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One of the first things I learned about being a Lighthouse Keeper was �DUCK�. As you probably know, this Lighthouse was built around 1869. I guess people were not very tall back then or maybe they were just more agile. All I know, is that I am over six feet tall and I must have wacked my head about a hundred times my first week there. It was one of those �sink or swim� lessons. Eventually you do catch-on. The structure itself was sturdily built with the finest craftsmanship of its day. It had withstood over a century of the most extremes of weather conditions the Northeast could deliver. I do remember it was not exactly �air tight� though. If the winds were blowing strong, you could watch the window curtains move even though the windows were closed. Fortunately, we had a modern oil furnace to compensate for the drafty conditions. Another interesting structural feature was the three foot square hatch in the kitchen floor. I believe it was a cistern but, we were kind of hesitant ( afraid ) to open it. Who knows what was / is down there. Maybe the government kept the Area 51 Aliens there. I can say with certainty though, this house was like every other old house I had been in, it makes lots of strange noises in the night. |
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After a couple of weeks of orientating myself to my new surroundings, I became very comfortable with my new life as a Lighthouse Keeper. Even though our atmosphere was somewhat relaxed, we were still a military unit and conducted ourselves accordingly. Mark ran a �Tight Ship� and instilled much pride in us with regard to the Lighthouse, our responsibilities and the Coast Guard in general. He was a very competent supervisor and became a good friend, as did Steve and Jim. Our typical work hours were much like everyone else with the exception that we wouldn�t go home at the end of the day because, we were already there. We worked 8:00 AM to 5:00PM with one hour for lunch. This was Monday thru Friday, with a half day on Saturday. Unless of course, a project had to be finished right away, then we would just do it. During the workday we would perform routine maintenance and repairs to the Lighthouse and surrounding facility. Maintaining a structure of this age can be quite challenging at times. On some occasions, we had to carefully remove a century of old paint to refinish a surface. One of our weekly maintenance items that stands out in my mind, was to polish the brass on the Fresnel Lens. This was quite a feat which generally required half a day to accomplish. Despite skinned up knuckles and sore fingers from polishing in between all the prisms, we took great pride in this task. |
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