Critics Take Dim View Of New Lighthouse Beacon

CHATHAM – Last month, the Coast Guard replaced the old searchlight beacons atop Chatham Lighthouse with modern LED beacons designed to use less electricity and be seen more than 24 nautical miles from shore. But some local residents are arguing that the technical upgrade represents a functional downgrade.

 John Brigden and Seth Perretta, two nearby residents, created an online petition at www.chathamfirstlight.com asking for changes at the lighthouse. The effort doesn’t necessarily seek to restore the old aerobeacons, nor does it “resist modern equipment on principle. We’re asking that the beacon be fitted with a modern LED source and drive mechanism that provides a beam characteristic consistent with the light’s original sweep and aura – the same signal mariners and residents have relied on for decades,” the petition reads.

 The light looks markedly different now than before the new beacons were installed, Brigden said. The lights are off during the daytime “even if there’s fog out,” he said. And at night, the beacon provides a beam that’s focused offshore, unlike the old searchlights that tended to illuminate the neighborhood, Lighthouse Beach and the barrier beach beyond. At nighttime, these areas are completely dark, Brigden said.

 Perretta acknowledged the Coast Guard’s need to replace the old, energy-inefficient 1,000-watt incandescent bulbs with new LEDs which use less electricity than a 100-watt bulb, both for the sake of modernization and for energy conservation. 

“I think the challenge is that, the consequence of the two very sound guiding principles is that we have a light that, unfortunately from a navigational perspective, casts no beam,” he said.

 The previous wide beam was visible from the horizon but also illuminated the beaches in a way that was helpful for small boats navigating the harbor entrance, Peretta said. 

 Brigden, who holds a charter boat captain’s license that allows him to take up to six passengers, said he has been boating since he was a youngster. While he understands the advantage that LED beacons have on the horizon, Bridgen said the current configuration of Chatham Light provides no benefit to nearshore boaters.

 Many of those who signed the online petition wrote of the impact of the new beacons on neighborhood character and the history of the Old Village, parts of which were bathed with light twice every 10 seconds by the old searchlight beacons each night for decades.

 Perretta and Brigden said they are optimistic that LED lights are available which would cast a broader beam. When the Coast Guard installed new LED beacons at Gay Head Light on Martha’s Vineyard, neighbors complained because the beacons rotated the wrong way. The Coast Guard’s Aids to Navigation Team worked to correct the problem.

 “We’re optimistic that maybe we’ll have the same opportunity with the Coast Guard here,” Brigden said.

 Coast Guard Senior Chief Ross Comstock, commanding officer at Station Chatham, said the lighthouse is not the responsibility of the station, but with the Coast Guard’s Aids to Navigation Team. But he acknowledged that the new light does not illuminate the beaches or the shoals, “which it was never designed to do.” The new beacon still flashes twice every 10 seconds and is visible for at least 24 nautical miles, as required. Comstock confirmed that the beacon has a daylight controller that automatically turns the lamps on and off with the ambient light.

 Chatham Harbormaster Jason Holm said he has had no feedback from mariners about the new beacons. Thanks to GPS and other navigational technology, lighthouses are not as critical as they once were for navigation. 

“That said, a number of our waterways users are smaller skiffs with no electronics or more traditional type navigators that rely on standard aids to navigation. I’d hate to see it, or any other aid to navigation in our waterways, be removed,” Holm said.