The Lightkeeper's Blog

To say the year has been full would be to understate the story like a mumble in a hurricane. There has been a ton going on and most of it has been told here.

One of the stories followed all year long was of the deterioration of the North Jetty. A storm this past week has left a break about 20 yards before the spindle light and the expectation would be for more stone to move from the ocean side to the harbor side before the winter is through.

The gray stone in the center of the December photograph is the same gray stone that is seen on the far left of the first. To get to the spindle now involves climbing down into a gap and climbing back out. There was one bad fall into that hole this summer that involved a fire department call on a Saturday night. My hope is that guests will get smarter about making the trip but that hope would get long odds.

The good news of this last storm was that the wind pushed a good deal of water over the revetment but did not push much into the harbor side yard. The parking lot was full of stone and getting back onto the Point after school involved a two hour wait for the water to subside. There was a good deal of rubble coming down Rebecca Road but it was less than the rubble on Lighthouse Road. Below is a shot from Scituate Harbor that shows just how deep the water was at high tide.

A very well made report was issued by the evaluators of the Tower a few weeks ago. There was a historical survey that was especially well done and the question was raised to which year would the Light be restored. The decision was to refurbish the Light to its 1930 configuration.

Further work will be done to reestablish a solid foundation for a rebuilt or refurbished Lantern room. I have hoped for some time that the rebuilding or refurbishment would be done off sight with a healthy room returned to a solid base in the spring. There is a small weather window for such work if done on sight and moving the project to a shop has always made the most sense to me. Cross your fingers that the decision makers will use that experience.

It was a challenge to hang a wreath this year and I ended up with three small ones in place of the one big one that commonly would be found on the Tower. I did hang all three for a time but it never looked right to me and I pulled them down for my peace of mind.

Next year the wreath will go back in place and the old standard will be reestablished. The Cedar Point Association was very generous to Julie and I once again this year and I like to be deserving of their attention.

February will mark the 14 complete year here. There should be some painting done inside before then and the usual shoveling of rock as the storms push over the wall. I had a quick turn out there on Friday before the real cold set in and I am watching families on scooters and pushing baby carriages hike up and back to take a peak at the waves. The watch will continue on the jetties.