Keeper’s Log Battery Point Lighthouse June 15

I woke up from a sound sleep a little before 2:00 AM.  A glance out the window revealed a star-filled sky over the ocean.  I climbed the tower steps to see the stars.  The moon, over 3/4 full, was dominating the night sky and casting a shimmer which I captured below.

The day dawned bright and sunny.  These past few days have been hard to read.  Mother Nature has not been paying attention to the “official tide chart” published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  The tide charts are indicating the tidal basin should be under water but there are long periods of dry sand after it should be wet and then, barely wet, the tide recesses.  Our conclusion is that the daytime high tide is simply a lower high tide, verified by the charts, but further modified by the build up of sand and gravel on the tidal basin.

We worked for a good part of the morning…vaccuming, sweeping the staircase, laundry, and raking the gravel on the outside walkway.  We had our personal and lighthouse chores done and the lighthouse was “tour ready” well ahead of our opening.  

Yesterday, while conducting tours, there was a young man who spilled pistachios out of an open bag he carried in his jacket pocket all down through the spiral brick stairwell.  This morning I found pistachios on every level.  Later, as I swept the concrete walkway all the way down by the beach, guess what I saw?….a trail of uncracked pistachios…

I took a walk along the seawall.  At one point there was a paved road that went down to the water.  Here is a photo of that gorgeous place.

We did tours from 2-4 today, however, it was nearly 5:00 before our last visitor perused the gift shop and left the lighthouse.   

Here is a brief history lesson on how Battery Point came to have a lighthouse and how it got its name.  In the book Battery Point and St. George Reef Lighthouses, by Bert and Margie Webber, Crescent City was described as the only suitable place for a harbor in the northern most stretch of coast in California during the time of its initial founding in 1852.  Because the entrance to the harbor was dangerous and rocky, seamen and businessmen in the area believed the lighthouse to be a necessity.  The federal government had already designated selected sites for lighthouse funding, but Crescent City was not one of them.  Local promoters would not give up and the town was added to the coastal cities to receive funding for a lighthouse.  The lighthouse was built on the little island just off the mainland in 1856.  At that time to this day, access is possible only at low tide.

In Crescent City, the ship America burned in harbor in 1855, the year before Battery Point was built.  Later, men salvaged three brass cannons from the America.  These were placed on the point of land next to the island.  Three guns constitutes a “battery”.  Thereafter, the island was named “Battery Point” and the lighthouse was named “Battery Point Lighthouse”. 

We had dinner and I fed Fred and Ginger, our pet sea gulls.  The sun has already set and I see a storm out at sea from the radio room window.  Last entry in the Keeper’s Log:  The light is operational and we see a storm approaching.  Those ships still at sea will see us, know where they are, and be safer for it.             Signing off from Battery Point.