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The fog was thick and freezing. Ice crystallized on every spruce branch and ocean-sprayed rocky cleft. Akusha Island was wrapped up tight in an icy cloud. The Croman family must have huddled close for warmth in their rustic cabin, isolated forty miles north of Petersburg on the island they used as a fox farm. The foxes depended on them for food and water but otherwise the critters ran free since it was too far to swim to another shore. Eventually the family would round them up and harvest their soft silver-blue pelts. By the next morning the...
Unexpected meetings - After a week of grey rain the sun danced on the water today. It seemed the perfect day for a boat ride. The sea was glassy and still, disturbed by neither wind nor wave. Only ripples of light played across its mirror surface. So we got an early start on projects so as to finish by mid day's high tide. The tide must be high for us to use the crane to lower the boat down the cliff into water below. A guest at the Lighthouse had been reading "Trouble on Blue Fox Island", a...
Goodbyes are hard. I suppose that is evidenced by my need to write one more time after already signing off for the season. One thing COVID taught us all is that despite the best laid plans, life is uncertain. And the only constant is change. Yes we plan to be back next Spring. Last year we planned to see my brother-in-law again, but he was a healthy kayaker one day and three days later he was gone without goodbyes. That was COVID. So now although we plan to see the island again and check on all the good work we did this year to see how it...
The world around us is changing fast now, with each day shorter than the last. We arrived at Five Finger Lighthouse in Spring to fiery skies splashed with deep glowing reds and oranges. We moved into the long light-filled days of summer — so much light made us giddy and we forgot to sleep at all until we fell asleep standing. As the summer wanes, the dusk and dawn horizons have softened to gentle shades of rose and gold and the mountains glow pink again. The mists have arrived, sometimes wrapping us in an opaque veil. Other times the mist strea...
Part of our mission is to make the Five-Finger Lighthouse accessible to the public and to share its historical importance. It’s somewhat like living in a museum. Originally four men were stationed here, so we have four bedrooms in the living quarters. In three of them we have arranged a total of nine dormitory style bunk beds. The fourth room is kept as a private space for the keepers. This is essential because the rest of the Lighthouse, including the living quarters, must be presentable to guests at all times with only a moment’s notice. So...
“How can you describe this to someone?,” my friend asks incredulously, “It’s like trying to describe heaven to us on earth.” It’s early morning and the sky is grey and heavy, washing down into the equally grey but glossy sea, completely obliterating any horizon. The world above and below merges in moisture. The sea is so calm that only a gentle lapping sound is perceptible along the shore line. Otherwise, silence hangs. To my east five humpbacks exhale in quick succession. One rumbles a deep growl ending in a whistle. They ease back down i...
Today is a cool and blustery grey day at The Light. But I am reminded that big blubbery whales don’t mind the cold at all. One such whale is breathing in my ear almost constantly as I write. She is just off our shore between the rock we call “Eagle Island” and our west side. There is a narrow channel there through which the tides stream in and out and no doubt the fish are carried along with them. The seaweed also streams, first this way then that. For a whale, it must be like a feeding shoot and a back scratching post all wrapped into one....
Today a videographer asked me, "What is it you like about being out here?" Her big camera lens silently recording me as I mumbled something about liking the eagles and the whales, the constant impact of the ocean surging around me and, of course, the lighthouse. "What about the lighthouse?" She prodded. Good question. What is it about this lighthouse-Five Finger Light? I had never really thought about it very consciously, but the lens was still staring blankly at me so I pensively replied, "...
Conservation of resources— That is an eloquent way of saying “how do you save water and electricity and propane when supplies are limited?” At The Lighthouse we are re-supplied every two weeks by our super supportive Five Finger Lighthouse nonprofit board of directors. They, as a team, are very conscientious about making sure we have what we need. But sometimes Mother Nature has plans that challenge or altogether preclude that delivery. So when our freezer broke down, the team quickly got a new one and planned everything right to get it out to...
This week was an experiment at Five Finger Lighthouse. The experiment's hypothesis: "There is much for students to learn at the Lighthouse." Participants included whale researchers, lighthouse keepers, and a bright, brave and curious thirteen year old named Isabella. Bella (or Izzy) thought she might want to research whales. Now, after a week of life at the Five Finger Lighthouse, she knows she wants to research whales. Here are her comments on the visit: "Before coming to Alaska, a week felt...
"How do you do it?" People frequently ask me, shaking their heads incredulously. They said it when we cruised for almost ten years on a 46-foot sailboat, and they say it now whilst we keep The Light on a two-acre uninhabited island for five months. Truth be told it's not that different from the every day lives of most other people. I have a theory that we all live in two bubbles-a small personal sphere and a larger worldly sphere. When we are personally connected to those around us, we are aware...
Humans come and go at Five Finger Lighthouse. Early on in it's life since 1902 the "365" teams would stay, four men thrown together through the four seasons. Their names are painted on the rocks beneath the helipad and under the lighthouse itself. Notes in the old log books show they were young men, lonely men, boisterous men, some celebratory, some at peace in nature, not always at peace with each other ...often wanting to go home. Researchers come to Five Finger Lighthouse to study the whales....
