Kellys-stuff.com

The view taken on the west side of the station.

The West Side of the Station

 

ALL works, which appear on these pages, are the sole property of myself and may only be reproduced with proper acknowledgment to the artist. © All rights reserved.

This view is from the northwest. This view shows the boathouse and the ramp used to get the small boat on and off of the island. This picture was taken after a winter storm and the slip, normally boarded in on the left, was missing many planks from the severity of the storm. If you drew a vertical line from the peak of the house, which is connected to the tower it would divide the living quarters for the two families living there. It should be noted that this was a two family lightstation. The Officer in Charge lived on this side of the dwelling. Basically because he had first pick and on the east side of the station there was a large seawall blocking the windows.

 

E-Mail

Personnel Selection

Personnel applied for this type of duty in the same matter as for any other duty assignment in the Coast Guard. All openings were always posted on a bulletin board somewhere on every station. The main advantage of being in the group headquarters in South Portland was that if there was an opening it was usually posted in several places plus there was often scuttlebutt around the station so most openings were known by everyone even before they were posted for the rest of the group.

South Portland was the headquarters for the group of stations from about Wells, Maine to Boothbay Harbor, Maine or just beyond. I really am not sure where their jurisdiction ended. The next was the group in Rockland, Maine. Actually these were the group headquarters and they were responsible for all the stations in their are.

The lighthouses required fairly high rated petty officers but many were filled with personnel of a lower rate because of the lack of personnel within the required rating. During the time I was in the Coast Guard we were always under manned and it wasn't uncommon for a person of lesser rating that the unit called for to be assigned. Most light stations called for a person of at least a second or first class rating. At the time I was only a third class petty officer and was in the engineering department so this made it even more likely that I would never get a chance for lighthouse duty.

According to the scuttlebutt around South Portland the Cuckolds would be opening. At the same time Portland Head Light opened but that went to a first class Boatswain's Mate because it was a tourist thing and had to be maintained in super condition. Usually only the pet's of the Commanding Officer got this super choice duty. I say it that way only because it appeared that way to most of us. I guess in reality to be fair it had to be a super conscientious person that would keep the station immaculate. The Cuckold's was on the other end of the spectrum in that it was probably the poorest family light within South Portland's jurisdiction.

The Cuckold's was an offshore light with no connection to the land and subjected to some very adverse weather conditions. It was a two family light which was also unusual. Most lights that had families maintaining them were single family and usually were on a point somewhere with something of a road going to them. I say it that way as it might be a dirt road or whatever but was a connection to the rest of the world. Usually the wives could go shopping and the families could have a normal life.

The procedures for selecting personnel for these assignments was the same for all but was by necessity more intense for someone moving to an offshore island than to just a somewhat remote area with a road and a normal lifestyle.

There were many interviews for the person being assigned there both alone and then again with his spouse present. I guess to see how well they got along and the real thing about whether or not the spouse was really willing to go there and the type of person that could withstand the hardships of living on an island.

The person being considered would meet officers that he wouldn't normally associate with because even though the lights were small stations they ordered supplies and were often dealing with the officers and not the enlisted men when dealing with problems on the island.

Some of the interviews got pretty personal almost to the point of being more like marriage counseling because the Coast Guard didn't want the expense or inconvenience of putting someone on an island only to find that they had to get them off immediately because of some family problem or the fact that the spouse just wouldn't live there.

This got to be sort of routine as they did this frequently for a few interviews to check and double check to be as sure as possible that the couple or family involved really knew what they were getting themselves into.

A good deal of detail went into the shopping and storing of food and other necessities on the island. It was made very clear that there would be times that, because of weather conditions, we would be stranded on the island for reasonably long periods of time.

I believe the Coast Guard to be very thorough in this area but I am not sure that all the people that interviewed us were qualified to judge what they were the types of information they were requesting.

I believe the top three candidates were interviewed but I never heard who else was or if anyone was interviewed for this particular station. I do know that the reputation the station had for domestic problems was quite high. I didn't hear that much around the station but I didn't really care, as I hadn't been married that long, and would surely have been sent to sea if I hadn't taken the assignment to the lighthouse. In my mind I knew that this would be better than being separated from my wife for months or even weeks at a time.