Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Restored peapod boat to be launched and rowed to the Rockland Breakwater Light

Not since the days when keepers staffed Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse has a trip to the site in a peapod boat been more historic than the row set for August 15, 2010.

History will be made when a restored late 1800s wooden peapod boat departs the shoreline of Rockland, Maine, for the lighthouse where the artifact will be placed on permanent exhibit inside the light station’s boathouse.


(L to R) Kevin Carney & Brian McClellan of The Apprenticeshop, and Brian Trask, vice-chair of the Friends of Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, take the restored late 1800s peapod out for a brief row in Rockland Harbor on August 2, 2010. Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.

Open Houses at Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, NH

Inside the 1878 lighthouse tower.
Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse stands at Fort Point in New Castle, New Hampshire, one of the most historic spots in New England. Adjacent Fort Constitution was the scene of a raid in December 1774 that many people consider the first skirmish of the American Revolution. And the first lighthouse at Fort Point, built in 1771, was the first lighthouse established north of Boston in the American colonies.

The Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, offer open houses at the lighthouse every Sunday afternoon, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. The open houses will continue every Sunday through October 10.

You can read all the details about the open houses by clicking here.

The photos seen here were taken by Bob Trapani at the August 1, 2010, open house.

Volunteers Bob Hancock, Joanne Yeaton, and Pat Heffernan
Volunteers staff tables outside, offering literature and souvenirs

Volunteers at the August 1, 2010 open house, L to R: Ross Tracy, Jeremy D'Entremont, Robert Kearns, Jennifer Kearns, Pat Heffernan, Ruth Knowles, Sam Knowles.
Ross Tracy, chairman of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, tells visitors about the station's history.


Jeremy D'Entremont tells visitors about past keepers of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse

Robert Kearns told visitors about the still-active fourth-order lens, surrounded by a green acrylic cylinder.