Bakers Island 7/23/2015

It's very summertime hot, even on Bakers Island.  We love it, spending more and more time on the ocean in our Boston Whaler, though not swimming from our rocky shores.

We learn something new every day.  Did you know that the precursor to the US Coast Guard was the Massachusetts Humane Society, founded in 1786 to rescue mariners?  The first rescue surfboat station was built in Cohasset, Massachusetts.

An exciting discovery for Greg was when he first found internet reference to a fog bell at Bakers Island Light Station.  Then he found the location of the former bell tower on the rocks below the presently automated fog horn.  Now we have to find out what happened to Bakers' bell.

Another interesting clarification about that white tower standing at the head of Manchester harbor.  We were correct in telling visitors that the structure is not a lighthouse, but little did we know that it is not a modern addition to the architecture of the shore.  It used to be grey and stood as a submarine lookout tower in WWII.

The same visitor who told us about the sub lookout tower in Manchester also told us that the now dismantled tower at the end of Navy Road in Small Point, Maine was not just a triangulation point for planes to practice bombing.  It too was a submarine lookout tower in WWII. 

Last Friday we had the pleasure of meeting two people whose father was a Coast Guard Keeper on Bakers in 1950.  She had a few pictures of her parents,  one, of her parents standing at a certain angle next to the Assistant Keepers house.  We repeated the 1950 photograph with the brother and sister standing in the same spot in 2015.

Joy came for us when two of our grandchildren arrived for last weekend to stay at the light station with us.  Our four-year old granddaughter was heard to say, "This is the best house ever."  She has visited us in six houses in her brief life.  Then, our seven-year-old grandson woke up Sunday morning and said, "I love my room!  I see the lighthouse, the heli pad and the ocean."

We are looking forward to our niece coming out as she did at Seguin, to help out and to enjoy.  Also looking toward National Park service teenage volunteers to help us clear brush.  It is hoped that goats will clear some of the poison ivy for us next year if we clear an area for them.  Greg and I just finished repainting the lantern house so it will match in brightness to our newly refinished light tower.

We tell our visitors what a quiet island this is with the limited elecetric power everyone has, solar and propane only.  Then I hear a loud argument of old men right outside my window.  But it's only 6 am.  It's just old seagulls who sound just like angry old men when there are no other sounds except the wind.

We can see the Boston skyline from our yard, so close yet so far.  A big Coast Guard boat is going by as we get ready to meet visitors from the Essex heritage tour boat.  The busy harbor is a constant source of interest and our guests are a constant source of fun.