#113 Jun 2015 Lighthouses-A Mariners Ray of Hope!

Cape Spear Newfoundland is the most easterly point in North America. The next stop would be Ireland.

After five months of fabulous travel we left the coast still lovers and friends.

We saw beaches from sandy to rocky.

We saw the ocean from calm to stormy.

We saw big cities and tiny communities hugging the coastline.

After voyages, often of many weeks, North American lighthouses were welcome beacons to mariners from many nations as they vied for the riches of the New World.

The lighthouses were usually built with attached homes for the light keepers and their families. The homes were often the nicest ones in the community and the families were the most well off as the job provided the home.

The location of the lighthouses often meant isolation for the families and supplies were recieved infrequently.

The light keeper was well respected and often a community leader. His job maintaining the lighthouse could mean the difference between life and death for those who made their living from the sea.

Before modern communications the flags signaled critical information to the mariners.

We saw lighthouses with many colour and light sequences. Each is unique and has been a beacon for sailors for over 200 years along the coasts of North America.

Bonavista Lighthouse, Newfoundland

Cape Spear, Newfoundland

Point Amour, Labrador

Biloxi, Mississippi

St. Augustine, Florida

Bodie Island, North Carolina

Ralph climbed the 214 steps in the Bodie Island Lighthouse for this bird’s eye view.

Currituck Beach, North Carolina

Cape Hatteras, North Carolina – the tallest lighthouse in the USA

Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

Many lighthouses are no longer staffed. They are automated and now called light stations.

They often included foghorns, which are very eerie in the fog.

It was time to turn westward and start towards home.