Islands on the north, and the vast Pacific Ocean on the west.
It is said that Spanish seafarers who first set foot on the cape were so enthralled by its natural beauty that they named it Engaño.
From the Santa Ana town proper, the station can be reached by a 30-minute boat ride from the Barangay San Vicente port, going northward and docking at the white sand beach of the Cape Engaño cove. It takes 20 minutes to hike the top of the hill.
The station has four major structures: The one-story main pavilion that serves as the office and the workers’ quarters; two smaller identical buildings, which used to be the kitchen; and the storage and powerhouse.
At the center is the 11-m (47-foot) octagonal tower, whose protruding attic (the platform on which the crown and lantern rest) is visible from all angles around the cape.
Lighthouse families
According to Jamorabon, the complex used to shelter seven crew members tasked with maintaining the lighthouse. Their families lived with them.
It used to be like a castle, she said, describing how for a long time, it stood in all its grandeur, and how its lights used to glow at night like a modern city in the middle of the jungle.
To live there was to be the object of envy for many people in Santa Ana, according to Jamorabon, because, for one, it was the only place in the area where residents enjoyed electricity.
“Santa Ana was still then a dense jungle, so that when people came here, it was like they had gone to the city,” she said.
Jamorabon described how well the government took care of the lighthouse keepers and the station. The workers’ families lived harmoniously in separate rooms, but under one roof.
Their rations—rice, beans, noodles, cooking oil and kerosene—arrived every month and were shared equally among the workers, regardless of rank, she said.
Imelda Jamorabon-Leaño, 47, Jamorabon’s eighth child, recalled how she and the other workers’ children, coming home from school every weekend or during Christmas or summer breaks, found joy in watching ships as these arrived from the Pacific Ocean and the Babuyan Channel.
The lighthouse keepers also raised goats to augment their food. The forest and the sea were also abundant sources of food, said Leaño, now a grade school teacher at the Santa Ana Central Elementary School.
But the light station received substantial attention from the government only until the early 1980s, said Jamorabon, adding that assistance dwindled with the change of administrations.
She has not set foot again on Cape Engaño since her husband retired from service in the 1960s.
Sorry state
But Jamorabon feels that pinch in her heart whenever she hears people’s accounts of what has become of the lighthouse.
Today, the light station sits forlorn on the island and is in a sorry state of decay and neglect. It continues to be destroyed by elements, aggravated by the government’s apparent apathy to preserve this cultural and historical treasure.
The windows, doors and roof of the main pavilion, as well as that of the kitchens and the storage rooms, have been destroyed, leaving only the two-foot thick granite walls intact. The rusting power generators are now pieces of junk.
The tower has also fallen victim to thieves and vandals. The eight bronze lion busts, which used to cling onto the tower’s eight corners underneath the attic, have been stolen. Even its bronze marker was also pried off from the front wall of the pavilion.
The cisterns or concrete reservoirs, where lighthouse keepers used to collect rainwater for drinking and household needs, are no longer in use.
Treasure hunters had dug a tunnel underneath the main building and graffiti dominate the buildings’ white granite walls.
But all is not lost for the Cape Engaño light station.
Thanks to dedicated lighthouse keepers like 51-year-old Cesario Sumibcay, who, despite the low pay and lack of adequate attention from the government, continues to ensure that the lighthouse remains functional.
The Coast Guard has replaced the lantern with a solar-based lighting mechanism, which required little human intervention.
Gov. Edgar Lara is optimistic that a joint restoration project that the provincial government was embarking on, in partnership with the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority and a number of nongovernment organizations, would restore the luster of Cape Engaño.
“This is why we are opening up the place to ecotourism to raise public awareness about the need to preserve the lighthouse and possibly attract future investments on the island,” he said.
By Cristina Arzadon
Inquirer
BURGOS, Ilocos Norte — The over a century-old Burgos lighthouse (known locally as the Cape Bojeador lighthouse) is not just a beacon to seafarers.
It is also a source of provincial pride after the National Museum declared it a national cultural treasure in December 2005.
Perched on Vigia de Nagpartian hill, the lighthouse, however, cries out for national attention as it continues to battle the elements that have been battering it the last 114 years.
The structure is composed of a 160-m tall light tower, living and office quarters and a courtyard.
Completed on March 30, 1892, the lighthouse was built by Guillermo Brockman from a design by Magin Pers y Pers. It is made of locally fabricated bricks and accented with cast metal grillwork.
Octagonal tower
Motorists driving north through the province of Ilocos Norte can catch sight of the lighthouse which dominates the Burgos skyline.
Lone lighthouse keeper Vicente Acoba Sr. is kept busy by the steady stream of visitors who climb the steep steps leading to the tri-level complex that supports the octagonal lighthouse tower.
Panorama of the sea
From its top, one can easily take in the sweeping panorama of the sea and the surrounding countryside.
“Sea vessels making the voyage from the Babuyanes Channel toward Hong Kong or Yokohama (Japan) can’t miss the lighthouse,” Acoba told the Inquirer.
Based on an initial study commissioned by the National Museum, the base of the lighthouse needs to be strengthened before the structure could be improved.
The building is in good condition but the living quarters and offices need to be repaired.
At one point, Councilor Joegie Jimenez, chair of the Burgos Tourism Council, said, archeologists from the University of the Philippines who did research on the lighthouse excavated a site where the kiln that was used to fire up the bricks that make up the structure was buried. Old bricks were also found in the hole.
Jimenez said the tourism council plans to put up a landmark at the site.
“We need to make people aware of the need to save the lighthouse. This is the town’s single, most important structure,” he said.
Jimenez said efforts to preserve the lighthouse complex were continuing after initial restoration work for the roofing was completed.
Symbol of Spanish times
Donations, mostly from Burgos residents here and abroad, helped restore the town’s most enduring symbol of the Spanish era.
The funds, however, were not enough to restore the entire structure.
“We need to have more improvements. We only managed to repair the rotting roof and upgrade its wooden support,” Jimenez said.
“We thought that by being declared a national treasure, the national government would pay attention to its preservation by helping produce funds,” Jimenez, a board member at the time, said.
He said the lighthouse was in bad shape after being whipped by Typhoon Feria in 2001.
“The iron sheets were flapping while several glass panels surrounding the lighting device were shattered.”
“The structure itself was left rotting,” Jimenez said.
He said the foundation is preparing a rehabilitation proposal it will submit to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts for funding support.
1,000-postcard campaign
The proposal would contain a technical study on what kind of preservation the lighthouse should undergo.
The roof improvement was made possible through the “Save the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse” campaign that Jimenez and the Cape Bojeador Development Foundation initiated in 2003. Ilocos Norte Gov. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is the foundation’s honorary chair.
Burgos Mayor Benjamin Campañano caused the placing of streetlights in the courtyard, which serves as the main entrance to the complex.
Jimenez reproduced some 1,000 postcards, touting the campaign, which were distributed to Burgos natives living in other countries.
The campaign raised some P2.2 million from contributions and from provincial government funds.
It was the second rehabilitation the lighthouse underwent since its construction in 1892. The first improvement was done in 1982.
Lonely Sentinels of the Sea: The Spanish Colonial Lighthouses in the Philippines (part 1)
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In the 1880’s, the Spanish Colonial government undertook massive construction frenzy. Its main goal: to protect the ever-increasing maritime trade the Philippines was then experiencing. With the end of the famed Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, the Philippines was opened to a wider network of international trade. This necessitated more shipping routes to and from the islands, as well as more connection between Manila and beyond. In the absence of modern satellite or radar technology, navigators at that time relied heavily on astronomy; on stars to map and chart their courses. Though medieval, this proved adequate, considering that explorers were able to find their way around the globe with nary an incident. But to further ensure the safety of the galleons – by these time coal-burning transport ships laden with precious commodities – further guides were needed to bring the ships safely into harbor or open waters. This brought about the construction of faros (lighthouses) throughout the archipelago.
Lighthouses in the Philippines are nothing new. The oldest lighthouse in the country was erected way back in the 16th century, almost at the onset of Philippine colonization. This lighthouse, located at the mouth of the Pasig, guided navigators to the banks of the river, which served as the main port of Manila, the capital of colonial Spain in the Orient. Centuries would progress with the Philippines comfortable with the wealth that the Galleon trade would bring, but not a single lighthouse except for the one located in the mouth of the Pasig as well as fires lit on top of Corrigedor Island was built
By the 19th century, towards the end of Spanish colonization, the Spanish Colonial Government undertook a massive lighting of our seas. The Plan General de Alumbrado de Maritimo de las costas del Archipelago de Filipino or the “Masterplan for the lighting of the Maritime Coasts of the Philippine Archipelago” was undertaken by the Inteligencia del Cuerpo de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos or the “Corp of Engineers for Roads, Canals and Ports. The task to light the seas and channels of the country to guide ships in and through the most important sea channels to the Ports of Manila, Ilo-ilo and Cebu. This plan, which was drafted in 1857, was immediately set into action with the preparation and eventual construction of roughly 70 lighthouses allover the archipelago. Of these 22 are of major construction works while the rest were of lower classification lights.
Spanish Engineers were tasked in the preparation and supervision of these lighthouses. Engineers such as Guillermo Brockman, Magin Pers, Eduardo Lopez Navarro, Ramon Ros, Enrique Trompet Vinci, Alejandro Olano designed structures that were functional, comfortable and beautiful as well. These structures located in the most beautiful and spectacular sites, lonely isolated islets, cliffs, barren rock outcrops, bluffs, capes and points, are testament to the commitment the Spanish Colonial government had on the Philippines to modernize it and make it competitive at the dawn of the 19th century.
Designed in the prevailing renaissance revival style as well as the Victorian Style of Architecture, these structures, composed of tower, pavilion and service buildings were built to house the lights as well as the keepers who would man them. The tower, the most significant part of any lighthouse was made strong and tall to ensure visibility at any given condition. The pavilion on the other hand was designed to accommodate the lighthouse keeper and his family whose role it was to ensure that the lights were lit every evening and that the prisms or Fresnel Lens are rotating. Two service buildings, usually flanking a grilled courtyard would contain kitchens and almacenes or storage rooms for the combustible materials that were used to light the tower. An outhouse situated a few meters away from the complex served the toilet needs of the keepers.
Different towers were designed by the Corp of Engineers. The most significant are those made of masonry of either brick or stone. Of the lighthouses visited during the course of this research, 13 towers were built of masonry. Faro de Cabo Engaño, Isla Palaui, Santa Ana, Cagayan; Faro de Cabo Bojeador, Burgos, Ilocos Norte; Faro de Punta Capones, Islote de Capon Grande, San Antonio, Zambales; Faro de la Isla de Cabra, Lubang, Mindoro Occidental: Faro de Rio de Pasig, Binondo, Manila; Faro de Isla Corrigedor, Cavite; Faro de Punta Malabrigo, Lobo, Batangas; Faro de Cabo Santiago, Calatagan, Batangas; Faro de Islote de San Bernardino, Bulusan, Sorsogon; Faro de Punta Bugui, Aroroy, Masbate; Faro de Isla Gintotolo, Balud, Masbate; Faro de Cabo Melville, Isla Balabac, Palawan; and Faro de Punta Capul, Capul, Samar del Norte. Towers of metal were also fabricated, these towers known as Tourelle, were made and manufactured in France and would easily be assembled on site. Such towers are found still standing at Luz del Puerto de San Fernando, San Fernando, la Union, Luz de Isla Bagatao, Magallanes, Sorsogon, Faro de Islote de Siete Pecades, Dumangas, Ilo-ilo and Faro de Punta Luzaran, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras. Though the towers of Faro de Islote de Manigonigo, Carles, Ilo-ilo, Faro de Sibulac-Babac de Gigantes, Estancia, Ilo-ilo, and Faro de Isla Calabazas, Ajuy, Ilo-ilo have been replaced with modern aluminum towers and lights, they originally contained metal Tourelle towers. Metal towers too were used for Faro de Islote de Tanguingui, Bantanyan, Cebu, and Faro de Islote de Capitancillo Tobogon, Cebu, supported by metal framework, these towers were able to rise taller than the Tourelle, which had a standard height of 6 meters.
The main pavilion of the Lighthouse, which is elevated from about a meter to over 3 meters above ground is used primarily as an office for the assigned engineers as well as living quarters for the lighthouse keepers and their families. For 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and even to some extent 6th order light stations, complete dwelling facilities are provided for. Though those, which are within easy access to communities, are provided only with the most basic of shelters, as surmised in the Luz del Puerto de San Fernando, and Luz de Isla Bagatao. Both being 6th orders stations, its original quarters were of light materials, only during the American Commonwealth Period were permanent quarters built. The pavilions were built of the same materials as the tower, either locally sourced granite or locally made bricks. Hard wood, such as Molave, Tindalo, and Narra was used for the beams, joists, trusses, floors, nailers, doors and windowsills. Walls were plastered and painted with some examples stenciled with interesting patterns. Marble, clay tiles or plain cement finishes were used for the verandah. Decorative Metal Grilles surround the fence, balconies as well as the bottom level of windows. Corrugated iron sheets cover the roof. Most 1st to 3rd order lighthouses are equipped from 2 to 4 quarters, with each quarter provided its own receiving area. An office for the on-duty engineer is also provided. This office which normally has a view of the sea, is also used as the lighthouses’ watch room. In most cases, this watch room is accessible to the tower. A hallway, which bisects the pavilion in two, is commonly provided for. This enables the engineers and keepers easy access from their rooms to any part of the building. A verandah is situated either in front or at the rear of the building. For Faro de Islote de San Bernardino, Faro de Punta Malabrigo, Faro de Punta Bugui, Faro de Isla Gintotolo and the Faro de Punta Capul, a surrounding verandah is provided. Finally basic furnishing such as, camas, escritorios, mesas, sillas, armarios, and estantes are provided
Today, these lighthouses built by the Corp of Engineers of the Spanish Colonial Government over 100 years ago are in various states of disrepair or ruin. Some are in admirable condition such as those of Faro de Cabo Bojeador, Faro de Punta Malabrigo, Faro de Cabo Santiago, Faro de Isla Gintotolo, Faro de Siete Pecados, Faro de Cabo Melville (which still retains its original 1st order Fresnel Lens and could be made operational again with minor repair work), and Faro de Isla Corrigedor, which was restored by the Cooperacion Español, while others are in need of immediate attention, such as Faro de Punta Capones, Faro de Sibulac-Babac de Gigantes, Faro de Isla Cabra, Faro de Islote de San Bernardino, Faro de Punta Capul, and Faro de Punta Bugui (with its 3rd order lens still intact). Though some are still repairable, there are a few which are today sadly in total ruin. Lighthouses such as those in Cabo Engaño, Islote de Tanguingui, Islote de Capitancillo, Punta Luzaran, Islote de Manigonigo, and Islas Calabazas are in total ruin and would need massive amounts to restore and made habitable again.
But what is the point of restoring, when these lighthouses do not function the way they did a hundred years ago. True, these lighthouses are still needed to light our seas. The tower receives numerous funding for its modernization and upkeep, with most towers retrofitted with modern solar light, thus necessitating the removal of historic bronze cupolas and its inch thick Fresnel Lens. With the towers automated, the need for lighthouse keepers to man such structures is obsolete. Today, lighthouse keepers have an easier task, visiting towers only once in a while to replace busted bulbs and to do minor maintenance work. But with funds scarce, the damages wrought by over 100 years is too daunting.
The Spanish Colonial Lighthouses built over 100 years ago still serves its master well. Guiding ships to their ports of call, these structures, stripped of their dignity still stand proud in their lonely windswept location. Yet even with time and the elements acting against them, the beauty that the Spanish Engineers erected on our soil cannot be erased. It is time that we, the inheritors of this patrimony should do what we can to ensure its survival for the next 100 years. For these lights not only lit the souls and imaginations of those who chanced upon them they also guided a nation to progress.
The essay is based on a report conducted by the author on Spanish Colonial Lighthouses in the Philippines through a grant received in 1998 from the Ministry of Education and Culture of Spain “Towards a Common Future” and the Center for Intercultural Studies, The University of Santo Tomas. Throughout the study, from 1998 to the present 24 Spanish Colonial Lighthouses all over the country were visited and studied. A detailed assessment of their conditions was conducted and recommendations made to the Coast Guard of the Philippines for their eventual restoration.
In the website article below they state:
Most of the lighthouses, usually charged by solar power, are not manned 24/7. While many have timers and automatically turn on at night or when the skies turn dark, others have to be manually turned on by a PCG civilian employee.
There are numerous articles I have mentioned on Philippine lighthouses. One of the best is Sentinels of heritage guide PH’s progress, light its soul which describes the Spanish influence on many Philippine lighthouses.
Apart from serving as signal stations and beacons for ocean-going ships through the centuries, a few lighthouses of the Spanish period, particularly those in the Visayas and Mindanao, served as watchtowers against pirates and slave traders.
The Paris-based International Council on Monument and Sites (Icomos) recognizes the heritage value of the Philippines Spanish-era lighthouses, which are mainly of Victorian design.
Constructed by Spain’s renowned Inteligencia del Cuerpo de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos (or the Corps of Engineers for Roads, Canals and Ports), the lighthouses were built to protect burgeoning maritime trade in late 19th-century Philippines.
These structures located in the most beautiful and spectacular sites, lonely isolated islets, cliffs, barren rock outcrops, bluffs, capes and points, are testament to the commitment the Spanish colonial government had in the Philippines to modernize it and make it competitive at the dawn of the 20th century, Noche wrote in an article in the Icomos website.
In the above article they mention the following lighthouses:
Capones Island Lighthouse on Capones Grande Island off the coast of San Antonio, Zambales
Cape Bojeador in Burgos, Ilocos Norte
Cape Engaño in Sta. Ana, Cagayan
Faro de Punta Malabrigo in Lobo, Batangas
Another famous lighthouse is located at Poro Point, San Fernando, La Union. This has now become a tourist attraction and has been mentioned in this article:
Poro Point Lighthouse, a Light for Prosperity
Another article and another lighthouse is Capturing The Beauty of Capitancillo Islet In Pictures from a friend of mine Rusty Ferguson living in Bogo, north of Cebu, Philippines.
Another lighthouse mentioned on the above Facebook site is:
Another website lists Lighthouses of the Northern Philippines in which are mentioned:
Cape Santiago (Punta de Santiago)
and there are many more listed on the website with more references.
One other website that lists one hundred and ten (110) Philippine lighthouses is the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society.(ARLS)
So there you have it – a lot of lighthouses, none of them manned, some being repaired. Is it worth a trip to the Philippines? Definitely a big YES!
Stories and miscellaneous lighthouse news that does not require a story, but may interest the readers. These I will store here for reference.
November 19, 2012 – New Point Loma Lighthouse
A replacement for the Historic Point Loma Lighthouse, this working lighthouse is used by the U.S. Coast Guard. The lighthouse has been fully automated since 1973, which unfortunately does not mean it is run by robots. Look for the keeper’s quarters nearby—they were used as a setting in Top Gun. See also: Top Gun Beach House.
October 15, 2012 – Exmouth’s historic guardian
Exmouth is home to the Vlaming Head Lighthouse, the only lighthouse in the world that still runs on kerosene fuel.
This December, the historical artefact marks 100 years of lighting up the beautiful North West town and with this, comes a week-long celebration.
Originally named the North West Cape Lighthouse on Vlaming Head, the lighthouse’s story began five years before it was opened.
August 03, 2012 – (Chennai, India) Lighthouses to become tourist destinations
Vasan said that in spite of technological advances in aids to navigation, the guard on functioning of lighthouses have not been lowered and adding more lighthouses in order to provide more support to our fishermen.
Vasan also informed that the proposal for establishing a lighthouse at Vembar in Tuticorin district has been approved for which initial works were being carried out.
The Minister further informed that though lighthouses are located at remote locations, the scenic looks in the environs of the lighthouses are breathtaking. He reminded that last year, he had announced a scheme for promotion of tourism at the lighthouses.
August 03, 2012 – Global Networking at the 2012 International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend
Technology in our time races forward at lightning and sometimes frightening speed. But have you ever wondered what would happen if our communications technology failed on a local or global scale?
It may seem like a question for science fiction fans but in a real disaster, the solution to communication already exists and is wonderfully preserved by small groups of dedicated Ham Radio Clubs and Lighthouse Stations.
August 03, 2012 – Loop Head Lighthouse To Hit The Air Waves
Loop Head Lighthouse in County Clare will be amongst hundreds of lighthouses and lightships worldwide to participate in a unique event aimed at promoting public awareness of lighthouses and lightships and their need for preservation and restoration.
The Limerick Radio Club, comprising members from Limerick, Clare, Kerry and Tipperary, will broadcast non-stop for 48 hours from the West Clare Lighthouse on August 18-19th as part of the 15th International Lighthouse /Lightship Weekend (ILLW). During the broadcast, visitors to the lighthouse will be able to listen into communications with some of the other participating ham radio operators broadcasting from 400 other lighthouses and lightships in 50 countries.
The annual event, which is conducted under the sponsorship of the Ayr Amateur Radio Group (AARG) in Scotland, is always held on the third full weekend in August starting at 0001 UTC on Saturday and finishing at 2359 UTC on Sunday. It also coincides on the Sunday with International Lighthouse Day, an event organised by the Association of Lighthouse Keepers whereby many world lighthouses are open to the public for the day.
June 16, 2012 – Coast Guard: Fog signal cannon is oldest artefact Not many of these left around. I have never seen one. More on the lighthouse and cannon here.
June 16, 2012 – Paddling to the Sabine Pass Lighthouse -Now this is an interesting structure for a lighthouse. Too bad the stairs are gone. It would be interesting to see from up top.
June 13, 2012 – Acadia National Park Quarter Products On Sale
June 12, 2012 – ‘Britain’s most isolated street’ on the market for £1m If you’re plagued by noisy neighbours or simply enjoy your own company, this could be the location for you.
A terrace of clifftop Pembrokeshire cottages dubbed ‘Britain’s most isolated street’ is on the market for just under a million pounds.
The five lighthouse-keepers cottages at St Ann’s Head have been lying empty for a decade but are now being sold by Trinity House, who run all lighthouses in England and Wales. More information here (link).
June 12, 2012 – Government seeks new owner for Maine lighthouse
Bidding for the lighthouse will be opened to the public if no suitable agency or group expresses interest.
June 03, 2012 – The 1886 Southport lighthouse overlooks the marina in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA.
June 03, 2012 – Archaeological tours available at St. Augustine lighthouse, Florida, USA
Look what the people have done with this lighthouse! Fantastic!
The Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program announces Archaeo Tours, an exclusive 90-minute tour into parts of the Historic Light Station not available with general admission, including the maritime archaeology laboratory facilities.
May 31, 2012 – A glimpse of the sunken lighthouse
The Patek Philippe lighthouse watch sold for more than double its estimate!
May 29, 2012 – What’s going on here? Should “Big Red” lighthouse be renamed” Big Pink?”
May 27, 2012 – Nantucket Lightship /LV-112 will open for tours
May 25, 2012 – Point No Point Lighthouse (photo)
May 20, 2012 – Past the remote at a Newfoundland lighthouse inn (Quirpon island, NFLD, Canada)
April 04, 2012 – Polar bear has close encounter with lighthouse workers
April 29, 2012 – Grace Darling letter up for sale
April 29, 2012 – Book Review – Ghost Islands of Nova Scotia
April 29, 2012 – Oak Island, NS – On the Trail of Pirate Booty
April 27, 2012 – Rubjerg Knude: The Lighthouse Buried in Sand
March 15, 2009 – The buoy/lighthouse tender Granuaile heading out to sea after leaving Rosslare, Ireland
What are Canadians going to do with all their discontinued lighthouses? Always uppermost in the mind is making a Bed & Breakfast (B&B) out of one, as this will attract tourists, provide finances for upkeep, and let people see what it was like to live and work in a lighthouse.
Well, Craig Morrison in the United States had the urge and the ideas to do that. His ideas for a self-hosted lighthouse B&B is quite unique. Please read his story below.
So I Wanted to Own a Lighthouse: Diary of a Light Keeper
from the NewsLI.com website January 25, 2013 with permission from the author Craig Morrison
(Long Island, N.Y) Sometime back around 2001, I was watching the NPR show on TV about the lighthouse act written by Gale Norton, Secretary of the Department of the Interior with my girlfriend/attorney, Linell. I asked if we could start a nonprofit and get one. She agreed.
I found a course at St. Augustine Lighthouse, Florida, hosted by the US Coast Guard, the National Park Service, the GSA, among many other lighthouse constituents. Linell and I spent a week in classes about bricks and Fresnel lenses and the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for lighthouse restoration. We bought the book in print, which is now available online. We also met a lot of folks that had ownership interests in lighthouses and that were interested in getting one. Some folks just loved lighthouses. Continue reading Reprint – So I Wanted to Own a Lighthouse: Diary of a Light Keeper
See the amazing towers from Cape Hatteras to Thailand
from Weather.AOL.com by VALERIE CONNERS JAN 15, 2013
It’s hard to resist the allure of lighthouses. They stand sentry on rock-strewn, wave-battered coasts, often for for centuries, guiding mariners toward safer shores. And their very presence is a reminder of the power of nature and the fragility of life. But above all — just look at them. They’re so often breathtaking.
From 2,000-year-old towers to ultra-modern designs, click through to see the world’s most amazing lighthouses. . . . more
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See the amazing towers from Cape Hatteras to Thailand
It’s hard to resist the allure of lighthouses. They stand sentry on rock-strewn, wave-battered coasts, often for for centuries, guiding mariners toward safer shores. And their very presence is a reminder of the power of nature and the fragility of life. But above all — just look at them. They’re so often breathtaking.
From 2,000-year-old towers to ultra-modern designs, click through to see the world’s most amazing lighthouses.
St. Mary’s Lighthouse, Whitley Bay, England
St. Mary’s Lighthouse sits on an island reachable from the mainland only by a concrete causeway between tides. During high tides, the causeway is completely submerged. The 120-foot-high lighthouse lies north of Whitley Bay, and though the lighthouse is no longer active, the site remains a popular tourist attraction. Visitors can climb the 136 lighthouse steps to the lantern room, or visit a small museum, visitor’s center and cafe.
Pigeon Point Lighthouse, California
Fifty miles south of San Francisco, the 115-foot-tall Pigeon Point Lighthouse has been helping to guide sailors off the rocky Central California coast since 1872. Today it doubles as a popular hostel.
The lighthouse itself remains closed to the public after a section of the exterior’s cornice fell off in 2001, but the grounds remain open to visitors and 30-minute guided tours are available Friday through Monday. You might even spy seals or whales.
Bass Harbor Lighthouse, Acadia National Park, Maine
Tucked into the scenic, rocky shores of Maine’s Acadia National Park, Bass Harbor Lighthouse on Mount Desert Island is one of the park’s major attractions, thanks to its postcard-perfect setting. The lighthouse serves as home to the local Coast Guard unit’s commander. Short trails around the tower allow visitors to enjoy spectacular views.
Heceta Head Lighthouse, Florence, Oregon
One of the most visited and photographed lighthouses in the U.S., Haceta Head Lighthouse is perched along Oregon’s jagged coast more than 200 feet above the Pacific. The 56-foot-tall lighthouse was first illuminated in 1894. Its automated beacon is visible for 21 miles and is the brightest light on the Oregon coast.
It’s located in Heceta Head State Park, where trails and viewing areas offer glimpses of puffins, cormorants, gulls and sea lions. Lighthouse lovers can spend a night at Heceta Head: The adjacent keeper’s house doubles as a bed and breakfast.
Enoshima Lighthouse, Japan
One of the world’s most striking lighthouses, Enoshima Lighthouse rises above tiny Yenoshima Island a few hours south of Tokyo. Renovated in 2003, the lighthouse features a massive open-air spiral staircase winding around a central steel structure and ultimately leading to a 196-foot-high observation deck.
From the deck, visitors can take in views of Sagami Bay and Mount Fuji in the distance. Don’t have the stamina to climb the staircase? An elevator also shuttles visitors.
Torre de Hercules, Spain
The Torre de Hercules, or Tower of Hercules, was built by the Romans above La Coruña harbor in northwestern Spain in the 1st century, AD. The lighthouse is believed to be the only Greco-Roman lighthouse to retain its architectural integrity.
Originally called the Farum Brigantium, the tower sits on a 187-foot-high rock and stands an additional 180 feet high. The tower underwent restoration in the 18th century, and today visitors can also tour a sculpture garden, see rock carvings from
the Iron Age and explore a Muslim cemetery.
Marblehead Lighthouse, Ohio
Ohio isn’t the first place one pictures when imagining scenic lighthouse settings, yet the state is bordered by Lake Erie and the shores of the Great Lakes are home to dozens of beacons. Built along the craggy shores of the Marblehead Peninsula, Marblehead Lighthouse has been shining since 1822, making it the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the U.S. shores of the Great Lakes.
The 50-foot limestone tower was operated by 15 lighthouse keepers, including two
women, until 1946. At that point, the U.S. Coast Guard took over responsibility for the light, which is now automated.
Cape Byron Lighthouse, New South Wales, Australia
Cape Byron marks the easternmost point of mainland Australia, and it’s here you’ll find the Cape Byron Headland Reserve, a state conservation area and home to the Cape Byron lighthouse. Visitors to the scenic reserve can hike the 2.3-mile loop trail and admire the coastal vegetation, sea cliffs and beaches. The lighthouse and its cottages were built in 1901 and stand on the mainland’s most easterly point.
Cap des Rosiers Lighthouse, Quebec
At 112 feet tall, Quebec’s Cap des Rosiers lighthouse is Canada’s tallest beacon. It’s helped guide ships to safe waters since 1858. The tower sits at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River where it enters the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a rocky spot that has seen its share of shipwrecks. Among them was an Irish immigrant ship called the Carrick, which ran aground in 1847 and left 400 people dead.
The tower’s light is set 136 feet above the sea. The tower itself is a massive structure with 7-foot-thick marble walls at its base that taper to 3 feet thick at the top.
Middle Bay Lighthouse, Alabama
Rising from the center of Mobile Bay along Alabama’s Gulf Coast, Middle Bay Lighthouse is a hexagonal-shaped, screw-pile lighthouse built on seven piles screwed into the muddy sea floor. The station came into service in 1885. It gained notoriety in 1916 when the lightkeeper’s wife gave birth and the couple corralled a dairy cow to the lighthouse’s lower deck to provide milk.
The lighthouse was deactivated in 1967, and in 2010, $200,000 worth of repair work began on the structure. Visitors can’t climb the structure, but they can see the lighthouse up close on a boat tour departing from Fairhope, Alabama
Kiz Kulezi (Maiden’s Tower), Turkey
Kiz Kulezi, or the Maiden’s Tower, sits on a small islet at the southern end of the Bosphorus Strait. It owes its name to the legend of a sultan’s daughter who was brought to the island to protect her from her anticipated demise — a snakebite on her 18th birthday — as foreseen by an oracle. The sultan ensured she was far from land and snakes, but on her 18th birthday, he brought her a basket of fruit, which unbeknownst to him, carried a poisonous asp. Needless to say, the fair maiden’s end was nigh.
Today, the tower houses a high-end restaurant serving delicacies such as sea bass with caviar and caper sauce. Want a window view overlooking the strait? It’ll cost you. The restaurant tacks on a surcharge for window seating.
Ocracoke Lighthouse, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
Built in 1823, Ocracoke Lighthouse is North Carolina’s oldest lighthouse and is still operational today. The 75-foot-tall lighthouse was automated in 1955. During the summer months, a U.S. National Park ranger is on duty and tourists can enter the lighthouse’s base. To reach the island, visitors can take a 40-minute auto and passenger ferry from Cape Hatteras.
Coastwatchers Memorial Lighthouse, Madang, Papua New Guinea
One of the most famous war memorials in Papua New Guinea, Coastwatchers Memorial Lighthouse pays tribute to the soldiers and civilian volunteers who acted as coastwatchers during World War II. Built in 1959, the lighthouse sits at the entrance to Madang Harbor, stands 90 feet high and was designed to be tapered at its top with four fins at the bottom, so that it resembles a bomb. At the top of the lighthouse is a bronze beacon guard shaped like a flame.
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, North Carolina
Just off Cape Hatteras lies one of the Atlantic coast’s most dangerous stretches of sea: the area where the Gulf Stream collides with the Virginia Drift. Hundreds, if not thousands, of ships have met their demise here, earning the region the nickname, “Graveyard of the Atlantic.”
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse has been warning ships in the area since it was first lit in 1803. The tower’s height was increased 1853 and again in 1871. At 210 feet, it’s now the tallest lighthouse in America.
In 2000, increasing beach erosion led to the lighthouse being moved 875 yards inland. The site now features a museum and visitor’s center. Climbing tours of the lighthouse’s 248 iron spiral stairs are held daily in spring, summer and fall.
Knarrarós Lighthouse, Iceland
This lighthouse on Iceland’s south coast isn’t your run-of-the-mill round tower. Designed as a blend of functionalism and art nouveau, Knarrarós is a square, unpainted concrete structure rising 86 feet above the earth, making it southern Iceland’s tallest building. Black panels between windows grant the appearance of stripes running up the sides. Tourists can visit the site but can’t enter the unusual lighthouse.
Hook Head Lighthouse, County Wexford, Ireland
The oldest lighthouse in Ireland and one of the oldest in the world, Hook Head is over 800 years old, though local lightkeepers are said to have been setting up fires to warn ships of danger since the 5th century. The current lighthouse was built during the 12th century by the Normans, with 9- to 13-foot-thick walls and standing 80 feet high. Visitors can take guided tours to the top or visit the gift shop and cafe.
Burnham-on-Sea Low Lighthouse
Called the “lighthouse on legs,” Burnham-on-Sea Low Lighthouse was erected in 1832 after an earlier lighthouse had proved to have too low of a vantage point. The Low Lighthouse is a wooden pile lighthouse that reaches 36 feet high and stands on nine wooden piers. The whitewashed structure, with its trademark red stripe, was inactive from 1969 to 1993, but it’s once again active and warning mariners.
Promthep Cape Lighthouse, Thailand
A veritable youngster among lighthouses, Promthep Cape Lighthouse in Phuket, Thailand, was built in 1996 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Perched on Laem Promthep, a popular hilltop for watching sunsets, the lighthouse houses a small museum and is free to enter. Visitors can climb the tower for a better view of the stunning shoreline below.
Yokohama Marine Tower, Japan
One of the tallest lighthouses in the world looms 348 feet over Yokohama, Japan, and features a panoramic observation deck. On clear days, visitors can see snow-capped Mount Fuji in the distance. The tower is widely recognized for its lattice structure which, after dark, is lit in colored LED lights. A four-story complex sits at the tower’s base and includes a cafe, bar, restaurant and gift shop.
One of the planet’s most striking lighthouses is Beachy Head Lighthouse, set at the base of the 530-foot-tall white cliffs in East Sussex, England. The 141-foot tower was built with over 4,000 tons of granite and was first lit in 1902. Lighthouse keepers manned the beacon for 80 years until it was automated in 1983.
Today, the light emits two flashes every 20 seconds and can be seen eight nautical miles away. Pop culture fun facts: the Beachy Head cliffs have appeared in The Cure’s videos for “Just Like Heaven” and “Close To Me,” and the area served as the Quidditch World Cup hosting grounds in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”
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For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.
Braddock Point [Lighthouse] Bed & Breakfast
The Perfect holiday gift – – – gift certificates are available!
Welcome to the historical Braddock Point Lighthouse, established by the United States Lighthouse Establishment (USLHE) in 1896. This majestic jewel has been restored to its original Victorian grace and splendor and is now open seasonally as a truly unique Bed and Breakfast. Your hosts, Nandy and Donald Town know a few things about what it takes to pamper their guests at the inn. They are the owners/innkeepers of the world renowned Town Manor Bed and Breakfast in Central Florida. more . . .
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Be one of the very few that have the once in a lifetime opportunity to experience what it is like to live in an historical lighthouse perched on the shores of Lake Ontario near Rochester NY. Tour the restored lighthouse tower and take in the breathtaking views from high above. Be inspired by the magnificent workmanship involved in turning this spectacular home back to its original glory and now, finally open to the public. Braddock Point – come and visit us, we’ll leave the light on!
Established: 1896
USLHE
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Braddock Point Lighthouse
(863) 984-4008, (585) 366-4419
email: info@braddockpointlighthouse.com
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Hilton, N.Y. – An historic lighthouse on Lake Ontario will get some national attention next month [January 2013].
The Braddock Point Lighthouse in Hilton will be featured as a vacation getaway prize on the TV game show “The Price is Right.” Continue reading Mise Tales Nineteen
As I stated in my post The Lighthouse as a Sovereignty Symbol, put a lighthouse on your disputed territory and it is yours, or something to that effect. Now here is another ongoing dispute coming to light again – Canada vs USA. According to my theory above, Canada wins! – retlkpr
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Machias Seal Island a seabird sanctuary
The Canadian Press
Posted: Dec 23, 2012 7:37 PM AT Last Updated: Dec 24, 2012 12:38 PM AT
A tiny island between New Brunswick and Maine is the subject of renewed calls from both sides of the border to settle a territorial dispute once and for all.
Machias Seal Island is a flat, treeless piece of rock located about 19 kilometres southwest of Grand Manan Island and east of Maine at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy.
The island is a sanctuary for many kinds of seabirds including the Atlantic Puffin and draws visitors from around the world to observe them in the summer. more . . .
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There are no permanent human residents on the island, just pairs of lightkeepers who spend 28 days at a time maintaining a lighthouse operated by the Canadian Coast Guard.
The original lighthouse was built by the British in 1832, and a lighthouse has been maintained there ever since.
So why would anyone even care which country gets title to Machias Seal Island?
‘Wouldn’t we feel silly?’
The answer lies in the 720 square kilometres of water around the island in what’s called a grey zone. Lobster fishermen from both Canada and the U.S. fish these waters.
“The fishing community on Grand Manan is permitted to fish there on an open-end basis and it’s our way of laying our claim to this water that is part of the Machias Seal Island dispute,” said MP John Williamson, who represents the riding of New Brunswick-Southwest.
Williamson said the island is considered to be in his riding.
‘I think our claim is sound and is legitimate.’ —MPJohn Williamson
“I think our claim is sound and is legitimate, but at the end of the day it’s going to come down to the minister in this country and the administration in Washington to settle it,” he said. “I think it is in the interests of both of our countries to do that.”
That feeling is echoed by Stephen Kelly, a professor at the Center for Canadian Studies at Duke University and a retired American diplomat who has served in Canada.
“It just strikes me if we have this opportunity to remove a potential irritant going forward, why don’t we take it?” Kelly said in an interview from his office in Durham, N.C.
Kelly put his thoughts in a commentary for The New York Times last month, which he said he was prompted to write after seeing territorial disputes that have erupted between Japan and China over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.
He said while the situation between Canada and the United States is much different, land disputes are better settled.
“What if some valuable resource is discovered in the grey zone around Machias Seal Island? What if some other contingency that we can’t imagine now of strategic importance comes along?” he asked.
“Wouldn’t we feel silly that we didn’t take the opportunity to resolve this when the stakes were relatively low.”
For Ralph Eldridge, a Canadian who has been a lightkeeper on the island for the last 16 years, the question of who owns Machias Seal Island is a “non-issue,” something that is never a question from the visitors who travel to the island each summer.
And Eldridge said he doesn’t have to produce his passport to go there.
“But neither does someone from the United States or China or Japan or Spain have to when they come to the island,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade said ownership of the island and surrounding waters is clear as far as Canada is concerned: they are Canadian.
“Canada’s sovereignty over Machias Seal Island and sovereign jurisdiction over the 210 square nautical mile surrounding waters is strongly founded in international law,” Barbara Harvey said in a statement.
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In the Media
Op-Ed: Canada and US dispute ownership of small rocky island
Digital Journal By Ken Hanly Dec 25, 2012 in World
Machias Seal Island is a tiny rock island 16 kilometres from the coast of the US state of Maine and 19 kilometers south of Grand Manan Island just off the coast of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The island is claimed by both Canada and the US.
Machias Seal Island has an area of just 8 hectares or about 20 acres. The island is a sanctuary for many seabirds including the Atlantic Puffin seen in the appended video. Visitors from around the world come to view the birds during the summer.
There are no permanent residents of the island although there are lighthouse keepers who come in pairs and stay four weeks at a time. The lighthouse is operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The original lighthouse was built by the British in 1832. There has been a lighthouse maintained ever since. Many think that the presence of the lighthouse will give Canada a legitimate claim to the island. The United States has never had a presence on the island except in 1918 during the First World War when a small detachment of marines was posted to the island with Canadian agreement.
However in the past private citizens in Maine have claimed ownership of the island. There is a tour boat operator from Cutler Maine, who brings tourists to the island in the summer to view the birds. While there has been no oil or mineral resources discovered in the area, there is a large 720 square kilometres around the island called a grey zone. Lobster fishermen from both Canada and the US fish this area.
MP for New Brunswick Southwest , John Williamson said:
“The fishing community on Grand Manan is permitted to fish there on an open-end basis and it’s our way of laying our claim to this water that is part of the Machias Seal Island dispute.I think our claim is sound and is legitimate, but at the end of the day it’s going to come down to the minister in this country and the administration in Washington to settle it. I think it is in the interests of both of our countries to do that.”
Unfortunately an earlier decision of a joint commission in 1817 did not decide the ownership of Machias Sea Island even though it did decide that of other islands in the area including Moose, Dudley, and Fredericks Islands that are now owned by the US and also Grand Manan island that now belongs to Canada.
Stephen Kelly of Duke University and a retired US diplomat thinks that it would be a good idea to resolve the issue.
“It just strikes me if we have this opportunity to remove a potential irritant going forward, why don’t we take it. What if some valuable resource is discovered in the grey zone around Machias Seal Island? What if some other contingency that we can’t imagine now of strategic importance comes along?Wouldn’t we feel silly that we didn’t take the opportunity to resolve this when the stakes were relatively low.”
Ralph Edlridge, who has been a light-keeper on the island for 16 years, thought ownership was a non-issue. Neither he nor anyone else who comes to visit the island has to worry about showing a passport whether they come from Maine, Canada, China, or Spain he said. Barbara Harvey a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Trade said that as far as Canada is concerned the island is Canadian: “Canada’s sovereignty over Machias Seal Island and sovereign jurisdiction over the 210 square nautical mile surrounding waters is strongly founded in international law.” Some residents of Maine may not agree.
This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com
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December 28, 2012
Private Island News (P.I.N.) ISLAND ISSUES
Canada: The Little-Known Island Dispute Over Machias Seal Island
Along the border of the Canadian province of New Brunswick and the American state of Maine sits a small rocky island caught between the two countries.
An almost endless number of headlines have been made in recent months over the (at times heated) conflict between Japan and China over the ownership of a small group of islands in the East China Sea.
Due to the nature of islands, often found along inexact maritime boundaries, ownership disputes are not uncommon – but few of them tend to make headlines. A recent article has shone a spotlight on one of these lesser-known tales, involving a lighthouse isle along the Canada/USA border.
Found at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy, Machias Seal Island is an unassuming rocky outcropping of less than 20 acres, with only a lighthouse tower and outbuildings raised above its flat, barren surface. This modest appearance may be why the island was overlooked during the latter part of the 18th century, when Britain and the newly-formed United States were defining their territorial boundaries. Surprisingly, the intervening centuries have done little to resolve the question of just who owns the island.
While the dispute over Machias Seal Island has remained a friendly one, it has heated up in recent decades. Unlike in the case of Japan and China’s battle over the Diaoyu/Senkaku archipelago, there are no rich offshore oil and gas reserves at stake, however, there is a vibrant lobster fishing industry in the indeterminate “grey zone” of the surrounding waters.
“It’s very congested,” said the head of local fisherman’s association. “It’s a very hard area to fish. The Americans think it’s theirs; the Canadians think it’s theirs, and nobody gets along all that well.”
Canada has, thus far, maintained the upper hand in the conflict – despite an elimination of full-time staff from lighthouses on the East Coast to cut costs, the building on Machias Seal Island bears the distinction of being the sole remaining non-automatic lighthouse in the region, a contiguous occupation that stretches back two centuries.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has been willing to foot the Coast Guard’s bill for the live-in staff, giving only the explanation that it is for “sovereignty purposes”.
Read more about this story: Link [/private]
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Island fever – December 21, 2012
The Chinese are at it. The Japanese are at it. The Brits and the Argentines are at it – all squabbling over small islands. There is even speculation that the US and Canada will revive their long-running dispute over little Machias Seal Island.
When large states are feeling small, it seems, small islands loom large. This is true not just of tiny, uninhabited outcrops. Independent and semi-independent islands are in the limelight too.
One reason for this is clear. Entitled to many of the same rights as large states, but without the same responsibilities, these islands pose an outrageous challenge to the international order and need to be brought back under control.
It is not just their tax practices, although this is the issue that currently defines the EU’s agenda. By selling passports to anyone passing, islands help criminals change identities and travel the globe undetected. And by conferring diplomatic recognition upon renegade countries, islands endanger global security.
There is a second reason too: entitled to many of the same rights as larger states, but without the same responsibilities, small islands are an outrageous challenge to the international order, and are therefore extremely useful allies to big countries.
Thanks to the competition caused by their tax regimes, small islands can be helpful to large countries wishing to impose fiscal discipline upon their partners or just hoping to excuse their own tax practices. And by handing out passports to all-comers, islands can ‘liberate’ the business elites and political opposition of repressive regimes – saving big states the need to intervene.
Small islands are even credited with a diplomatic daring which larger countries cannot afford to practice. Fearful of encouraging secessionist tendencies at home or of antagonising their international partners, large states are often too nervous to recognise breakaway countries. Small islands go where large states fear to tread.
This ambiguous status in an international system made for big players gives islands a significance quite disproportionate to their size. Take for instance Nauru (population: 9,000; size: 21 square kilometres; distinguishing features: looks from above suspiciously like a treasure island).
For years, China and Taiwan were locked in competition for Nauru’s diplomatic loyalty, with Nauru reportedly allowing itself to be bought first by one side then the other. Indeed, in 2002, when the Taiwanese president rocked the world by supporting a referendum on independence, his move was viewed as a reaction to Nauru’s sudden switch of loyalties to the People’s Republic.
The case of Nauru also shows how quickly islands can go from international pariahs to valued partners, depending on large states’ whims. In 2003, the US appears to have decided that the Nauruans’ passport-for-sale scheme was not a danger to international security after all. Just the opposite in fact: it offered a means to smuggle nuclear scientists out of North Korea. If reports are true, Nauru, the one-time bandit, suddenly found itself made deputy sheriff.
This special attitude towards islands – an attitude which does not seem to pertain to other small states – reflects the strong hold they exercise over the popular imagination. Blame that Christmas favourite, Treasure Island. For people living a routine mainland life, islands signify pirates or palm trees: they are either dangerous or alluring.
At one extreme are the harmless bores who view islands as a serious threat to international security and stability, can recite by heart the guidelines on good governance produced with a cheerful lack of irony by the EU, OECD or G20, and show an unhealthy interest in all forms of small-island deviance.
At the other are the escapists who see islands as an alluring alternative to mainland life and who secretly dream of seizing a rocky outcrop and establishing a libertarian utopia of their own.
Islands are thus either ‘unviable’ – incapable of sustaining themselves without cheating on big states, and ripe for depopulation – or an escape – ripe for repopulation by mainlanders. Acknowledging instead that islands are in fact entities in their own right, capable of responsible self-regulation – within the same context of global interdependence that affects all countries – might help avoid unfortunate situations like Nauru’s.
After all, if the reports about 2003’s ‘Operation Weasel’ are accurate, Nauru’s citizens had just succeeded in stopping their government from selling passports on grounds of good governance, only to see the US reintroduce the practice for them.
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(Maps: Google Maps)
This is Machias Seal Island, a 20-acre island in the Bay of Fundy.
You can’t see it? Let’s zoom in.
Hmm. That doesn’t help much. Let’s zoom in some more.
There it is! It’s a speck of land that barely appears on the map.
(Photo: Albnd)
You can see the lighthouse in the photo above. The island is inhabited by 2 human lighthouse keepers, a few seals…
(Photo: Thomas O’Neil)
…and lots and lots of puffins.
The ownership of Machias Seal Island is disputed by the United States and Canada. Canada is in physical possession of it, but the United States has not formally dropped its claim to the island.
I’ve previously written several posts about the development of the US-Canadian border, whichincludes weird exclaves. Ambiguity about the border even led to the creation of 2 short-lived nations.
(Painting by Benjamin West of the American delegation at the Treaty of Paris)
Although the United States and Canada now maintain a long, peaceful border, the placement of that border has been in doubt since the Treaty of Paris (1783) in which Britain recognized the United States as an independent nation. That treaty attempted to draw borders over unexplored lands. The authors did the best that they could with their knowledge of geography. But, alas, one of the descriptions for the border between Maine and maritime Canada was problematic. The treaty says that US territory includes:
all Islands within twenty Leagues of any Part of the Shores of the United States, and lying between Lines to be drawn due East from the Points where the aforesaid Boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one Part and East Florida on the other shall, respectively, touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean, excepting such Islands as now are or heretofore have been within the limits of the said Province of Nova Scotia.
I’ve bolded the parts of the text that are the source for the Machias Seal Island dispute.
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, the eastern border of Maine was of great concern to the British. Some British officials coveted what Americans saw as their territory, and vice versa. Control of the Bay of Fundy was of great importance to British commissioners at the Treaty of Ghent (1814), which ended the War of 1812.
(Photo: Thomas O’Neil)
Now back to Machias Seal Island. The American argument is that it lies within 20 leagues (approximately 69 miles) of the coast of the United States.
The Canadian argument is that a land grant that pre-exists the Treaty of Paris defines the island as part of Nova Scotia. It built and has operated a lighthouse on the island since 1832.
Occasionally fishermen from the 2 nations have gotten into scraps about its ownership. Some Canadian citizens have staked mining claims to the island as a means of asserting Canadian sovereignty. The State of Maine has included the island on its maps of electoral districts.
But if possession is indeed 9/10ths of the law, then Machias Seal Island is Canadian. The United States has chosen not to press the issue.
Sources:
Clark, Edie. “Barna Norton Invades Canada.” Yankee 62.6 (1998): 48. Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson). Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Guo, Rongxing. Territorial Disputes and Resource Management: A Sourcebook. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2007. Web. Google Books. 22 Apr. 2014.
Kelly, Stephen R. “Good Neighbors, Bad Border.” New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast) ed. Nov 27 2012. ProQuest. Web. 22 Apr. 2014 .
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For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.
Build a Redstone Lighthouse in MinecraftThis article may be a bit outside the scope of this website, but then maybe not.
Everybody loves a lighthouse, whether it is on the sea, in your garden or in your computer as is this PC/Mac program called Minecraft. This may not be to everybody’s interest but I am sure there are a few of my readers out there who play the game and might be interested.
I have never explored Minecraft, but a short description will more than help you understand the fascination. I might even give it a try. You all know my fascination with Lego!
Minecraft: What The Hell It Is
The literal description: Minecraft is a first-person, free to play indie PC/Mac game created by one person, with crafting, building and exploration at its center. The graphics are straight out of 1991. There are no characters and there is no story. There are none of the “production values” that define gaming these days, but within those narrow confines lies one of the most innovative and endlessly fascinating game in existence… and it’s still in Alpha.
While there are various versions and builds available out, there are three basic play-modes to Minecraft: Single Player Creative, Multiplayer Creative, and Single Player Survival. All three plop you down into a huge, open world, filled with different natural resources you can exploit and bend to your will.
Single Player Creative mode is like an infinite LEGO set. You can create fantastic structures out of basic building blocks all day if you’d like. You can try it out for free, in-browser, right here. Multiplayer Creative is the same deal, with others. – g4tv.com
So, here is a short video on how to build a Minecraft lighthouse:
For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.
Power supply resumes at Unoosaki lighthouse in Soma
2 November 2012
The Unoosaki lighthouse in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, has resumed full operations after power was restored 19 months after the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
As a result, the lighthouse is now fully able to help ships safely navigate the waters off Fukushima Prefecture.
The Japan Coast Guard’s office in the prefecture, the Fukushima Coast Guard Office, unveiled the lighthouse to the media on Nov. 1, which is observed as “lighthouse day” in Japan [I did not know that!]. . . . more
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Bridgeport couple’s lighthouse on display at Maritime Aquarium
A model lighthouse made by a Bridgeport couple is helping to light the way for visitors in The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk as part of the aquarium’s 11th annual “Festival of Lighthouses.” – more
