Gravelly Shoal Light

Gravelly Shoals Light is an automated lighthouse that is an active aid to navigation on the shallow shoals extending southeast from Point Lookout^[7] on the western side of Saginaw Bay. The light is situated about 2.7 miles (4.3 km) offshore and was built to help guide boats through the deeper water between the southeast end of Gravelly Shoals and Charity Island. Architecturally this is considered to be Art Deco style.^[8]

Gravelly Shoal Light

Undated USCG photo
Location	Saginaw Bay, Michigan
Coordinates	44°1′6″N 83°32′14″W / 44.01833°N 83.53722°W / 44.01833; -83.53722
Tower
Constructed	1939
Foundation	50-foot (15 m) diameter concrete pier^[5]
Construction	Steel-sided tower
Height	65 feet (20 m)^[1]
Shape	Art Deco
Markings	white, gray scaffold atop
Fog signal	Every 30 seconds, operates year round.^[6]Radio beacon signal transmitted at 296 kHz, and emitted a group of 0.5 -second dashes for 15.5 seconds, followed by 14.5 seconds of silence.^[3]
Racon	oui
Light
First lit	1939
Focal height	75 feet (23 m)^[2]
Lens	14.8-inch (375 mm) lens^[6]
Intensity	15,000 candela^[3]
Range	9.6 nautical miles; 18 kilometres (11 mi)
Characteristic	red flash every 6 seconds^[4]

History

As part of President Roosevelt's New Deal and its program to "Put America Back to Work" the new light tower was put up for bid, and built in 1939.^[9] It replaced an earlier gas-lit buoy. It also displaced the Charity Island Light,^[10] which was constructed in 1857, and operated until 1930.^[3]

Contemporary unmanned lights in the Art Deco style are the Indiana Harbor East Breakwater Light and its twin, the better known Port Washington Breakwater Light in Wisconsin.^[11][12]

When built according to its original specifications, the contractor warned that the foundation was inadequate to withstand the buildup of ice, and put in a bid for a contract modification. However, at the time jurisdiction over the light had just been transferred to the Coast Guard from the United States Lighthouse Service, and they chose to disregard the warning, and to accept the light as built. This resulted in substantial additional expense in due course, as the light had to be retrofitted.^[3]

This light is designed as an autonomous automated electrified station. It is under the control and maintenance of Coast Guard Station in Tawas City, Michigan. Ordinarily it displays a 15,000 candela 14.8 inches (375 mm) light powered by a 120 volt electric lamp. Power is supplied through a submarine cable, which crosses the shoal from Point Lookout. The 75-foot (23 m) focal plane makes its flash (1-second every 5 seconds) visible for 14 nautical miles; 26 kilometres (16 mi). It is supplemented by a standby 110 candela acetylene light with a half second flash every three seconds—which activates automatically if there is a power failure. In foggy weather, mariners are warned by twin compressed-air two-tone #3 diaphones, which operate on a 30-second cycle (3-second blast followed by 27 seconds of silence).^[3]

The National Data Buoy Center lists the Site Elevation as 588 feet (179.2 m) above sea level; an automatic readout for wind, waves and weather is operated there.^[13]

The National Weather Service operates an automated weather observing station at the lighthouse.

An added large steel tower atop the light is a radio beacon. The 1953 Coast Guard Light List indicates that the signal transmitted at 296 kHz, send forth a group of half-second dashes for 15.5 seconds, followed by 14½ seconds of silence. As of 2001, both the light and radio beacon served as active navigational aids.^[3]

Although it never had a resident lighthouse keeper, this light is a recognized 'significant light" by the National Park Service National Maritime Initiative.^[14]

As of July, 2015, the light is for sale through an on line GSA auction process.^[15][16][17]

Getting there

A good passing view of the light can be had while riding the ferry from Au Gres to Charity Island, which is 10 miles (16 km) to the east in the middle of Saginaw Bay.^[8] Tours of Charity Island (and even dinner cruises) are available, which can include the privately owned, rebuilt Charity Island Light lightkeeper's house. They are available from Charity Island Transport, Inc. in Au Gres, Michigan on the mainland, south of Tawas.^[18]

It is also possible to take a telephoto shot from shore.

  US 23 north from Au Gres, 4.8 miles (7.7 km) to Point Lookout Road. Turn right to its end; turn left onto Michigan Ave. Through a break in the houses one can see Saginaw Bay and the light.^[19]

See also

• Lighthouses in the United States

Notes

1. Pepper, Terry. . Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18.
2. Pepper, Terry. . Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30.
3. "Seeing The Light - Gravelly Shoal Lighthouse". www.terrypepper.com.
4. Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
5. Detroit News , Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses.
6. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Eastern Lower Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
7. Wobser, Dave, Gravelly Shoal Light March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, at boatnerd.com.
8. . www.lighthousedepot.com. Archived from the original on December 29, 2004.
9. Lighthouse Central, Gravelly Shoal Light Photographs, History and Directions, The Ultimate Guide to East Michigan Lighthouses by Jerry Roach July 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC - July 2006). ISBN 0-9747977-1-5; ISBN 978-0-9747977-1-7.
10. Bostwick, Violet M., Charity Island Light^{[permanent dead link]}, Boatnerd.com.^{[dead link]}
11. . United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2008-11-24. Note that the document has a picture of the Indiana Harbor East Breakwater Light under "Indiana Harbor Light", and that it has the correct history and wrong picture under "Indiana Harbor East Breakwater Light"
12. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Indiana". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
13. . www.ndbc.noaa.gov. Archived from the original on October 29, 2016.
14. National Park Service Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Light Stations. Significant Unmanned Aids. September 1, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
15. . General Services Administration. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
16. "Gravelly Shoal Light Auction". General Services Administration. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
17. Daniels, Serena Maria; Klayman, Ed., Ben; Walsh, Eric, Ed. (July 15, 2015). "For sale: three Michigan lighthouses, to caring owners". Detroit: Reuters. Retrieved July 14, 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
18. Charity Island ferry service. April 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
19. . www.us-lighthouses.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2016.

Further reading

• .
• Detroit News Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses.
• Great Lakes Light Keepers Association.**, Great Lakes Light Keepers Association.
• Harrison, Tim (editor of Lighthouse Digest and President of the American Lighthouse Foundation), (September, 2009) Ghost Lights of Michigan (Rare historic images and text on Michigan's lost and obscure lighthouse, including bonus chapters on lightships and lighthouse tenders.) East Machias, Maine: Foghorn Publishing, ISBN 978-0-9778293-3-0.
• Hyde, Charles K., and Ann and John Mahan. The Northern Lights: Lighthouses of the Upper Great Lakes. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8143-2554-8 ISBN 9780814325544.
• in PDF Format.
• Michigan Light List. Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy.
• . Michigan Lighthouse Fund.
• Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy.
• Oleszewski, Wes, Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses, (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) ISBN 0-932212-98-0.
• Penrod, John. Lighthouses of Michigan, (Berrien Center, Michigan: Penrod/Hiawatha, 1998) ISBN 978-0-942618-78-5 ISBN 9781893624238.
• Penrose, Laurie and Penrose, Bill Traveler's Guide to 116 Michigan Lighthouses, Petoskey, Michigan: Friede Publications, 1999. ISBN 0-923756-03-5 ISBN 9780923756031.
• Pepper, Terry, President Great Lakes Lightkeepers Association,
• Roach, Jerry.
  • . Bugs Publishing, 2006. ISBN 0-9747977-1-5; ISBN 978-0-9747977-1-7.
  • . Bugs Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9747977-2-4.
  • '. Bugs Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-9747977-0-7.
• Sapulski, Wayne S., (2001) Lighthouses of Lake Michigan: Past and Present (Paperback) (Fowlerville: Wilderness Adventure Books) ISBN 0-923568-47-6; ISBN 978-0-923568-47-4.
• Splake, T. Kilgore. Superior Land Lights. Battle Creek, MI: Angst Productions, 1984.
• . United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
• Wagner, John L. "Beacons Shining in the Night: The Lighthouses of Michigan". Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University.
• Wagner, John L., Michigan Lighthouses: An Aerial Photographic Perspective, (East Lansing, Michigan: John L. Wagner, 1998) ISBN 1-880311-01-1 ISBN 9781880311011.
• Wargin, Ed, Legends of Light: A Michigan Lighthouse Portfolio. Ann Arbor Media Group, 2006. ISBN 978-1-58726-251-7.
• Wobser, David, Lighthouses of the Great Lakes 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, boatnerd.com.
• Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Boston Mills Press, 2006. ISBN 1-55046-399-3.

External links

• Gravelly Shoal Light on the World List of Lights
• by LighthousesRus
• from Michigan.gov
• Michigan lighthouse conservancy, Gravelly Shoal Light
• National Buoy Data Center with automatic readout of wind, waves and weather for Gravelly Shoal Light.
• Photos of Gravelly Shoal Light (current) from ferry