SEQUIM — The U.S. Coast Guard is looking at taking the light out of the New Dungeness Lighthouse.
Last week, the submarine cable powering the light appeared worn and in danger of failing, said Coast Guard lighthouse coordinator Katherine Brown.
“We had been told that the cable looks terrible, that it’s rotting away,” she said.
“We didn’t want to lose power.”
Since the Coast Guard must maintain that key aide for mariners navigating around Dungeness Spit, it laid plans to solarize the beacon.
That would mean extracting it from the lighthouse’s cupola and installing it in a concrete box 150 feet away.
The box is already equipped with a solar-cell array that would power the light, sending its beam out 18 miles.
Association intervenes
Then the Coast Guard heard from the New Dungeness Light Station Association, a 12-year-old group that cares for the lighthouse and grounds and provides keepers and tours.
Seems the association could also furnish an alternative to removal of the light.
“We’ve had a change of plans,” Brown said Thursday.
The lighthouse association is researching backup solutions in case of cable problems, she said, and board member Glenn Cotter is preparing a report on how to preserve the cable’s integrity.
“That cable,” Brown added, “is in better condition than we thought.”