NELL Fall Trip 2009
"Lighthouses of Western Long Island Sound
by Tom Kenworthy
9/12/09
On September 12, 2009, the New England Lighthouse Lovers cruised
the lighthouses of western Long Island Sound. The day started
out the same way as last years cruise of eastern Long Island –
cloudy with light rain. A short time after we got underway, the
rain stopped, and the skies started to clear. That was just a
taste of what could have been. As we slowly watched the sun
disappear behind the clouds, the rain started again. At times,
it was as if it would never stop, pouring down on us in what
seemed like buckets full, only to slow to a very pesky drizzle
staying with us off and on throughout the day. Thankfully, the
heavier rains were between lights and did not interfere with our
picture taking – too much.
Leaving the dock, we headed for Blackwell Island. In 1921, the
island was officially renamed Welfare Island and renamed again
in 1973 to Roosevelt Island due to a planned memorial to then
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
From here, we went on to see the following lights: Stepping
Stones, Sands Point, and Execution Rocks. Which legend has it,
got its name because the British, during Colonial times, and at
low tide, would take the condemned prisoners to the reefs
chaining them to the rings that were in the rocks and let high
tide carry out the sentence of death.
We continued on to see Cold Spring Harbor, Huntington Harbor and
Eaton’s Neck. Due to the fact we were making such good time we
were able to see some additional lighthouses. So off we headed
for the shores of Connecticut to see Pecks Ledge, Sheffield
Island, (I would like to mention that Sheffield Island was a
recent recipient of a NELL Grant of $5,000.00 for restoration of
the kitchen), Greens Ledge, Stanford Harbor, and Great Captains
Island.
What a pleasant surprise it was when we saw the “Captain” with
its new coat of paint looking very sharp, especially when
compared to the last time I saw her….full of rust stains and
looking very run down. I would like to congratulate the Town of
Greenwich, CT, for awarding a $1.13 million contract in May 2008
to completely restore the lighthouse. Congratulations also go to
the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce, and the Indian Harbor Yacht
Club for helping to raise money for the restoration.
It was at this point in our cruise the captain told Mike that we
might be able to make it to Jeffreys Hook if the current did not
get any stronger. So, from Great Captain Island we went full
steam ahead to the Bay of Brothers, where North Brothers Island
Lighthouse once stood. Upon arrival and with the stopping of the
boat, we were able to see the remains of the oil house along
what appeared to be the foundation of a once proud lighthouse.
We then proceeded into the Hudson River where we were stopped by
the Coast Guard. With all of us wondering why we were stopped,
the boat started to pick up speed and we were once again
underway. We later found out that there was a sailboat race
about to cut across our bow so no motor vessels were allowed to
proceed any further in that direction. We were directed to
continue, but only to the rear of the sailboats. For those of
you that are unaware of this, New York is celebrating NY400, a
celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery
of the Hudson River. That sailboat race was part of the ongoing
celebrations.
The captain proceeded as quickly as safety would allow, and we
finally arrived at the lighthouse that thrilled me so when I was
a little boy travelling down the west side highway to visit my
grandmother -- the “Little Red Lighthouse”, Jeffreys Hook.
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