May 26, 2025

Episode 78 - Cape Fear Lighthouse

Episode 78 - Cape Fear Lighthouse
Spotify podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
TuneIn podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconTuneIn podcast player icon

Unfortunately, the name Cape Fear directly correlates to how mariners felt about the area, dubbing the Frying Pan Shoals almost as fearsome as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. However, efforts to light the area were a struggle, and we ended up with many different lighthouses (and lightships) in an attempt to mark the shoals.

Liked this episode? Leave us a review atthelighthouselowdown.com

References:

  1. The Cape Fear Lighthouse's Prism Project | Our State
  2. Cape Fear Lighthouse | Lighthouse Friends
  3. Frying Pan Lightship | Lighthouse Friends
  4. Frying Pan Lightship Restaurant
WEBVTT

00:00:01.129 --> 00:00:04.450
Hi, everyone. I'm Emily. And I'm Vince. And this

00:00:04.450 --> 00:00:18.850
is The Lighthouse Lowdown. Hi. We just stared

00:00:18.850 --> 00:00:22.489
at each other. Oh, I had a long day. Model review,

00:00:22.710 --> 00:00:25.269
you know. Yeah. Our listeners should know that

00:00:25.269 --> 00:00:28.670
every time that intro is playing. it's live for

00:00:28.670 --> 00:00:30.609
us. So it's not, you know, we're just staring

00:00:30.609 --> 00:00:33.289
at each other dancing or something. Yeah. It's

00:00:33.289 --> 00:00:36.429
usually fun. Sometimes I feel the pressure impending

00:00:36.429 --> 00:00:38.710
that I have to say something when it's over.

00:00:38.869 --> 00:00:42.329
So I'm like, Oh no. Oh, Oh, I got to think of

00:00:42.329 --> 00:00:48.729
something. But anyway, I got a good episode coming

00:00:48.729 --> 00:00:52.289
at you today and I had a lot of good ideas that

00:00:52.289 --> 00:00:54.350
I could use for the history buoy that would correspond

00:00:54.350 --> 00:00:57.340
with this episode. Nice. And I went with a light

00:00:57.340 --> 00:00:59.039
ship. So that's what we're going to do for our

00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:01.619
history buoy. A specific light ship? Yes. Great.

00:01:01.719 --> 00:01:05.480
And this is a name that's shown up a few times

00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:08.760
while I've been researching or traveling or whatever.

00:01:08.859 --> 00:01:11.819
And I'm like, that's funny. And it's the frying

00:01:11.819 --> 00:01:15.019
pan shoals. So I'm going to talk about that today.

00:01:16.219 --> 00:01:18.359
Which corresponds with our light ship, of course.

00:01:18.819 --> 00:01:21.939
Nice. Yeah. The history buoy is the frying pan

00:01:21.939 --> 00:01:27.030
light ship, specifically LV -115. Because you

00:01:27.030 --> 00:01:30.069
know how any light ship that was assigned, people

00:01:30.069 --> 00:01:32.390
should go listen to our light ship episode. I

00:01:32.390 --> 00:01:34.209
can't remember what it was, like 50 -something?

00:01:34.730 --> 00:01:38.769
Light ships. Yeah. And you can get educated on

00:01:38.769 --> 00:01:43.310
the numbering system. But any light ship that

00:01:43.310 --> 00:01:45.489
was stationed somewhere got the name frying pan.

00:01:45.629 --> 00:01:47.769
So there were several frying pan light ships.

00:01:48.310 --> 00:01:50.310
But the one I'm talking about is the longest

00:01:50.310 --> 00:01:53.829
serving one. So first of all, what are the frying

00:01:53.829 --> 00:01:57.420
pan shoals? We're in North Carolina, outside

00:01:57.420 --> 00:02:01.760
of Cape Fear. Oh, cool. So I put a little picture

00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:05.040
up of, you can see the stars of the lighthouses

00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:08.219
that we covered in our Outer Banks episode. The

00:02:08.219 --> 00:02:11.080
Outer Banks. So south of that, almost to whatever

00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:13.599
state is below North Carolina. South Carolina?

00:02:14.659 --> 00:02:16.659
Wait, I didn't get a chance. Whatever state is

00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:21.169
south of North Carolina. I didn't get a chance

00:02:21.169 --> 00:02:23.490
to use my brain before I said that. I was in

00:02:23.490 --> 00:02:28.629
auto mode. But yes, so closer to South Carolina,

00:02:28.810 --> 00:02:31.550
we have Cape Fear. And even when you pull up

00:02:31.550 --> 00:02:36.210
Google Maps, you can see this dark spot in the

00:02:36.210 --> 00:02:40.330
ocean. And that is our frying pan shoals. And

00:02:40.330 --> 00:02:41.669
they said that it was called that because it

00:02:41.669 --> 00:02:45.759
looks like a frying pan. And I disagree. Is there

00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:47.819
a different view where maybe it looks like a

00:02:47.819 --> 00:02:51.300
frying pan? No. Maybe like a frying pan held

00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:55.659
sideways. Yeah. But that's... Well, even like

00:02:55.659 --> 00:03:00.919
the panhandle of Oklahoma. Yeah. Oh. Panhandle

00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:04.520
of Texas. Frying panhandle. I don't know. I kind

00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:06.919
of get that. It kind of looks like a lodge cast

00:03:06.919 --> 00:03:12.259
iron. Okay. Sponsored by. Like North Carolina

00:03:12.259 --> 00:03:14.979
is a big weird shaped pan and that's the handle.

00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:20.719
Who knows? That's what I'm thinking. Okay, so

00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:22.400
that's what's coming up in my brain. Anyway,

00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:25.800
it's about 18 miles long and it's like a shifting

00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:29.080
shoal. So like the sands move, which is what

00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:31.219
makes it so dangerous is that you can't really

00:03:31.219 --> 00:03:34.939
like predict where the edges are going to be.

00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:37.539
Okay. And it's southeast of Cape Fear, North

00:03:37.539 --> 00:03:39.939
Carolina. And it's made of silt and sand deposited

00:03:39.939 --> 00:03:42.620
from the Cape Fear River. So that's what we have

00:03:42.620 --> 00:03:46.240
up. This area was, quote, dreaded by shipmasters

00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:48.460
only a little less than those at Cape Hatteras.

00:03:48.620 --> 00:03:51.960
And we know that Cape Hatteras, outside of Cape

00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:53.699
Hatteras, was considered the graveyard of the

00:03:53.699 --> 00:03:57.219
Atlantic. So this was obviously a high contender

00:03:57.219 --> 00:03:59.340
for places you've got to worry about when you're

00:03:59.340 --> 00:04:02.120
sailing around North Carolina. Or, you know,

00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:05.659
on the east coast of the U .S. So two lighthouses

00:04:05.659 --> 00:04:09.860
were built in the area in 1794 and 1817, but

00:04:09.860 --> 00:04:12.360
both were not good enough to mark the outer edges

00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:14.319
of the shoal because you'd have to have a pretty

00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:17.459
powerful light to make it 18 miles. Yeah, it's

00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:19.660
a big panhandle. Yeah, so if you go anything

00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:22.589
less than all out, it's not going to work. So

00:04:22.589 --> 00:04:24.610
that's kind of what happened. These lighthouses

00:04:24.610 --> 00:04:28.310
that were made to mark were the first of baldhead

00:04:28.310 --> 00:04:31.050
lighthouses, which I briefly mentioned, but we'll

00:04:31.050 --> 00:04:32.610
have to do an episode on them some other time.

00:04:33.089 --> 00:04:35.310
Because of that, because these lighthouses weren't

00:04:35.310 --> 00:04:39.329
good enough, they added on top of that a light

00:04:39.329 --> 00:04:42.550
ship to be placed in 1854. Did I say ordered?

00:04:43.370 --> 00:04:45.889
Ordered a light ship? I don't know. Placed an

00:04:45.889 --> 00:04:50.170
order for a light ship. Overstock .com. Just

00:04:50.170 --> 00:04:53.079
like ordering a new car. I mean, you do have

00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:56.319
to order it from a shipbuilder. Yeah. Oh, and

00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:58.540
I actually have a picture. I'll show you of it

00:04:58.540 --> 00:05:01.540
in production. Oh, cool. Eight light ships served

00:05:01.540 --> 00:05:06.439
this location from 1854 to 1930. And 1930 is

00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:10.800
when LV -115 took over at the Shoal. And that's

00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:12.939
the one that I'm covering today. So there was

00:05:12.939 --> 00:05:15.339
this long chunk of history in which there were

00:05:15.339 --> 00:05:18.519
light ships, but none of them had quite an extensive

00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:23.680
history as... our LV -115. So that's what I'm

00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:25.500
going to refer to from here on out as the frying

00:05:25.500 --> 00:05:31.480
pan lighthouse. Cool. Lightship. Hold. So here

00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:34.220
I pulled up a picture of when it was being built.

00:05:34.360 --> 00:05:37.379
So they build the hole first and then they put

00:05:37.379 --> 00:05:39.040
it in the water and then they finish building

00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:41.699
the rest of the lightship, which is interesting.

00:05:41.899 --> 00:05:43.379
It's a cool photo. Yeah, so there's a couple

00:05:43.379 --> 00:05:45.639
cool ones of it being built and mainly this is

00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:50.170
just to show like it's... Double -masted, had

00:05:50.170 --> 00:05:52.629
lights on top of each one. Oops. We love that.

00:05:53.470 --> 00:05:56.389
So it was built in 1929, as we can see from our

00:05:56.389 --> 00:06:01.230
screen. And it had the classic bright red hole

00:06:01.230 --> 00:06:03.769
with the large white letters that says frying

00:06:03.769 --> 00:06:06.629
pan. That's awesome. Yeah, so we saw a lot of

00:06:06.629 --> 00:06:08.949
those, and it's kind of the staple for light

00:06:08.949 --> 00:06:12.370
chips, especially in the U .S. It had a crew

00:06:12.370 --> 00:06:14.990
of 15 people, but only 10 would serve at a time.

00:06:15.050 --> 00:06:18.029
So they'd serve for 28 days and then get 14 days

00:06:18.029 --> 00:06:21.209
off is usually how it went. Nice. The light ship

00:06:21.209 --> 00:06:24.069
was active from 1930 until World War II when

00:06:24.069 --> 00:06:26.610
it served as an examination vessel, which I don't

00:06:26.610 --> 00:06:30.750
know what that is. I forgot to look it up. Examination

00:06:30.750 --> 00:06:35.110
vessel in World War II? Yeah. I would guess like

00:06:35.110 --> 00:06:38.089
approaching ships. Yeah, maybe. I don't know.

00:06:38.509 --> 00:06:42.449
But that was from 1942 to 1945. And after this,

00:06:42.449 --> 00:06:44.889
it was placed back on the shoals until 1964.

00:06:45.370 --> 00:06:51.029
So it's a solid 30 years of it being out on the

00:06:51.029 --> 00:06:52.970
water, which if you listen to our light ships

00:06:52.970 --> 00:06:55.970
episode, you'll hear that it was actually very

00:06:55.970 --> 00:06:58.889
hard on a ship to be out in open water like that.

00:06:59.069 --> 00:07:02.589
And especially anchored. There was a lot of stories

00:07:02.589 --> 00:07:05.350
about this ship in like hurricanes and whatnot.

00:07:06.670 --> 00:07:09.750
It's difficult for a ship to be more down during

00:07:09.750 --> 00:07:12.949
a storm because it wears it. Like, it's not a...

00:07:12.949 --> 00:07:15.189
So much stress on the anchor chain. Yes. And

00:07:15.189 --> 00:07:17.470
the ship being jerked around. It's all attached.

00:07:17.589 --> 00:07:22.170
Yeah. So, that's a long time to be out on the

00:07:22.170 --> 00:07:23.649
shoals. And, of course, it would come in every,

00:07:23.709 --> 00:07:25.329
like, two years for maintenance or something.

00:07:25.410 --> 00:07:31.680
So, they were keeping it together. 1964. Picture

00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:34.639
there. A light tower resembling an oil drilling

00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:36.860
platform was built, which is also called the

00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:39.319
Texas Tower. So this is a specific type of lighthouse

00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:42.180
that was built. I think that it said that there

00:07:42.180 --> 00:07:45.060
was like 10 or something. I think, I think, I

00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:47.740
think. I think. I think that we have seen one

00:07:47.740 --> 00:07:51.540
of these before. I can't remember the term Texas

00:07:51.540 --> 00:07:55.240
Tower, but I swear maybe an explosion or a research

00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:58.699
station, some story associated with a tower that

00:07:58.699 --> 00:08:00.610
looked just like this. Yeah, we've had a few

00:08:00.610 --> 00:08:01.990
out on the water, but I don't know if we've had

00:08:01.990 --> 00:08:05.050
a Texas tower before. Or maybe we've just come

00:08:05.050 --> 00:08:07.209
across them but not done an episode on it. Yeah.

00:08:07.610 --> 00:08:11.170
But yeah, it's a cool picture. The light ship

00:08:11.170 --> 00:08:13.589
circled it and blasted its whistle three times

00:08:13.589 --> 00:08:15.910
before departing for good. A little goodbye.

00:08:16.350 --> 00:08:20.209
Shame. So that's a cool picture of this light

00:08:20.209 --> 00:08:22.699
tower officially relieving. Frying pan light

00:08:22.699 --> 00:08:26.139
ship of its duties. 1965, the light ship was

00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:29.160
decommissioned and donated to a museum in Southport,

00:08:29.220 --> 00:08:32.779
North Carolina. This is where it all goes downhill.

00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:38.299
Budget issues killed this museum and the ship

00:08:38.299 --> 00:08:40.860
sank before anyone could figure out what to do

00:08:40.860 --> 00:08:44.639
with it. Wait, what? Yes. Like where they had

00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:46.379
the museum because people were like, what are

00:08:46.379 --> 00:08:48.980
we going to do with it? At a port? Or like wherever

00:08:48.980 --> 00:08:51.379
the... Like, it was a maritime museum, so wherever

00:08:51.379 --> 00:08:55.340
it was floating just went down. Oh, man. I know.

00:08:56.019 --> 00:08:57.919
At some point, and it wasn't clear when, the

00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:00.639
light ship was refloated and drained before sinking

00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:06.059
again in Whitehaven, Maryland in 1983. So that's

00:09:06.059 --> 00:09:09.909
the double sinker. All this time, it survives.

00:09:09.929 --> 00:09:12.230
Tale of the frying pan. Never gets sunk during

00:09:12.230 --> 00:09:15.169
service. And then afterwards, in its retirement,

00:09:15.389 --> 00:09:19.070
it gets sunk twice. After three years of staying

00:09:19.070 --> 00:09:23.409
underwater, it was righted, which, doing so,

00:09:23.509 --> 00:09:27.210
tore off one of its masts. Oh, man. Old age is

00:09:27.210 --> 00:09:33.080
a bitch. Terrible. And it was sold to a John

00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:35.580
Crevy, I think it's pronounced, for $8 ,000,

00:09:35.740 --> 00:09:38.220
who spent weekends with his friends shoveling

00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:41.419
crap out of the ship, like muck and barnacles

00:09:41.419 --> 00:09:44.059
and whatnot. And once it was all cleaned up,

00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:45.980
they sailed it to New York, where it served as

00:09:45.980 --> 00:09:49.399
a restaurant, bar, dance club. That's awesome.

00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:51.480
The frying pan. Yeah, and they said they left

00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:55.879
a bunch of the barnacles and some stuff on the

00:09:55.879 --> 00:09:58.240
inside. Cool. and filled it with all kinds of

00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:01.179
eclectic things. So it was like this whole experience.

00:10:01.460 --> 00:10:04.299
I'd be so excited to go to a bar that was a sunken

00:10:04.299 --> 00:10:06.340
ship. It'd be kind of difficult to get drunk

00:10:06.340 --> 00:10:09.940
on a ship. No, it wouldn't. Well, I'm thinking

00:10:09.940 --> 00:10:14.159
of Vertigo. History suggests that is not true.

00:10:14.299 --> 00:10:18.960
Oh, true. Yeah, I guess true. It was floating,

00:10:18.980 --> 00:10:21.639
though, as a bar? I think so, yeah. Yeah, yeah,

00:10:21.639 --> 00:10:24.830
for sure. Then after that, it was forced to move

00:10:24.830 --> 00:10:26.929
to another pier in New York City. So it was in

00:10:26.929 --> 00:10:31.529
a pier. I'm not gonna be able to remember what

00:10:31.529 --> 00:10:34.250
number pier it was, but then it got moved to

00:10:34.250 --> 00:10:38.690
66A, Pier 66A, because they were doing construction

00:10:38.690 --> 00:10:43.009
on Hudson Park or something. I didn't make notes.

00:10:43.350 --> 00:10:46.149
I don't know. But anyway, so they had to move

00:10:46.149 --> 00:10:48.610
it, but it reopened in 2008 and remains today

00:10:48.610 --> 00:10:51.789
as the Pier 66 Maritime Bar and Grill. And you

00:10:51.789 --> 00:10:53.950
can sit on the deck and have cocktails and fancy

00:10:53.950 --> 00:10:57.370
seafood. Like I attached the website for this

00:10:57.370 --> 00:11:00.830
place and it looks so good. No chance you're

00:11:00.830 --> 00:11:08.370
going to show it to me. No. Okay. Pier 66. Maritime

00:11:08.370 --> 00:11:12.090
Bar and Grill. Okay. Noting. Well, the website

00:11:12.090 --> 00:11:17.120
is just called. fryingpan .com. What? Yes. Hold

00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.799
on. I would pull it up, but it's too difficult

00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:23.139
with how we project our screen now. Yeah, fryingpan

00:11:23.139 --> 00:11:28.980
.com. Cool logo, I must say. Mm -hmm. I'll probably

00:11:28.980 --> 00:11:32.639
just put that on our cover. Okay. Without asking

00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:36.279
anybody. Oh. Look at that. Yeah, it's pretty.

00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:38.259
Little red outline. It only has the one mast.

00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:40.860
The one mast. Which is accurate. Mm -hmm. Wow.

00:11:41.059 --> 00:11:46.500
Lore accurate. I wonder if this is valued by

00:11:46.500 --> 00:11:50.080
the patrons. Yeah, like if you're interested.

00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:52.899
Because I noticed there's no tab on that website

00:11:52.899 --> 00:11:55.799
for the history of the light ship. So I'm wondering

00:11:55.799 --> 00:11:58.139
if it's just very food forward. Like it's more

00:11:58.139 --> 00:12:01.639
of a, like, oh, it's on a ship. How cool is that?

00:12:01.740 --> 00:12:05.519
Without it being, tell me all about it. There's

00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:08.740
an art history. Oh, there is. Okay, good. Yeah,

00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:11.139
shows the frying pan image. Oh, yeah. That was

00:12:11.139 --> 00:12:13.039
a long description. Okay, good. I don't want

00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:14.820
to go too crazy on here, but that's awesome.

00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:17.200
I'd love to go. Yeah, see, it's on our list now.

00:12:17.419 --> 00:12:20.259
Yeah, but we can't. What, what? New York in the

00:12:20.259 --> 00:12:23.320
wintertime. I bet we can't sit on the deck. It's

00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:25.580
got teak furniture. Why do you say wintertime?

00:12:26.059 --> 00:12:27.360
Well, because we're talking about going to New

00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:29.720
York in the wintertime, potentially. I sent you

00:12:29.720 --> 00:12:32.379
a video of Canada in the wintertime. In Banff.

00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:38.899
I don't know what that is. It's not near New

00:12:38.899 --> 00:12:41.769
York. It's West. I'm not talking about New York.

00:12:42.389 --> 00:12:44.470
What is going on? You're talking about New York

00:12:44.470 --> 00:12:49.070
for Christmas. No. Yes. When? We're talking about

00:12:49.070 --> 00:12:55.669
an option for after our wedding. Oh. Wow. That

00:12:55.669 --> 00:12:57.289
must have been vetoed in my head or something

00:12:57.289 --> 00:13:02.970
because I have no memory of that. We talked about

00:13:02.970 --> 00:13:06.370
Branson, Missouri. And so I was like, oh, well,

00:13:06.429 --> 00:13:09.620
something. big like new york is probably out

00:13:09.620 --> 00:13:13.480
of the question anyway um i pulled up a picture

00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:17.840
of uh the frying pan light ship this was in 2006

00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:20.860
so it was before it opened in the other pier

00:13:20.860 --> 00:13:23.899
and as a part of the restaurant that's available

00:13:23.899 --> 00:13:27.559
now so but just for you to see the the lettering

00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:30.639
the bright color the single mast it's pretty

00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:32.840
cool that's crazy i can't believe they broke

00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:38.490
the mast riding the ship and then What does it

00:13:38.490 --> 00:13:40.429
take to weld that thing back on? Well, it was

00:13:40.429 --> 00:13:42.929
owned by a guy, you know, at that point. So,

00:13:43.049 --> 00:13:46.429
yeah, he's probably not like, oh, I better make

00:13:46.429 --> 00:13:48.049
this historically accurate. He's probably just

00:13:48.049 --> 00:13:50.789
like, it was a sunken ship. I might as well just

00:13:50.789 --> 00:13:52.529
get it as close as I can. And then there was

00:13:52.529 --> 00:13:56.110
one. Yeah. Pretty cool, though. It's probably

00:13:56.110 --> 00:13:58.950
in someone's house. The other mast? Yeah, it's

00:13:58.950 --> 00:14:02.570
probably a staircase. The center of a spiral

00:14:02.570 --> 00:14:06.740
staircase. yeah so that's um we come across this

00:14:06.740 --> 00:14:09.879
uh light ship again in this episode so it was

00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:12.279
either that i covered the shoals in depth or

00:14:12.279 --> 00:14:14.320
the light ship or i forgot this was the buoy

00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:17.679
i'm having a great time oh good yeah it's a double

00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:20.759
whammy because now we are heading into our lighthouse

00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:23.840
for the day and so don't forget we're in north

00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:27.720
carolina cape fear And the first lighthouse ever

00:14:27.720 --> 00:14:31.019
built in North Carolina was to mark this frying

00:14:31.019 --> 00:14:33.360
pan shoals because we heard about how dangerous

00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:35.539
it is. Of course. Pulled up another photo just

00:14:35.539 --> 00:14:38.659
of all the marked shipwrecks we have. There's

00:14:38.659 --> 00:14:42.799
a lot of them. Along here. It's very clear where

00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:45.539
the shoal lies. Yeah, it's a nice map. If you

00:14:45.539 --> 00:14:47.460
ever want a map of a shoal, just let all the

00:14:47.460 --> 00:14:48.759
ships wreck and then show where those are. Yeah,

00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:50.820
and then it just outlines it perfectly. Yeah,

00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:55.490
so they show where the light ship. was on here

00:14:55.490 --> 00:14:58.529
and also where the tower is now so oh cool yeah

00:14:58.529 --> 00:15:01.529
that's it's a very cool map lots lots of good

00:15:01.529 --> 00:15:04.450
stuff in there but as i was saying baldhead lighthouse

00:15:04.450 --> 00:15:06.769
did a poor job and so then the light ship was

00:15:06.769 --> 00:15:10.350
anchored on the far edge to market in 1854 and

00:15:10.350 --> 00:15:12.690
the annual report of the lighthouse board of

00:15:12.690 --> 00:15:16.549
1889 said in part that while the light ship was

00:15:16.549 --> 00:15:18.289
indispensable and they weren't planning on getting

00:15:18.289 --> 00:15:21.389
rid of it it also was frequently torn from its

00:15:21.389 --> 00:15:23.789
mooring during storms and had a small range for

00:15:23.789 --> 00:15:26.149
lighting the shoals because obviously it's just

00:15:26.149 --> 00:15:28.970
the end and so it's just like they didn't have

00:15:28.970 --> 00:15:33.789
any way to reliably have this one object that

00:15:33.789 --> 00:15:36.309
marked the shoals it was like a combination like

00:15:36.309 --> 00:15:39.080
i read a little bit on baldhead and it For a

00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:41.299
while it was by itself, and then they got a new

00:15:41.299 --> 00:15:43.480
one, and then they made it a range light, and

00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:46.259
also there's a light ship in there, so it just

00:15:46.259 --> 00:15:49.840
kind of got too convoluted. And so they requested

00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:52.480
a lighthouse on the tip of Cape Fear, and you

00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:55.919
can see from this map as well that really this

00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:59.269
is all a bunch of little islands. I can't remember.

00:15:59.370 --> 00:16:01.149
I think it's called Smith Islands or something.

00:16:01.549 --> 00:16:04.070
Okay. So towards the end there, that's not like

00:16:04.070 --> 00:16:07.669
the end of land. It's like just a bunch of little

00:16:07.669 --> 00:16:10.490
broken up islands, which can be said for a lot

00:16:10.490 --> 00:16:13.250
of the Outer Banks too. Yeah. Oh, Vince is looking

00:16:13.250 --> 00:16:15.450
something up. I'm sorry. No. I don't mean to

00:16:15.450 --> 00:16:21.690
go off track. There's a gulf island. What's it

00:16:21.690 --> 00:16:25.929
called? Frick? What the frick? Something like

00:16:25.929 --> 00:16:27.990
that. Every time I go to the maps when we're

00:16:27.990 --> 00:16:34.110
on here, it just doesn't work. Forget about it.

00:16:34.210 --> 00:16:36.490
Okay. It might be out there. Golf is on your

00:16:36.490 --> 00:16:38.190
mind. Yeah, there's always a golf course nearby.

00:16:39.509 --> 00:16:42.970
They wanted a lighthouse out here with a range

00:16:42.970 --> 00:16:45.009
that would fully encompass the shoals instead

00:16:45.009 --> 00:16:47.289
of it being like, I'm pretty sure Bald Head started

00:16:47.289 --> 00:16:49.649
as a third order light and then switched to a

00:16:49.649 --> 00:16:52.299
fourth order light. Neither of those are going

00:16:52.299 --> 00:16:55.519
to reach 18 miles out. And even more, because

00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:57.419
you have to be warned in advance. Yeah, hopefully.

00:16:57.740 --> 00:17:03.039
Yeah. Like, I see the light now that we're stationary.

00:17:03.820 --> 00:17:06.200
And in this report, it's also noted that there's

00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:08.700
no first order lights between Cape Lookout and

00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:12.339
Cape Romaine, which is about 170 nautical miles

00:17:12.339 --> 00:17:16.579
apart. Pretty significant. They suggested a 150

00:17:16.579 --> 00:17:20.079
-foot masonry tower and requested $150 ,000.

00:17:21.210 --> 00:17:24.029
And the board repeated this request from 1890

00:17:24.029 --> 00:17:29.150
to 1897. But Congress didn't bite until they

00:17:29.150 --> 00:17:32.630
more than halved the request to $70 ,000 instead

00:17:32.630 --> 00:17:36.089
of $150 ,000. And then they approved it. They

00:17:36.089 --> 00:17:38.769
sent half, $35 ,000, to begin the project in

00:17:38.769 --> 00:17:42.589
1898. And then the other half was in 1901. And

00:17:42.589 --> 00:17:44.509
so while they could still make this lighthouse

00:17:44.509 --> 00:17:48.509
150 feet tall because of the cut in budget, it

00:17:48.509 --> 00:17:50.109
meant that they had to go with a different look.

00:17:50.779 --> 00:17:54.220
So in 1903, Cape Fear Lighthouse was completed

00:17:54.220 --> 00:17:58.119
as an octagonal iron skeletal lighthouse equipped

00:17:58.119 --> 00:18:01.660
with a first order Fresnel lens. Pulled up a

00:18:01.660 --> 00:18:06.019
really nice picture. Bungalows. This Fresnel

00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:08.140
lens was the one that we talked about in our

00:18:08.140 --> 00:18:10.700
Mercury floats episode as like the heaviest,

00:18:10.700 --> 00:18:13.240
biggest Mercury float system they've ever made.

00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:16.759
And it was like 6 ,000 pounds altogether. So

00:18:16.759 --> 00:18:20.440
the lens was over six feet in diameter. and had

00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:23.440
24 flash panels and produced a white flash every

00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:26.900
10 seconds. So that's a lot. Think about 24 panels.

00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:29.240
It's like a lot more than your average. Very

00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:33.200
complex piece. Brunel, yeah. The tower was painted

00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.079
white. So this picture that I have pulled up,

00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:36.940
there's a little bit of black up top. That happened

00:18:36.940 --> 00:18:40.380
later. Originally, it was all white, which you

00:18:40.380 --> 00:18:43.279
can imagine is difficult to see against blue

00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:46.460
sky. So that's why they added that in there.

00:18:46.990 --> 00:18:48.769
They had three keepers' houses that were built

00:18:48.769 --> 00:18:51.029
in a row, and they were all white as well. I

00:18:51.029 --> 00:18:53.069
think I read that they had green shutters or

00:18:53.069 --> 00:18:56.450
something. Cool. I like it when they're all neat

00:18:56.450 --> 00:18:58.349
like that. Yeah, it's a really nice construction.

00:18:58.750 --> 00:19:02.049
Lined up cute. Little porches. I wonder what

00:19:02.049 --> 00:19:03.750
those two other buildings are. Do you know if

00:19:03.750 --> 00:19:07.230
those are additions or other offices? I didn't

00:19:07.230 --> 00:19:13.170
make a note. Outhouses? They're probably outhouses.

00:19:13.309 --> 00:19:17.460
They look pretty big. Yeah, they look... I can't

00:19:17.460 --> 00:19:18.980
make any guesses. I don't know. The fact that

00:19:18.980 --> 00:19:21.680
there's two identical ones makes it complicated.

00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:25.599
Maybe they're work sheds. I've read some places

00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:28.980
have work sheds. I would say oil houses, but

00:19:28.980 --> 00:19:32.059
you'd only need one. Yeah. I don't know. Don't

00:19:32.059 --> 00:19:36.140
know. Questions out there. So once this lighthouse

00:19:36.140 --> 00:19:39.579
was established, the bald head lighthouse was

00:19:39.579 --> 00:19:41.660
changed to a fixed fourth order light because

00:19:41.660 --> 00:19:44.220
they were both flashing. So make it less complicated

00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:46.789
by changing the other one. There were only three

00:19:46.789 --> 00:19:49.569
head keepers in this lighthouse's history. Wow.

00:19:49.730 --> 00:19:51.950
I know. Well, also because it didn't last like

00:19:51.950 --> 00:19:56.789
super long. It's just, yeah, pretty quick. But

00:19:56.789 --> 00:19:59.710
the first was Captain Charles Swan. Awesome name.

00:20:00.069 --> 00:20:02.829
The son of the captain of the frying pan light

00:20:02.829 --> 00:20:06.349
ship. So it runs in the family. Incredible. And

00:20:06.349 --> 00:20:08.789
he served from 1903, which was the beginning

00:20:08.789 --> 00:20:12.750
of the lighthouse, to 1933. So 30 -year service

00:20:12.750 --> 00:20:15.099
at this lighthouse. Long time. Especially for

00:20:15.099 --> 00:20:21.440
a son. What? I just, I don't know. Like someone

00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:24.400
who's like, I'll do what my dad did. And five

00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:27.200
years later. But on land, yeah. But this guy

00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:30.940
did a full career. Yeah. And these are some things

00:20:30.940 --> 00:20:34.140
that happened during his service. The lantern

00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:37.259
room was painted black in 1906. So it was a pretty

00:20:37.259 --> 00:20:40.779
quick turnaround from, you know how slow things

00:20:40.779 --> 00:20:43.569
move in the lighthouse world. Yes. And so only

00:20:43.569 --> 00:20:46.710
three years after beginning service to change

00:20:46.710 --> 00:20:48.529
the day mark of a lighthouse is pretty quick.

00:20:49.910 --> 00:20:53.349
1915, the board requested $35 ,000 to move the

00:20:53.349 --> 00:20:56.289
lighthouse, which was denied and never requested

00:20:56.289 --> 00:21:00.369
again. So I think that they must have seen, they

00:21:00.369 --> 00:21:02.309
must have been worried about erosion or something

00:21:02.309 --> 00:21:05.609
and then was like, oh, never mind. I wonder where

00:21:05.609 --> 00:21:07.549
they're going to move it. I don't know. Like

00:21:07.549 --> 00:21:09.930
you're on an island, maybe just a little more

00:21:09.930 --> 00:21:12.009
inland or something. I don't know. Because, you

00:21:12.009 --> 00:21:14.089
know, the beach is right here. It appears, yeah,

00:21:14.130 --> 00:21:17.829
well, from this perspective, moving out. It is,

00:21:17.849 --> 00:21:19.589
I mean, yeah, the water's right there. Yeah,

00:21:19.609 --> 00:21:22.809
I don't know. But, and if you look at it today,

00:21:22.910 --> 00:21:26.650
then, you know, that erosion never came to be,

00:21:26.730 --> 00:21:29.369
so they weren't, it's a good thing that it wasn't

00:21:29.369 --> 00:21:30.710
approved because it would have been for nothing.

00:21:30.890 --> 00:21:34.470
In 1920, a three -ton Mercury float was installed

00:21:34.470 --> 00:21:36.529
in place of the chariot that was there already

00:21:36.529 --> 00:21:39.750
for our first -order lens, so. For anyone that

00:21:39.750 --> 00:21:42.450
wants to hear more about that, go to our Mercury

00:21:42.450 --> 00:21:44.950
Floats episode. That wasn't that long ago, right?

00:21:45.009 --> 00:21:47.009
No. Okay. Maybe a month. That was a more recent

00:21:47.009 --> 00:21:51.569
one. Captain Charles Swan retired after his assistant

00:21:51.569 --> 00:21:55.190
keeper of over a decade had a heart attack while

00:21:55.190 --> 00:21:57.730
relieving him in the lantern room and died. Damn.

00:21:57.829 --> 00:22:00.170
I know. And they said that he had been having

00:22:00.170 --> 00:22:02.869
chest pains while climbing the lighthouse for

00:22:02.869 --> 00:22:05.890
the past year and was just like, he just stopped,

00:22:05.930 --> 00:22:09.200
would stop halfway up to rest. And then go the

00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:10.759
rest of the way. Like, oh, I wanted to avoid

00:22:10.759 --> 00:22:13.920
having the heart pains. His heart was trying

00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:17.220
to tell him for so long. That's why you can't

00:22:17.220 --> 00:22:20.619
tough it out. Gotta get help. But these men were

00:22:20.619 --> 00:22:23.460
like hardcore. You gotta tough it out sometimes.

00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:26.000
Not when you have chest, never when you have

00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:28.480
heart pains. Never when you have heart pains

00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:33.440
that make you stop. Noted. So that was the end

00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:35.559
of our first head keeper. And there was only

00:22:35.559 --> 00:22:39.069
two after this. There was two. I mean, obviously,

00:22:39.089 --> 00:22:41.309
there's three keepers' houses. So there's a first

00:22:41.309 --> 00:22:44.210
assistant and a second assistant keeper. And

00:22:44.210 --> 00:22:46.869
there was a lot higher of a turnover in those

00:22:46.869 --> 00:22:49.950
than the head keepers, of which there was only

00:22:49.950 --> 00:22:53.990
three, like I said. So 1958, Oak Island Lighthouse

00:22:53.990 --> 00:22:56.970
was lit, which was really powerful. And also,

00:22:57.029 --> 00:22:59.930
I think it looks like a cigarette. Do you have

00:22:59.930 --> 00:23:02.769
a photo? I'd love to see it. No. What? I know

00:23:02.769 --> 00:23:05.940
I don't. I don't know. I think... My realization

00:23:05.940 --> 00:23:09.279
is that I really like lighthouses that are dynamic

00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:14.420
and or, you know, like conical. Like, I like

00:23:14.420 --> 00:23:16.900
it when they're tapered edges. When they're straight

00:23:16.900 --> 00:23:20.140
up and down, I don't like them. Yeah. Looks like

00:23:20.140 --> 00:23:22.160
a cigarette. Oak Island Lighthouses. Yeah, you're

00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:26.359
right. It's a cylinder. And it's got black top,

00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:31.579
white middle, and then tan, bare gray, tan base,

00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:33.990
all of equal length. So it looks a lot like a

00:23:33.990 --> 00:23:37.950
cigarette. Yeah. Like a lit cigarette. Not to...

00:23:37.950 --> 00:23:41.789
I mean... Obviously there's beauty in every lighthouse,

00:23:41.910 --> 00:23:45.150
but it's... Every lighthouse is beautiful. Every

00:23:45.150 --> 00:23:49.470
lighthouse is beautiful. Except for some. Yeah,

00:23:49.490 --> 00:23:51.990
but I can have my preferences. I mean, some people

00:23:51.990 --> 00:23:53.970
really don't like skeleton towers. Oh, really?

00:23:54.109 --> 00:23:57.849
Yeah. I like them. I do too. Some people really

00:23:57.849 --> 00:24:00.130
don't like integral towers. I disagree with that.

00:24:00.349 --> 00:24:02.430
You can disagree, but it's what some people feel.

00:24:03.650 --> 00:24:05.809
Am I telling you that they're wrong or right?

00:24:05.890 --> 00:24:11.710
Is this therapy? This is uncomfortable. So anyway,

00:24:11.869 --> 00:24:15.609
the building of Oak Island meant that Cape Fear

00:24:15.609 --> 00:24:17.369
was kind of unnecessary because it was less powerful

00:24:17.369 --> 00:24:21.049
and everything. And on top of that, they felt

00:24:21.049 --> 00:24:24.789
that the tower, even being up, would confuse

00:24:24.789 --> 00:24:27.210
mariners during the daytime. So you know what

00:24:27.210 --> 00:24:29.170
they did? They made it into a Christmas tree?

00:24:29.309 --> 00:24:34.309
They blew it up with dynamite. I love that that's

00:24:34.309 --> 00:24:37.410
a thing that we've done throughout history. It's

00:24:37.410 --> 00:24:38.690
just like, let's just bring it to the ground.

00:24:38.930 --> 00:24:40.529
You know, I don't know what else to do other

00:24:40.529 --> 00:24:42.750
than use explosives. Yeah, I mean, it's the best

00:24:42.750 --> 00:24:46.109
way to get it down. Just leaves a pile of rubble.

00:24:46.490 --> 00:24:49.509
I guess. Or twisted metal. Did they destroy the

00:24:49.509 --> 00:24:52.670
lantern, you think? No. So I'll talk about that

00:24:52.670 --> 00:24:56.630
in just a second. So I pulled up some pictures

00:24:56.630 --> 00:24:58.589
of its destruction, which they have a pretty

00:24:58.589 --> 00:25:01.529
cool picture of it going down. Not that we like

00:25:01.529 --> 00:25:04.289
it, but it is a cool picture. Yeah. The foundation

00:25:04.289 --> 00:25:08.329
nowadays is still visible on site and the generator

00:25:08.329 --> 00:25:10.289
house and the three keepers houses are still

00:25:10.289 --> 00:25:12.730
there as well. Cool. So here's a picture of the

00:25:12.730 --> 00:25:15.490
foundation. You can see where the central column

00:25:15.490 --> 00:25:18.809
used to be and then each of its connecting legs.

00:25:19.069 --> 00:25:22.970
Yeah. I mean, yeah, it's a bummer. Is it in the

00:25:22.970 --> 00:25:25.720
middle of a roundabout? It appears that it's

00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:29.079
a roundabout. Or it's just like where you park

00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:31.259
to see it or something. I don't know. I don't

00:25:31.259 --> 00:25:34.880
think you're going to go see it. What? You wouldn't

00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:37.740
go see that? It appears to be a roundabout. They

00:25:37.740 --> 00:25:41.519
do have a sign like it's something you see. So

00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:46.279
it's history. Well, yeah. We've seen something

00:25:46.279 --> 00:25:48.960
like this before. Yes. Where a foundation is

00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:52.079
still there. And it's like a shrine. Somehow,

00:25:52.220 --> 00:25:56.049
yeah, it's turned into visitors. Well, I mean,

00:25:56.069 --> 00:25:58.190
yeah. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Put brick around

00:25:58.190 --> 00:26:03.109
it. No, it's nice. In 2017, the generator house

00:26:03.109 --> 00:26:08.329
was a snack shop called Mike's Bites. I don't

00:26:08.329 --> 00:26:10.369
know what happened to it after that or what it

00:26:10.369 --> 00:26:14.009
was before that, but just in 2017 at least. And

00:26:14.009 --> 00:26:17.630
until 2022, the Keeper's houses were rental properties

00:26:17.630 --> 00:26:20.089
known as Captain Charlie's Station for the first

00:26:20.089 --> 00:26:22.880
Keeper. Cool. and are in excellent shape and

00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:25.539
they were put on the market in 2022 as a family

00:26:25.539 --> 00:26:27.720
compound and i think that they're still available

00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:31.700
here's from the rental properties uh what's the

00:26:31.700 --> 00:26:34.799
website what's the cost you have to inquire so

00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:37.380
you can't afford it okay many millions of dollars

00:26:37.380 --> 00:26:39.259
you know what they say when you have to inquire

00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:41.900
you can't afford it exactly they say yeah well

00:26:41.900 --> 00:26:43.400
that's actually not true for a lot of wedding

00:26:43.400 --> 00:26:45.900
stuff so put that out of your head i have to

00:26:45.900 --> 00:26:50.690
inquire a lot well um But it's really nice. We

00:26:50.690 --> 00:26:53.069
got some greenery. A family compound is such

00:26:53.069 --> 00:26:55.390
a flex. I know. It sounds like such a cool thing.

00:26:55.430 --> 00:26:57.630
I know. And you know those little houses that

00:26:57.630 --> 00:26:59.829
we were discussing earlier are still there. Yeah.

00:27:00.250 --> 00:27:02.750
It must be something. Part of the compound. Is

00:27:02.750 --> 00:27:04.750
there a Zillow listing? I don't know. Probably

00:27:04.750 --> 00:27:08.470
not. You have to inquire. You have to inquire.

00:27:08.529 --> 00:27:13.230
Yeah, it was Intracoastal Realty something company.

00:27:13.490 --> 00:27:15.930
I don't know. But yeah, you guys can look it

00:27:15.930 --> 00:27:18.609
up. It's got what looks like private beach access.

00:27:19.420 --> 00:27:22.920
Right out the front door. A little pathway, you

00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:26.319
know. Whoever buys it, let us come visit. Yeah,

00:27:26.339 --> 00:27:28.759
actually you owe us for putting this out there.

00:27:28.900 --> 00:27:36.359
Well, finder's fee. Finder's fee. Oh, man. So

00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:38.420
yeah, it's pretty nice and still kicking. Those

00:27:38.420 --> 00:27:40.259
are beautiful homes. It looks like a great area.

00:27:40.519 --> 00:27:42.880
So you asked about the Fresnel Lens and what

00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:47.200
happened to that in 2009. The old Baldy Foundation.

00:27:49.150 --> 00:27:51.569
which I'll definitely cover that when we get

00:27:51.569 --> 00:27:55.210
to Bald Head Lighthouse, purchased the remnants

00:27:55.210 --> 00:27:57.970
of the Cape Fear Fresnel lens, which was set

00:27:57.970 --> 00:28:00.990
up outside an antique dealer in Wilmington, North

00:28:00.990 --> 00:28:04.170
Carolina. So what happened was the contractor

00:28:04.170 --> 00:28:07.829
that demolished the lighthouse had the good sense

00:28:07.829 --> 00:28:10.769
to save the lens, right? Which, by the way, would

00:28:10.769 --> 00:28:14.150
be an insane amount of work to remove it. Remember,

00:28:14.230 --> 00:28:17.930
you have to take it all apart. Every prism. And

00:28:17.930 --> 00:28:21.670
I'll show you a picture. They had this lens at

00:28:21.670 --> 00:28:25.690
an exhibition or whatever, exposition in 1901.

00:28:26.049 --> 00:28:28.250
So they had a picture of it there. So I'll show

00:28:28.250 --> 00:28:31.730
you how massive it, like if you think about it.

00:28:31.789 --> 00:28:34.670
Anyway, it's crazy. But he had the good sense

00:28:34.670 --> 00:28:37.589
to take it apart and sold it to the antique shop

00:28:37.589 --> 00:28:43.089
owner in 1968. Same guy. Still there. Crazy.

00:28:43.130 --> 00:28:46.410
Oh, I have a picture. of what it looked like

00:28:46.410 --> 00:28:50.269
outside of the antique shop so you'd have to

00:28:50.269 --> 00:28:53.809
know your stuff to realize that this was a fresnel

00:28:53.809 --> 00:28:57.930
lens frame looks like the eye of sauron yes that's

00:28:57.930 --> 00:29:00.549
i was like what does this remind me of the lord

00:29:00.549 --> 00:29:03.109
of the rings that's hilarious the lord of the

00:29:03.109 --> 00:29:05.710
rings like evil eye in the sky i couldn't think

00:29:05.710 --> 00:29:07.809
of it yeah because there's no top like obviously

00:29:07.809 --> 00:29:10.289
it was a fresnel and so like it's missing some

00:29:10.289 --> 00:29:13.289
of its framework but It was outside, just in

00:29:13.289 --> 00:29:15.150
the elements for all that time. I'm surprised

00:29:15.150 --> 00:29:18.910
it's not made of brass. I thought all, I don't

00:29:18.910 --> 00:29:20.470
know why I thought that, but I thought all those

00:29:20.470 --> 00:29:23.670
materials, I mean, cast iron we've seen, but.

00:29:24.269 --> 00:29:28.009
Maybe the parts that were brass are gone. I don't

00:29:28.009 --> 00:29:30.289
know. Because remember how many, you know, how

00:29:30.289 --> 00:29:32.710
many frames. So all the glass is gone. Yes. And

00:29:32.710 --> 00:29:34.690
all the, yeah, probably all the brass that was

00:29:34.690 --> 00:29:37.329
framed around. The prisms he separated and sold

00:29:37.329 --> 00:29:39.630
to customers over time and at various auctions

00:29:39.630 --> 00:29:42.089
and sales. They're in people's houses. Exactly.

00:29:42.910 --> 00:29:46.130
Meaning the prisons are spread all over North

00:29:46.130 --> 00:29:48.069
Carolina and beyond. Like at this point, who

00:29:48.069 --> 00:29:49.750
knows where they are? I'm sure a lot of them

00:29:49.750 --> 00:29:52.329
are like at the dump. If you have like grandma's

00:29:52.329 --> 00:29:54.690
estate sale and you're like, what is this hunk

00:29:54.690 --> 00:29:57.089
of glass? You throw it in the trash. Yeah, like

00:29:57.089 --> 00:29:59.210
a hundred pound hunk of glass. Yeah, it just

00:29:59.210 --> 00:30:02.650
looks like a hunk of glass. Yeah, grandma's always

00:30:02.650 --> 00:30:05.430
holding on to shit. Yeah. You would never know

00:30:05.430 --> 00:30:07.069
that you had something special. That was the

00:30:07.069 --> 00:30:10.400
lighthouse. Like, how could you do this? So now

00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:12.400
that they have the complete framework, the foundation,

00:30:12.660 --> 00:30:17.220
they have gone to work trying to find all approximately

00:30:17.220 --> 00:30:22.460
1 ,000 prisms that made up this lens. And so

00:30:22.460 --> 00:30:25.420
far they have collected around a third. So that's

00:30:25.420 --> 00:30:29.160
significant. And that includes seven bullseyes.

00:30:29.559 --> 00:30:33.200
Wow. Yeah. Pretty good. We're making some excellent

00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:35.819
headway. That's cool. And they mentioned in...

00:30:36.109 --> 00:30:38.009
you know, the articles that they've done that

00:30:38.009 --> 00:30:40.029
it's pretty much a pipe dream to expect to ever

00:30:40.029 --> 00:30:42.410
find the whole thing. But it's kind of fun to

00:30:42.410 --> 00:30:44.670
be like putting it back together. Don't you wonder

00:30:44.670 --> 00:30:48.109
where they're at? Well, they said that some have

00:30:48.109 --> 00:30:50.809
been used as paperweights. Some have just been

00:30:50.809 --> 00:30:53.069
found like in storage or under beds. Like one

00:30:53.069 --> 00:30:55.369
of them was just under somebody's bed. And one

00:30:55.369 --> 00:30:57.910
bullseye was used as a coffee table and had burned

00:30:57.910 --> 00:31:01.410
a hole in their carpet. That's awesome. Like

00:31:01.410 --> 00:31:03.369
what a way to learn that you have something that's...

00:31:03.609 --> 00:31:06.970
Really powerful. That's such a cool discovery.

00:31:07.509 --> 00:31:10.049
Yeah. I know what that is. And I wonder, yeah,

00:31:10.069 --> 00:31:11.849
if you get approached or if you just like put

00:31:11.849 --> 00:31:13.910
it out there. I don't know. Rambo's always had

00:31:13.910 --> 00:31:17.369
this huge ass coffee table. It's heavy. And for

00:31:17.369 --> 00:31:19.769
some reason it burned the ground. What? What?

00:31:21.170 --> 00:31:23.670
So they're planning on building an exhibit near

00:31:23.670 --> 00:31:26.990
Old Bali to house the lens whenever they get

00:31:26.990 --> 00:31:29.369
more pieces. Very cool. Yeah, hopefully before

00:31:29.369 --> 00:31:31.849
like they get too much further. I kind of want

00:31:31.849 --> 00:31:34.069
to see it. As it is right now. I wish they could

00:31:34.069 --> 00:31:36.549
put it together and then the pieces that they

00:31:36.549 --> 00:31:38.509
don't have make those like black glass or something.

00:31:38.730 --> 00:31:41.569
Yeah, like some way to mark what it should look

00:31:41.569 --> 00:31:44.170
like. But here I have a picture of it at the

00:31:44.170 --> 00:31:47.230
exhibition. That's crazy. And at the top you

00:31:47.230 --> 00:31:50.569
can see every single one of those little prisms.

00:31:50.569 --> 00:31:54.730
Just so crazy. And the contractor sold all those?

00:31:55.069 --> 00:31:58.009
Sold the whole thing. In its entirety, yeah,

00:31:58.109 --> 00:32:00.589
to the antique shop. And then the antique shop

00:32:00.589 --> 00:32:03.349
owner were selling, like, pieces off at a time.

00:32:03.670 --> 00:32:06.970
I mean, I get it. Yeah, no, you can't blame him,

00:32:06.990 --> 00:32:09.650
really. It's just, like, if it's not special

00:32:09.650 --> 00:32:11.670
to you, it's not special to you. That's such

00:32:11.670 --> 00:32:14.269
a shame. I know, but it's pretty cool. And I'm

00:32:14.269 --> 00:32:17.049
glad this picture from the exhibition is, like,

00:32:17.049 --> 00:32:18.349
showing what it looks like. And you can see there's

00:32:18.349 --> 00:32:20.970
a tiny replica of a skeleton lighthouse in front

00:32:20.970 --> 00:32:25.599
of it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. What a time. It is kind

00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:26.880
of funny looking at this picture, too. They have

00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:29.140
things just like set up here and there, just

00:32:29.140 --> 00:32:32.000
stuff. Like, take a look at what we've come up

00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:34.420
with over the past year. And people would just

00:32:34.420 --> 00:32:36.579
get together and just take a look. This is when

00:32:36.579 --> 00:32:39.339
engineering was really cool. Yeah. It was just

00:32:39.339 --> 00:32:41.539
like, what can you come up with? Now it's like,

00:32:41.579 --> 00:32:44.740
we draw on computers. I was thinking about that

00:32:44.740 --> 00:32:47.039
today during the model review, like that we just,

00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:53.990
we have scans of an entire refinery. Like. It

00:32:53.990 --> 00:32:57.269
just blew my mind. Every inch. Just... Hundreds

00:32:57.269 --> 00:33:00.609
of scans. Between pipes? How? I don't get it.

00:33:00.809 --> 00:33:03.390
It's crazy. Yeah. How can you scroll through

00:33:03.390 --> 00:33:08.410
miles and miles of pipe and just have it all

00:33:08.410 --> 00:33:11.869
there in 3D version? Yeah. I mean, I did like

00:33:11.869 --> 00:33:14.430
a... They have some incredible technology now

00:33:14.430 --> 00:33:16.609
for scanning 3D. I know we're a little off topic,

00:33:16.670 --> 00:33:20.960
but... I got paid to go to Colorado and I used

00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:23.400
a camera. So not even a scanner. Yeah. Just a

00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:27.400
360 camera and a tripod and my phone for two

00:33:27.400 --> 00:33:31.839
days, two and a half days to map out every inch

00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:34.900
inside and outside the roof, everything on this

00:33:34.900 --> 00:33:38.940
facility. I can't say more about it. And it all

00:33:38.940 --> 00:33:42.000
goes together in one big computer model. So they

00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:44.819
sent me to go and then everyone who ever works

00:33:44.819 --> 00:33:47.220
in that project knows what it looks like. Yeah.

00:33:47.299 --> 00:33:49.319
They can like fly through every square inch of

00:33:49.319 --> 00:33:51.599
that place. And that's, you know, there's more

00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:53.660
advanced scanners and whatnot. Yeah. Yeah. But,

00:33:53.740 --> 00:33:55.779
but still crazy. That's like all it takes. It's

00:33:55.779 --> 00:33:58.980
so crazy. Yeah. And just have that forever until

00:33:58.980 --> 00:34:00.900
somebody throws it away. Like they're going to

00:34:00.900 --> 00:34:02.779
throw away every single one of these pieces of

00:34:02.779 --> 00:34:06.059
glass. It would be nice to have seen it when

00:34:06.059 --> 00:34:09.400
it was brand new, like fresh out of the system

00:34:09.400 --> 00:34:13.980
and set up. Yeah. But it was beautiful. So hopefully

00:34:13.980 --> 00:34:16.179
we'll get to see it again one day, refurbished

00:34:16.179 --> 00:34:20.179
and. Set up in this exhibit. So we saw a first

00:34:20.179 --> 00:34:26.420
order lens in KitKad. Is that one of the only

00:34:26.420 --> 00:34:29.199
ones on display? Are there many? I think there

00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:32.739
are not many, but I don't think it's... It's

00:34:32.739 --> 00:34:35.139
not common. Yeah, it's not common, but it's also

00:34:35.139 --> 00:34:39.059
not super rare, I think. That one had a little

00:34:39.059 --> 00:34:41.239
bit of damage, if I remember right. Yeah. I think

00:34:41.239 --> 00:34:43.460
the goal for a lot of maritime museums is to

00:34:43.460 --> 00:34:45.280
have something like a First Order Fresnel lens.

00:34:45.320 --> 00:34:47.840
So if you go to a maritime museum, it's likely

00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:50.860
that they'll have something. Yeah. Even if it's

00:34:50.860 --> 00:34:52.440
just like a piece or something. I think it was

00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:57.820
Gay Headlight. Is that where the museum? In Martha's

00:34:57.820 --> 00:35:01.440
Vineyard. Yeah. It was fantastic. Worth the walk.

00:35:01.539 --> 00:35:04.300
But I remember, I was like, oh my gosh. They

00:35:04.300 --> 00:35:07.429
built three stories of a building. Like as a

00:35:07.429 --> 00:35:10.170
balcony around this thing. It makes sense. I

00:35:10.170 --> 00:35:12.849
mean, it's really special. And it's huge. It's

00:35:12.849 --> 00:35:18.050
crazy. There's no other way to see it. And that's

00:35:18.050 --> 00:35:21.050
what I have for the episode. Nice. A little bit

00:35:21.050 --> 00:35:22.829
of frying pan, a little bit of light shift, a

00:35:22.829 --> 00:35:24.289
little bit of lighthouse. I really enjoyed the

00:35:24.289 --> 00:35:27.389
frying pan. I would like to see it. I'm glad

00:35:27.389 --> 00:35:31.469
to know it now because I was... Oh, I didn't

00:35:31.469 --> 00:35:34.650
include this picture. There was one picture of

00:35:34.650 --> 00:35:36.869
frying pan next to another light ship that said

00:35:36.869 --> 00:35:40.789
hens and chickens on the side. What is the hens

00:35:40.789 --> 00:35:43.730
and chickens light ship? I've got to know. And

00:35:43.730 --> 00:35:46.110
you don't, you didn't look. I don't. Cause I

00:35:46.110 --> 00:35:48.590
was just going to mention like, this is what

00:35:48.590 --> 00:35:50.929
happens is I'm like frying pan. We'll have to

00:35:50.929 --> 00:35:53.650
leave that for a future. Yeah. I'm going to leave.

00:35:53.690 --> 00:35:58.489
I'm not buoy. Yeah. Tie it in. Tie it down. Chickens.

00:35:58.489 --> 00:36:04.699
That's so funny. That's all. Thank you for listening

00:36:04.699 --> 00:36:06.840
to me talk about this one. It was actually fun

00:36:06.840 --> 00:36:10.840
because it's like low key, not a ton of information,

00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:14.460
but unique history. It's a good story. It's a

00:36:14.460 --> 00:36:17.579
cool lighthouse. Good history. The buoy was nice.

00:36:17.880 --> 00:36:20.920
I wanted to say thanks to our listeners on YouTube,

00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:24.460
which I'm learning. They're not usually the same

00:36:24.460 --> 00:36:27.519
listeners as the podcast to YouTube watchers,

00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:29.920
but thanks. Last time I asked for people to go

00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:32.530
follow us and we had quite a spike. Oh, did we?

00:36:32.670 --> 00:36:36.050
Yeah. I mean, biggest ever. That's great. Like

00:36:36.050 --> 00:36:38.190
I said, we usually don't ask for stuff like that.

00:36:38.210 --> 00:36:40.449
I don't want to be annoying, but that was nice,

00:36:40.630 --> 00:36:43.909
so thanks. Very good. And what was I going to

00:36:43.909 --> 00:36:51.070
say? Oh, man, I had something else to say. Do

00:36:51.070 --> 00:36:55.309
we have a listener right now? No, it wasn't listener

00:36:55.309 --> 00:36:57.829
related. I was going to say something else, and

00:36:57.829 --> 00:36:59.210
then you started talking about the YouTube, so

00:36:59.210 --> 00:37:01.760
now I can't remember. Sorry. We got a YouTube

00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:06.780
comment. That we're like fun with flags. Fun

00:37:06.780 --> 00:37:09.260
with flags, which is, I looked it up. I didn't

00:37:09.260 --> 00:37:11.679
know what they were referring to. It was a show.

00:37:12.019 --> 00:37:15.900
Not How I Met Your Mother. Big Bang Theory. Oh,

00:37:15.900 --> 00:37:17.900
yes. Big Bang Theory, Sheldon. Sheldon and Amy.

00:37:18.000 --> 00:37:20.380
He has a podcast he starts talking about flags.

00:37:20.619 --> 00:37:22.340
I know. I couldn't tell if it was an insult or

00:37:22.340 --> 00:37:26.420
not. I don't know. That we're like a. Social

00:37:26.420 --> 00:37:29.119
recluse trying to talk about something that most

00:37:29.119 --> 00:37:33.599
people don't find interesting. Right. A couple

00:37:33.599 --> 00:37:36.960
of engineers get together. Dang it. Well, I took

00:37:36.960 --> 00:37:38.559
it as a compliment because I smiled when I was

00:37:38.559 --> 00:37:41.280
watching the skit. All right. That's good. Yeah.

00:37:41.360 --> 00:37:44.739
I mean, we're kind of that. We're fun with flags.

00:37:44.900 --> 00:37:49.900
Fun with flags. Fun with lighthouses. Yep. So

00:37:49.900 --> 00:37:52.519
what else? That's it. Check out our Instagram.

00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:55.480
Oh, I'm really behind on the Instagram. I'm pretty

00:37:55.480 --> 00:37:57.519
sure like I haven't posted anything for the past

00:37:57.519 --> 00:37:59.960
four episodes or something. I don't know what's,

00:37:59.960 --> 00:38:04.019
I don't know why. What are you doing? It'll be

00:38:04.019 --> 00:38:05.599
okay. I don't know. Just make a couple posts

00:38:05.599 --> 00:38:09.460
and catch everybody up. Yeah. I'll just, yeah.

00:38:09.739 --> 00:38:14.480
Yeah. See, but at this point, yeah. Yeah. This

00:38:14.480 --> 00:38:16.940
will be episode number five. This is episode

00:38:16.940 --> 00:38:21.739
79. 78. 78. We get to 100, we're going to do

00:38:21.739 --> 00:38:23.699
something special. We're not going to do that

00:38:23.699 --> 00:38:27.440
until next year. That's fine. Okay. And you can

00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:29.980
check out our website, thelighthouselowdown .com.

00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:34.320
Leave us a review on there. I'm trying to reach

00:38:34.320 --> 00:38:35.739
you, but your car's extended warranty. Excuse

00:38:35.739 --> 00:38:41.760
me. I'm doing our outro. You know what? That's

00:38:41.760 --> 00:38:44.739
it. Thank you for listening to The Lighthouse.

00:38:49.639 --> 00:38:53.659
The Lighthouse Struggle Bus. Fun with Lighthouse.