Lighthouses

[Dee]

Lindau Lighthouse, Germany

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses, and to serve as a navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.

Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, and safe entries to harbours.


So basically we have to have a Topic for Lighthouses, right?

[Dee]

Tourlitis Lighthouse, Greece

Perhaps Greece's most iconic lighthouse, Tourlitis Lighthouse is perched on a rocky spire, weather-beaten and shaped by years of natural erosion, out at sea near the island of Andros. Built in 1887, Tourlitis was destroyed during World War II, but restored in 1996 as Greece's first automatic lighthouse, eliminating the need for a keeper to operate the light. A flight of stairs carved into the rocks lead to the lighthouse, a popular attraction with tourists and photographers that flock to the location to see the structure, which resembles a wizard's tower.



https://weather.com/travel/news/amazing ... s-20130702

[Dee]

Portland Head Light, Maine

Standing high on Cape Elizabeth, Maine, along the shores of Fort Williams Park, Portland Head Light is one of the country's most historic and most visited lighthouses. First lit in 1791 (making it the oldest lighthouse in Maine) with 16 whale oil lamps, the lighthouse has remained intact, except for the the whistle house, which was rebuilt in 1975 after it was damaged during a storm. Standing 80 feet above ground and 101 feet above water, Portland Head Light is now automated, with the tower, beacon, and foghorn maintained by the US Coast Guard. A museum, which is housed in the former Keepers' Quarters, exhibits a number of lighthouse lenses and interpretative displays, according to the official website.

https://weather.com/travel/news/amazing ... s-20130702

[Dee]

Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse, Denmark

In northern Denmark, on the coast of the North Sea in Rubjerg, there is an abandoned lighthouse that is being swallowed up by shifting sands.When the lighthouse was first built in 1900, it was located over 655 feet inland on the coastal slope’s highest point, with no large sand dunes nearby, writes the monument’s official website. Since then, however, wind from the North Sea has steadily blasted the cliffs near the lighthouse, causing sands to shift and the coastline to erode at a rate of 5 feet per year, reports Atlas Obscura, rapidly changing the landscape around this monument.

The lighthouse was lit for the last time on August 1, 1968, according to Amusing Planet, and in 2002, the museum and coffee shop at the lighthouse were abandoned. Eventually, the sand will completely destroy the building. It is predicted that the lighthouse will fall into the sea in 15 to 20 years, reports the website.



https://weather.com/travel/news/amazing ... s-20130702

[Dee]

Lindau Lighthouse, Germany

he Lindau Lighthouse is the southernmost lighthouse in Germany, in Lindau on Lake Constance. It is 33 metres tall and has a circumference of 24 metres at its base. Notably, it has a clock in its facade.

The lighthouse was first lit in 1856.

During the first years of operation the light was created by an open oil fire. At that time the keeper would have to keep the fire burning steadily in great pans and operate a bell and foghorn. The firing was later converted to kerosene and then gas.

Since 1936 the tower has been operated electrically and was automated in the early 1990s. The light is lit on demand by ships using radio signals.

[Dee]

Aniva Lighthouse, Sakhalin, Russia

The Aniva lighthouse was built by the Japanese in 1939, on a chunk of rock off the southern coast of Sakhalin, a thin 950 km long island situated just east of Russia, between the sea of Japan and Russia’s Sea of Okhotsk. The island was largely uninhabited until the 1800’s, when both Japan and Russia became interested in annexing it; the Russians for use as a penal colony.

That led to years of conflict, retrenchment, and buildup of military forces, with both nations agreeing to split the island across the 50th parallel. A ring of light-houses were built on Sakhalin’s rocky coast to signal incoming troop carriers and merchant ships.



After around 50 years of sharing the island, the Russians annexed it all in the Second World War, causing some half a million Japanese to be evacuated back to Hokkaido. In 1951 the Treaty of San Francisco was signed, officially handing tenure of the island over to the Russians, though plenty of territorial issues remain over surrounding, smaller islands.

Now the Aniva lighthouse is abandoned. Its seven stories of diesel engines, accumulator rooms, keeper’s living spaces, radio facilities, storerooms, large clockwork pendulum (for regulating optical system), and 300kg pool of mercury (as a low friction rotation surface for the lens) are still, and echo only with the crash of waves against the surrounding crags.




http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/2011/08 ... AfPZH.dpbs

[Dee]

Klein Curaçao

Klein Curacao is only 1.7km squared, with no permanent population but a few small huts used by fishermen. The windward side of the island is littered with wrecked boats, hundreds of washed-up flip-flops, and thousands of plastic bottles.

Its bigger brother Curacao sits off the coast of Venezuela, with a permanent population of about 140,000, some of whom day-trip to Klein Curacao to dive around its beautiful coral and underwater caves. Curacao officially became a Dutch colony in 1815.

The 20m tall lighthouse tower is abandoned, along with the two ruined 2-story keeper’s houses flanking it, but still functional. It was reactivated with a solar-powered LED beacon during the restoration of Curacao’s aids to navigation in 2008, having stood utterly dormant for many years prior. A stretch of coast dotted with rusting shipwrecks attests to its necessity. Now the LED emits two white flashes every 15 seconds.

[NurseRatched]

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Thanks, Dee! Dreamy topic!! I'll be in here if anyone needs me....

[Dee]

Hi Mz NR, great stuff. We need to break into some of these, you know that, right?

[NurseRatched]

That's a deal. I will spend the winter perfecting my lighthouse-breaking skills! Lovely selections here. I've only been in one lighthouse! How about you? Have you toured/broken into any?

[Dee]

Regularly!

Spoiler:

In style. Obviously.

[NurseRatched]

I recognize the muddy boots!