Lighthouse Way

Thursday June 14, 2012

Today was kind of like house-day. We were up and about in time to enjoy a brunch of salmon patty sandwiches and fresh apricots. Everyone was able to shower before brunch. The showers were push-button operated, plenty of hot water and most important, free. Sort of helped offset the cost of the campground.

The reason for today’s slow start was that our first stop was the Blanco Point Lighthouse about a mile from the campground, and the tours didn’t start till 10 am. We were there shortly after 10 and checked in at the VC for the tour of the lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1870 and operated by a lighthouse keeper till it was electrified in 1936. The original light was fired using rendered lard as a fuel. It is now fully automated and volunteers conduct tours and operate the VC from April to October. The light utilizes a Second Order Fresnel (pronounced Fren-el’) Bulls-eye Lens and the light is visible up to 26 miles at sea. Each light has a signature. We think this was 2 seconds on 28 seconds off. The light bulb never goes out, but the speed at which the light and lens rotate reveals a focused beam for 2 seconds, then it takes 28 seconds for the light to be focused on the same point again. The prisms that make up each of the 4 lens panels only allow the light to be focused at one point in the panel and the light is not seen at any other point in the panel. The panel is about 2’ X 2’ square with a supplemental panel above that makes the entire lens assembly into a dome shape. (You really had to be there} It was a very good tour and we were able to go up into the glass part of the lighthouse which houses the light. The climb up the stairs was quite a trip!

Our next stop was the Hughes House which was built in 1898 and is also part of Blanco State Park. It is a very nice old house of about 3000 square feet that cost around $3900 to build. The house has a number of pieces of original furniture. There is an indoor bathroom on the ground floor and a Catholic Chapel on the second floor. The Hughes family was Irish Catholic and settled on 80 acres operating a dairy farm.

We continued north on 101 to the town of Bandon, OR where the Coquille River flows into the Pacific Ocean. On the river’s north jetty stands the Coquille Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built around 1870 and was de-commissioned in 1939. At that time it was abandoned by the Coast Guard and fell into disrepair. It was a river lighthouse, meaning it helped mariners find their way into the mouth of the river at the port of Bandon. Bandon exported timber, coal and the product of a salmon cannery. The lighthouse was replaced by an electrified and automated light on the rivers south jetty. The state has taken over the property and is in the process of restoring the lighthouse. The lens disappeared at some point in time and there is no record of what happened to it. The lighthouse also had a fog horn that utilized compressed air supplied by two steam powered air compressors. None of that equipment remains, only copies of the original drawings.

Our next stop was at Sunset Bay State Park Headquarters where we got a stamp for the Cape Arago Lighthouse. We couldn’t visit this lighthouse because it is located on a sea stack off shore. The lighthouse is visible from shore, but a pretty long swim.

We continued north on 101 to Winchester Bay where the Umpqua River Lighthouse is located. We got there too late to take a tour of the lighthouse, but the VC was still open so we were able to get our book stamped.  

We pulled into a small Forest Service Campground in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area where we are settled in for the night. It is full of mosquitoes, but the campground hosts like it so well here that they have been here a year and a half. They must go through a lot of Off!

We still can’t say goodnight in Norwegian.