Canadian Lighthouse Heritage Protection Act

On May 7th, 2008, the Canadian Senate passed Bill S-215, an Act to Protect Heritage Lighthouses after 8 long years of debate in both the Senate and the House of Commons (the Parliament of Canada). The act now requires the Governor general’s signature to become law which will allow neglected automated Lighthouses and surplus Lighthouses to be protected.

Since the automation of Lighthouses and cuts to the Canadian Coast Guard, many historically significant active Lighthouses have been falling apart and surplus Lighthouses that were downgraded have been demolished, burned down, vandalized, or sold.

The Surplus Lighthouses are currently subject to the Real Properties Act which practically guarantees the sale of excess Lighthouses to private owners making it difficult for local coastal communities to acquire and maintain the historical Lighthouses.

The Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society noted that only 4 percent of Canadian Lighthouses were protected from demolition under he Federal Heritage Building Review Office management program whereas 70 percent of American Lighthouses have the heritage protection under the National Register of Historic Places!

Both the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society and the Heritage Canada Foundation have strongly supported Bill S-215 due to the lack of federal protection for any federal buildings.

After the Lighthouse Heritage Protection Act goes in effect in two years, all heritage Lighthouses will be federally protected and local communities will be allowed to restore and maintain the Light Stations as trustees.

Technorati Tags: lighthouse, Canadian Lighthouse Heritage Protection Act, Canada

Discover Michigan Lighthouses

Recently, the Detroit News published a news story about visiting the 124 Lighthouses in Michigan as fun, easy, and inexpensive to visit.

According to Terry Pepper, the executive director of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, many lighthouse visitors “are struck by the beauty, history and sheer isolation of these maritime sentinels. They tend to be magnificent structures, beautiful to look at, and harken back to a time when survival was a little closer, more pressing, than today,” he says. “They also tend to be located in some pretty spectacular places, such as islands, harbor entrances and prominent points along the Michigan shore.”

And, climbing the open towers to the balcony of the Lantern Room offers breathtaking scenic vistas of the shore. In addition, the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association is offering Lighthouse Cruises starting June 9. For more information about the cruise schedules, please visit www.gllka.com and click the Events menu tab.

For directions, open towers, and information about all Great Lakes Lighthouses, please visit Terry Pepper’s excellent “Seeing The Light – Lighthouses of the Western Great Lakes” web-site.

The Detroit News also published a excellent interactive slideshow of Michigan Lighthouses with a brief background of each Lighthouse. To view, please visit the “Special interactive: Click around the lighthouses of Michigan.”

In closing, the most intriguing Great Lakes Lighthouse Legend is the haunted tale of the deactivated Old Presque Isle Lighthouse. According to the whale of a tale, the ghost of George Parris, a former museum caretaker, returns every night to light the lamp in the empty Lantern Room. Edna Lenter who has worked at the museum for six years claims the Light is on “just about every night” and people have used the haunted Light to find the harbor at night and during storms. The paranormal phantom of Old Presque Isle has been investigated for years and sensationalized on myth-busting and Sci-fi tv shows.

Related News Source:
Discover the great lighthouses that line the Great Lakes, May 20, 2008

Technorati Tags: lighthouse, Discover Michigan Lighthouses, Great Lakes Lighthouses, Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, Michigan

Sailing into Harbors of Peace

As parents and grandparents, we dream of a safe peaceful world for our loved ones to live in someday. Wouldn’t it be great if someday was today and everyone could sail around the globe into peaceful harbors?

What would happen if every Blogger broadcasted live the BlogBlast For Peace on June 4, 2008 by posting their Dona nobis pacem Peace Globe?

Perhaps, giving peace a real chance is the right peaceful revolution the world needs!

For more information on posting your Peace Globe, please click this banner:

To view the Peace Globe Gallery, please click this banner:

Technorati Tags: lighthouse, Sailing into Harbors of Peace, Peace Globes, BlogBlast For Peace

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area Act

On May 9, 2008, President Bush signed “H.R. 1922 (S. 1143): Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area Act of 2008” into law. The Act designates 126-acres Outstanding Natural Area which requires the Bureau of Land Management to develop a plan to manage the area as a unit of the National Landscape Conservation System.

The Lighthouse Designation Act, sponsored by Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Palm Beach Gardens, and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla, provides federal protection of Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and the surrounding federal land for cultural, educational, historic importance, natural, scenic, and recreational use.

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Jupiter Inlet became the second Outstanding Natural Area in the nation to protect a Lighthouse and the surrounding natural area. Yaquina Head Lighthouse and Yaquina Head was the first Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area (1993).

Jupiter Inlet is a natural inlet formed by the Loxahatchee River flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. In 1852, the Lighthouse Board recommended a Lighthouse at Jupiter Inlet due to the dangerous offshore shoal which wrecked many ships.

After seven years of construction, the 108-feet high brick Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse was First Lit on July 10, 1860 exhibiting a Fixed White Light which was varied by brighter White Flash every 90-seconds illuminated by a First-order Fresnel lens 146-feet above sea level to range of 25 nautical miles.

Blockade runners transported supplies through the Jupiter Inlet to the Confederacy when the Civil War began. In 1861, Confederate sympathizers disabled the Light and the Lighthouse remained dark throughout the remainder of the war. Captain James A. Armour recovered the machinery and missing parts near Lake Worth creek and moved them to Key West. On June 28, 1866, the Lighthouse was returned to operation and Captain Armour was appointed an assistant keeper under William Davis.

Since 1994, Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse has been open to public tours and the oil house was converted to small museum. The Tower was restored from 1999 to 2000 at a cost of $850,000.

Map Location:
For a map location of Jupiter Lighthouse Park, please visit the Google Map of Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse

Currently, the active Lighthouse exhibits two White Flashes every 30-seconds, and the flashes are separated by 7.7-seconds. For more information about visiting the Lighthouse and admission fees, please visit Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum Lighthouse Park.

Related News Source:
Jupiter: Inlet Lighthouse deemed Outstanding Natural Area

Technorati Tags: lighthouse, Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area Act, Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, Jupiter Inlet, Florida

Irbensky Lighthouse Cruise Control

On May 4th, the German owned 994-passenger cruise ship, Mona Lisa, ran aground on a sandbar in the Irbe Strait of the Baltic Sea 11-miles off the coast of Latvia after the ship’s navigator plotted a maneuvering mistake and navigated the ship on the wrong side of the Lighthouse!

The cruise ship embarked on a 10-day tour of the Baltic Sea from Kiel, Germany and was en route to Riga, Latvia’s capital, when the navigator Zigged Left of the Lighthouse instead of Zagging Right of Irbensky Lighthouse! Apparently, the GPS “traffic cop” was on his Dunkin’ Donut break? 😀

According to Coast guard spokeswoman Liene Ulbine, “A total 662 passengers have been evacuated from the cruise ship Mona Lisa. There are no signs of distress” after six Latvian coast guard and naval vessels failed to refloat the vessel overnight.

Photo credit: GT Corporation, Irbensky Lighthouse was prefabricated by the GT Corporation. The modern 125-feet high cylindrical steel concrete tower was towed and installed at the site in the Irbensky Strait from 1980 to 1985. Irbensky Light exhibits a Flashing White Light every 10-seconds 115-feet above sea level.

Map Location:
For a Map Location, please visit the
Google Map of Irbensky Lighthouse

Related News Source:
Was it left or right at the lighthouse?

Technorati Tags: lighthouse, Irbensky Lighthouse Cruise Control, Irbensky Lighthouse