The 69' fire rescue boat Patriot, on route from Canada to Tampa, ran aground at the inlet attempting to make it into St. Augustine's harbor for the night. She was eventually pulled to safety by the tugboat Albert Pike, seen in the background.

Its the same story that it ever was. Late Wednesday night a vessel on route from Canada to Tampa made its way into the St. Augustine Inlet, seeking a safe refuge for the remainder of the night. It is probably safe to assume that the captain and crew were unfamiliar with the dynamic environmental conditions that prevail in the waters around our nation's oldest port. And so around 11 pm the 69' vessel found itself stranded near Porpoise Point at the north end of the inlet, as have ships for centuries attempting to make safe harbor in St. Augustine.

Continue reading "The Newest Shipwreck in the Oldest Port" »

Note from Chuck Meide, LAMP Director: Karson Winslow, a graduate student from Flinders University in Australia, was one of our two first LAMP interns under the First Coast Maritime Archaeology Project. She worked with us from July to October 2007. When she left us, it was one of the few times that our entire LAMP staff was jealous of our intern's next job, which was cruising the South Seas as a crew member on board an authentic tall sailing ship. At that time we invited her to guest blog her experiences, and now that she is back home in the U.S.A. she has taken us up on her offer. Prepare to enjoy her account of blue seas, green isles, white canvas, and wooden decks . . .

I spent a year doing something that people only dream about, if they know it even exists. When I discovered a way to see the South Pacific through the eyes of an early explorer, I knew there was no way to let an opportunity like this sail away.

After saying farewell to the Lighthouse team in St. Augustine, I joined the Tall Ship Soren Larsen in Auckland, New Zealand with only a small notion of what would lay ahead.

Continue reading "An Adventure Through Pacific Time (Guest Blog by former LAMP intern Karson Winslow)" »

What: Historically accurate replicas of the Nina and the Pinta, open to the public for tours
Where: St. Augustine City Marina
When: 9am-6pm, May 6th - May 17th, 2009
Who: These two replica ships are operated by the Columbus Foundation, and were brought to St. Augustine with the help of LAMP and the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum
How much: Admission for adults is $7, children older than 4 are $5, and senior citizens are $6. A guided group rate of $3 per person is also available for groups of 15 or more. A portion of each admission goes to the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum.

National Maritime Heritage Area Workshop

HOSTS
GUANA TOLOMATO MATANZAS NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE
ST. AUGUSTINE LIGHTHOUSE & MUSEUM, INC.
LIGHTHOUSE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MARITIME PROGRAM
SEA GRANT ASSOCIATION
ST. JOHNS COUNTY/PLANNING DIVISION/HISTORIC RESOURCES

Please join us for a National Heritage Area Feasibility Workshop
(Feel free to bring a brown bag lunch.)

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 - 12:30 pm until 5:00 pm
GTM NERR Environmental Education Center
505 Guana River Road
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 32080

RSVP requested by April 11, 2008
Contact Pam Troll at 904-829-0745, ext 224 or
ptroll@staugustinelighthouse.com

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Lighthouse would love to have you as a member of our Founding Lights Family. You can make a difference.

It takes a great many of us working together to keep the Light Station strong. It takes all our support to keep the lighthouse preserve and programs going.

Today, we are about $25,000 short of having $350,000 dollars in our small, but growing endowment fund. Why is $350,000 the magic number? Well, when we hit $350,000, then we can apply for another $250,000 from the State of Florida. And that will help us a great deal. It makes us more secure, more stable in a world where changes happen and surprises hit us with new things to repair. It makes us more able to continue wonderful community services like those so many enjoy.

Our Founding Lights Campaign helps preserve and keep alive our story for generations. Fifty percent of every Founding Lights pledge becomes part of the endowment. This money is not ever spent, but and stablity and generates interest that supports programs and our restoration efforts. The remaining funds are put to good use right away.

Won't you help protect the lighthouse? Won't you help save our maritime heritage?

Please join us as a Founding Light!

The Levels Founding Lights: $1,000 per year for five years - Leadership level Legacy Circle: $500 per year for five years - Recognition in a special annual ceremony here and up. Heritage Club: $250 per year for five years Guardians: $100 per year for five years

Or call us here at the Lighthouse 904 829-0745.

Kathy Fleming
Executive Director

The following is written on a New England Lighthouse web site. http://lighthouse.cc/boston/history.html History - page one

Boston lighthouse) holds a place of honor among our nation's beacons. This was the first light station established on the North American continent, and the last in the United States to be automated. It's also our only light station that still retains an official keeper.

Because Boston Light was destroyed in the Revolution and rebuilt in 1783, the tower itself is the second oldest in the U.S.....It's recorded that there was a beacon on Point Allerton in Hull as early as 1673.

Sorry, in St. Augustine we scoff (in a friendly way) at 1673. Heck, we were a 108 by then. Maybe they got the idea for the 1673 lit watch tower from St. Augustine? Yes, Boston is important, and claiming first American lighthouse is significant. But claming first "North American" watchtower is a different thing all together.

An exciting point from this excerpt about Boston is the report that fires burned in towers very early on at Hull. This happened before they were designated "lighthouses." What does that mean? Is it important in some way? Let's explore it a bit more.

Consider this quote from Puertos del Estado, a Spanish web site discussing Spain's port system. The quote below has been translated into English, See the original at: http://www.puertos.es/es/index.html

The origins of the visual aids to navigation date back to the humans' first attempts to discover new commercial routes, going far a way from the coast in their vessels. In the daytime, the geographical unevenness oriented these men. However, at night, they needed to use the light emitted by bonfires burning in strategic coastal points in order to come back to the port. Since the rain or the wind extinguished these bonfires, they were protected with a kind of structure...Thus, the lighthouses started....

After the fall of the Roman Empire...countries were focused on the wars more than on the social and economic development. Few new lighthouses were built...Morever, the existing lighthouses were destroyed.

Since the 12th Century, the navigation in the Mediterranean Sea and in North Europe was reactivated. In order to guarantee the safety in the shipping routes, lighthouses were built. Thus, Scandinavia and Germany had the best-lit coast in Europe (15 lighthouses in 1600).... In addition, bonfires were placed on existing watchtowers such as Porto Pi in Mallorca.

Hmmm? So, according to Spanish historians, Europe used lighthouses formally as early as 1600. More excitingly for us, there is a recorded history in Spain of lighting watchtowers!!!

I believe the question is not "How early was there a lighthouse?" But rather, "When did economic activity and coastal defense call for maritime aids to navigation? It is at this point that we begin to discover when the "port" became a "port" and not just a ship's landing site."

Continue reading "Of Old Ports, Lighthouses and Ben Franklin. " »

Brass and wood aboard the Quark.

The ketch Quark came into St. Augustine's waters this week for a brief stay. Fortunately for us here at the Lighthouse, the boat’s crew has good taste and a mind for all things historical. They visited the Lighthouse. It was here at the LAMP office we first met George Floyd, owner and master of this amazing wooden boat. He came into the LAMP office to discuss his ventures into a Maritime Heritage Museum in Apalachicola. Towards the end of our chat, he dropped the bomb to say he was currently in town on board his reproduction ketch, docked a few cables length away at the Conch House Marina. An invitation was all we needed to go see and tour this piece of replicated history.

Continue reading "LAMP caught a ketch." »

Welcome to our newest blog section Shipping News! In this section we will be posting information on historic and reproduction boats, vessels, ships, and craft that come here to St. Augustine. In the past few weeks I have witnessed a few boats docked around here that made me think “Gee, wouldn’t it be nice to share some of the floating stories that come in and out of our waterways?” and so here we are. Our inaugural entry, I hope, will provide some insight as to what sort of posting to expect. Also, since LAMP can’t keep tabs on every vessel traveling through, please let us know if you see or hear of a historic boat in the area. You can do this by email at: bburke@staugustinelighthouse.com or by phone at 904-838-8813. Thanks and enjoy!

-Brendan Burke, LAMP