House of Eratosthenes

So the gal had the idea to visit the Point Arena Light. I ended up having to reluctantly give her some credit on this one. She got the idea while we were watching that chick flick with Mel Gibson in it, the one where I fell asleep about 45 minutes into it. Something about an airplane pilot in the 1930’s. Anyway, they used this lighthouse in the film…which I figured out while we were touring the museum and I saw a poster for a movie that looked vaguely familiar.

You have to be in shape to climb the metal staircase without wheezing and gasping. The lighthouse was built in 1870, entirely wrecked by the 1906 earthquake, reconstructed in 1908 and modernized in 1978. The focal plane is over 100 feet off the ground, as you can tell from zooming in on the front elevation:

This makes for an awesome view. The exterior has been entirely reconstructed; the actual workings of the lighthouse are quite different.

As you tour the museum you’re going to see some of the equipment that was in use toward the end of the nineteenth century, which involves giant Fresnel lenses, air horns, compressors, mercury baths. Nowadays, miniaturization has succeed to such an extent it is a little bit embarrassing. In the picture above, you see what is “crowded” into this big empty chamber that used to be filled with a light: A donation box for painting the lighthouse, some optical equipment and walkie-talkies. Yeah, tour-conducting “apparatus.” And that device outside the window, in the background? That is today’s light. Yeah — slightly larger than a man’s head. That functionality used to fill this room.

Below you see a view from the upper balcony. Click to embiggen.

And here’s a more wide-open shot, of the summer rental cabins immediately below.

We have a bunch of other shots just like this; in fact, these are all from my camera, which is a “better-than-nuthin'” tourist-ey type point-and-shoot model. She’s got the Olympus, which is more of a high-end device and I understand she managed to fill it up with several dozen. When she wakes up I’ll get the necessary swapping done so I can upload some of hers.

You have to be in shape to climb the metal staircase without wheezing and gasping.

Fortunately for Morgan, there’s all that bike ridin’.

Nice documentary shots from the “good ’nuff” camera.

High end camera that she filled up with dozens of shots. Sounds like she and I would get along famously as well!
- philmon | 06/09/2010 @ 07:03
Good lookin’ stuff, Morgan. Hope you’re having fun out there.
- Andy | 06/09/2010 @ 12:52
Point of order.
If you’re waiting for her to wake up until you play “show me yours and I’ll show you mine”…..

So, was the mercury an approach to a high temperature friction bearing for the
spinny Fresnel lenses?

Is there any corrolation between insane lighthouse keepers and “hat makers”?
- CaptDMO | 06/09/2010 @ 17:07
You do realize we’re all wishing for pic of The Gal on the beach, don’t you? 🙂
- kermitt | 06/10/2010 @ 09:54
Well, Kermit … on a day like that we may be more likely to see her dressed like this.

But it works for Mrs. Palin. 🙂

Seriously, though, I am careful to avoid mention of my wife’s name on my political blog, much less show pictures. I don’t want to drag her in to any of this. She’s quite supportive, and that’s enough for me. I think Morgan’s the same way.
- philmon | 06/10/2010 @ 12:15
[…] to Men” “Mean Girls” Girlfriend’s Pictures, Vol. 1 Best Sentence XC Lighthouse, Point Arena, 2010 Nice Try, Chuck North Salmon Creek, by Bodega Bay, June 2010 Ten Unusual and Bizarre Beds Vote for […]
- House of Eratosthenes | 06/11/2010 @ 21:46

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Lighthouse, Point Arena, 2010Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

Lighthouse, Point Arena, 2010
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010