Caretaking Not a Vacation

Even though all lighthouses in the United States are automated, there are still a very few lighthouse keepers. One is Sally Snowman, at Boston Harbor Light. And two others are Lynne Macco and Tim Mount, from New York, taking care of Seguin Island Lighthouse, Maine, for the 2008 season. And though they may not have much in common with Sally in Boston, they are two dedicated keepers of the light. And island. And museum. And lens. Tim, a choir director and music conductor at Stony Brook University on Long Island, and his wife Lynne, a physician in private practice and acupuncturist in New York, were the two lucky people chosen out of 20 or 30 applications to assume the summertime caretaking duties on Seguin. This very personable couple meets and greets visitors to the island, and take them up to the tower for a closeup look at the only first order Fresnel lens in Maine. Sounds like an easy job, almost a vacation, but there’s a lot more to it. In fact, it’s not so dissimilar to time past, when the Keepers in the nineteenth century had to keep the light lit.

Arriving out at the island for Memorial Day weekend, and staying until Labor Day weekend with their two cats, the work is never ending. When we arrived on the island, Tim and his brother were busy working on the doors to the lighthouse. Weather takes its toll on the doors, and with the exceptional amount of rain this year, this was not the first time work had to be done to keep the door opening and closing smoothly. They had already planed down and varnished the exterior doors once because of the swelling wood, and this time they were installing flashing to try and prevent it from happening a third time.

Other Chores Keep Them Busy

Besides painting, cleaning, repairing things that break, such as the gray water pump and the composting toilets that don’t, and mowing the lawns and trail that leads to the lighthouse, the couple is responsible for manning the gift shop. Once a week they are taken into town by boat to do their grocery shopping, laundry, and to turn in their books to the Friends of Seguin Island Lighthouse office in Bath. Cleaning up after visitors is another duty that falls to them. And the lens needs to be cleaned.

A First Order Fresnel lens is approximately eight feet in height, with hundreds of prisms that each need cleaning individually. Fortunately, they do not have to clean the brass, as it’s recommended to leave it as is, rather than disturb the oxidation process beneath it. But the windows need cleaning, the tours need to be given, and yet with all these things to do, Lynne still manages to keep up the small garden in front of the house.

And yet another duty similar to that of the lightkeepers of old, is that they must watch out for boaters in distress and radio the Coast Guard as necessary. And they must keep a log book. Not only of visitors and events, but of tasks accomplished, their thoughts and personal observations of island life. Just like the old Keepers had to do.

Requirements For the Job

So what led the Friends of Seguin Island Lighthouse to choose these two over the others? According to Lynn, there were 20 or 30 others who had applied. She said it was partly because of their qualifications, which may have been overkill. All the Friends required was training in first aid, but as a physician, she certainly has the skills. And ticking off some of the other requirements for the job, she emphasized a sense of humor is paramount. And compatibility. Spending months with the same person constantly, whether married or not, can cause tension and arguments.

She mentioned resourcefulness as another quality, and that Tim had grown up on a farm, and both have extensive building experience, having been volunteers with Habitat For Humanity. Both have boating experience, and in fact have Coast Guard Captain licenses, although “we don’t have a boat to use out here.” Experience in public speaking is necessary, both for the tours and the presentation they will be giving to the Friends at the end of the season.

A New Career As Lighthouse Keepers?

Both Lynne and Tim are semi-retired, and have also applied to be lighthouse keepers at Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse in Tasmania. Although at this time they withdrew their application, in part because of the bad weather at Australia’s most southerly lighthouse, they are keeping their options open. According to Lighthouses of Australia, Maatsuyker Island, 10 kilometers off the southernmost coast of Tasmania, is “lashed by the unobstructed force of the Roaring Forties coming across the Southern Ocean from as far away as Africa.” Tales of previous caretakers at this decommissioned light include the chickens being blown off to sea from the force of these winds.

“The weather up here on Seguin is a lot milder,” he says. Even though Seguin’s two miles out to sea, the island isn’t subjected to high winds, except once in a while. “It did blow out one of the windows in the tower, which we had to replace.”

Perhaps they’ll be taking time off for cruising the islands in their catamaran when their stint here is up. Or they might find another posting at another lighthouse. But for sure, this will be a summer to remember for them.

Haunted Seguin

No visit to the island would be complete without asking about the Ghost of Seguin Island. Asking Lynne if she’d seen or heard anything, she said no. “But it might be because I’m not sensitive. I’ve stayed in places that other people said were haunted, that they’d felt things, but I never have. Other than the wind moaning over the island, I’ve never heard anything.”

She went on to speculate that a lot of the legends may have been started by Coast Guardsmen, who, being sailors, may be a little superstitious. And people hearing things like critters in the wall may be convinced sites are haunted. But as far as Seguin Island goes, she’s never heard anything, except the foghorn.

Tim mentioned that the foghorn doesn’t bother them. “It’s muffled somewhat by the rocks and the foghorn house.” He said one previous caretaker couple, when visiting the island again, would only come when they could hear the foghorn, they loved it so much. And yet another couple couldn’t wait to get off the island because of the foghorn.

Can You Be A Lighthouse Keeper?

The caretakers for the 2009 season are already selected, but the Friends of Seguin Island Lighthouse are already accepting applications for the 2010 season. Do you think you have what it takes? If so, you can apply at the Friends of Seguin Lighthouse website, where there is a list of requirements. But it will be extremely difficult to fill the shoes of this wonderful couple from New York.

To read the daily logs of Lynne and Tim, head over to mac.com/one2travel. And don’t forget to check out their photo gallery also at gallery.mac.com/one2travel.

All photos Copyright © 2008 Lighthouse News. All Rights Reserved.

Keep up with Lighthouse News. Get articles by Email or in a Reader.