I recently received the following from the Chesapeake Chapter USLHS

* The organization, Carolina Ocean Studies, will be conducting a
"Farewell
to the Tower" tour to Frying Pan Shoal Light Tower to commemorate the
role
lightships and light towers (and the men that served aboard them) have
played as sentinels of the shoals for nearly 200 years. This tour
will
take place on Sunday, October 26 departing from Carolina Beach, NC.

This will be the last chance to visit the Light Tower (one of the very
last
Texas style towers still operating) before it is dismantled. If we
have
enough interest, we will have addition excursions to Frying Pan Shoal
Light
Tower in November. It is scheduled to be dismantled before the end
of the
year.
Individuals whom were among the last to serve aboard the Tower before
she it
was automated will join the tour.
A description of the Tower's history and information on the "Farewell
trip"
to the Tower is available from: Richard Cecelski, Director, Carolina
Ocean
Studies
P.O. Box 550, Carolina Beach, NC 28428 voice: 910-458-5155 fax:
910-458-9333
email: cosrichard@charterinternet.com

Dear Shirin,

At this point we do not have any excursions to Frying Pan Tower
scheduled
for Nov. However, the demolition and "burial at sea" (it's being
turned
into an artificial reef) may be delayed until May. If so, we will
conduct
excursions to Tower in Spring. Please check back. I have attached
description of our program. Please share with any lighthouse
enthusiasts;
if we get enough interest we will conduct trip in November '03.

Sincerely,
Richard Cecelski
Director
Carolina Ocean Studies
P.O. Box 550
Carolina Beach, NC 28428
voice: 910-458-5155
fax: 910-458-9333
email: cosrichard@charterinternet.com


Extinguishing the Light

Farewell Voyage to the Tower: a monument to seafaring’s past


Sunday, October 26, 2003 from 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.


Departing from Carolina Beach Marina (10 miles south of Wilmington, NC)

Vessel: S.S. Winner Queen, an 85 foot, 110-passenger catamaran
Sponsored by Carolina Ocean Studies

Cost $70 per person

Destinations: Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower, eddies of the Gulf Stream, hardbottom reef communities; excursion will also taken participants within view of 3 Lighthouses: Old Baldy, Oak Island and Price’s Creek

Reservations: 910-458-7302




A piece of our nation’s maritime history is about to be lost to the relentless forces of the sea. Frying Pan Shoal Light Tower, located 28 miles offshore of Cape Fear, is scheduled for demolition within the next few months. A light has been located at this point, on the end of Frying Pan Shoals, for 148 continuous years, except for a 4 year lapse during the Civil War; a lightship was stationed at this location prior to the construction of Frying Pan Shoal Light Tower. The “Tower”, as it is known to local mariners, has been damaged by recent hurricanes, especially Hurricane Fran, which sent nearly 30’ waves crashing onto the Tower. The supports are no longer trustworthy enough for Coast Guard helicopters to safely land on the Tower’s copter pad.


The “decommissioning” of light towers and lighthouses is occurring nationwide. Lighthouses and light towers have become sort of monuments to the past, relics from the days when captains used compasses and the stars to find their way on the vast seas. No longer considered essential to mariners, and being expensive to maintain and operate, the Coast Guard is transferring many lighthouses to tourist organizations. Great effort is being made to restore them. Light towers, however, located well offshore from the view of tourists and coastal residents, are being dismantled, one by one, so that all of these stalwart sentinels will soon disappear from the seas.


The history of light towers has to include the history of lightships, for they served the same purpose and were located at the same “station”. While lightships and light towers do not have the charm of lighthouses, they were much more important to mariners. North Carolina is known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” because of the treacherous shoals that extend well seaward from our state’s three capes: Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, and Cape Fear. By the time many vessels could sight a lighthouse it was often too late - they would be lost in the breakers and sand bars found miles out to sea from the lighthouses. Thus, at a great deal of expense, manned lightships, then later, light towers were placed at the far end of these deadly shoals. These structures endured incredible seas as gigantic hurricane generated waves would suddenly hit shallow water and break as they hit the shoals. There is a rich and terrifying history of Coast Guard personnel riding out storms, lightships and crews being lost to storms, and lightship crews perishing from collisions with giant freighters.


The passing of navigational lights also marks a profound trust that has been granted to technology over seamanship. Modern and very complex machines serve the functions that the use of lights once served. Today, shipboard navigation takes place mainly by using GPS, or “Global Positioning System” receivers that interpret radio signals sent from satellites located 12,000 miles in outer space. These machines are much more accurate (and easier to use) than navigational lights: a few hours of training can enable a boat operator to find their position with GPS to within about 10 feet anywhere on the planet. This extremely advanced system makes traveling the high seas much easier than when mariners depended upon lights to guide them. In many respects, the advent of GPS represents the end of the long history of advances in navigation, many of which determined the fate of countries and history.


Back in the days when lighthouses and light towers were being built, few captains would go far offshore. Those that did were usually seasoned mariners whose navigation skills are rarely found today. In the days when lighthouses and towers were essential to mariners, captains were often not confident of their position within miles. The flash of a light in the distance could mean security, confidence in direction, and a means to find refuge from a storm. After crossing the Atlantic, the beam from a lighthouse was often passengers’ first sign that they had arrived in America.


Carolina Ocean Studies is conducting a “Farewell to the Tower” tour to Frying Pan Shoal Light Tower on Sunday, October 26 from 8:00 a.m. to approximately 7:00 p.m. This excursion departs from Carolina Beach aboard the S.S. Winner Queen, an 85-foot, 110-passenger catamaran. Participants will travel 45 miles offshore to the end of Frying Pan Shoals. The return trip will pass by three lighthouses, Old Baldy, Oak Island, and Prices Creek, as we go back to the dock by way of the scenic and historic Lower Cape Fear River. One of the last men to serve aboard the Tower will also be aboard to share stories from his 2 years spent 28 miles offshore. We’ll get him to tell his story about “Bacon” and “Eggs”, 2 cats that also resided on Frying Pan Tower.

These exciting educational excursions include deep-sea fishing and marine studies on the edge of the Gulf Stream current. Probable catch includes sea bass, snapper, and grouper. Participants will learn about the fish that are caught, the ecology of the hardbottom reef communities where they live, as well as issues related to the decline of fish stocks worldwide. Likely observations include dolphin and sea turtles. Marine life is collected with trawls and fish traps. We will also search for “rafts” of sargassum seaweed and try to net clumps of this incredible floating habitat that supports seahorses, nudibranchs, baby sea turtles, and a vast array of fish and invertebrates.

The cost of this excursion is $70 per person.


I hope you can join us as we say “farewell” to the Tower and to bid adieu to part of our coastal heritage.




Sincerely,

Richard Cecelski

Director


Carolina Ocean Studies:

910-458-7302

I really miss the old Brenton Reef Tower (just off the coast of Newport, RI) as well as the Buzzards Bay Tower (roughly 10 miles due south of Horseneck Beach, Westport MA). Brenton Reef Tower was removed and nothing else was put in its place. I have the location marked in my Loran as "Former Brenton Tower". At least they put up another sturcture to replace the Buzzards Bay Tower.

They were great marks for many years of boating through that area. Yes, we always use to refer to them as the Texas Towers.....Gone but not forgotten?

Bob

Wait...when did they tear Buzzard's Bay down? I have been thinking that it would be the only survivor reading these posts here and at Lighthousing.net...