St. George Reef Lighthouse: An Inspiration

Can You Imagine...?

I don’t remember the first time I saw or heard about St. George Reef Lighthouse. I was likely looking at Battery Point Lighthouse on-line, since we have a funny family memory of staying at the Curly Redwood Lodge in Crescent City many years ago. It was a foggy night, and, well, the foghorn at Battery Point was very efficient. Not only at warning the ships at sea, but at keeping us awake all night long. To this day, my husband mimics the horn with a deep, throaty hum whenever I talk about lighthouses. Which is often.

So Battery Point leads us to St. George Reef. Off shore, six miles off the nearest point of land, the lighthouse sits perched on a wave-washed rock it shares with a large family of seals. As seen in the famous photos of French lighthouse “Phare de la Jument” by Jean Guichard, St. George has seen some magnificent waves it its day as well. As I looked at photo after photo, and read about the tumultuous history of this extraordinary beacon, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be out there, all alone, abandoned in that water-locked tower.

Thus began the imagery for my romantic mystery, CAPE SEDUCTION, set for publication this winter. Once research began, I ran across a wonderful resource, SENTINEL OF THE SEAS by Dennis M. Powers, which is the history of St. George Reef Lighthouse. Powers did extensive digging, came up with great stories and photos retelling the life of this mysterious light station. As my novel required lots of details about the interior workings and accommodations, I contacted Mr. Powers for more information. He kindly referred me to one of the last U.S. Coast Guardsmen to man the lighthouse. John “Gibby” Gibbons was delighted to hear from me, and spent a long time on the telephone describing the engine room, the galley and sleeping quarters. He answered all my questions, then asked for my address. He later sent me a wonderful photo of SGRL take from a helicopter in the 1950’s, and several snapshots from his years in residence. I am incredibly grateful to this generous man.

There’s more to tell, but I am out of room for today. Stay tuned on subsequent Mondays for upcoming installments about this and other  fascinating lighthouses!