Rockall, lit or unlit?

[JumbleDuck]

That leaves all the previous lights, but who knows how secure they really were. The largeframe secured by 8 bolts is still there looking battered. It's probably on the lee side, but even so, it's still there.

I think this is the first light, from 1971. Perhaps a little optimistic for the location, and the accommodation looks a wee bit flimsy too. Nowadays I'd have thought something very robust indeed could be made with high-power LEDs shining though lots of small holes in a solid bronze casting.

 

[MM5AHO]

After July I will report back and let you know if Rockall is lit or not, and if there's any remnant bits of a light or its power source.

 

[bikedaft]

it would be good to land, if the swell is not too bad... enjoy

 

[JumbleDuck]

it would be good to land, if the swell is not too bad... enjoy

Looks lovely, and in many respects - bleak, desolate, constant threat to life, lack of civilised amenities - really not unlike Port Glasgow.

 

[Greenheart]

Suspect you're joking but I actually agree.

Sea and rock are immensely powerful but not very tidy. If the Greenpeace light and solar panel is totally gone without trace...I'm betting a passing warship removed it.

Attaching something to granite on Rockall and it staying put is clearly possible.

I wasn't kidding. As you say, the sea can be violent, but not with localised deliberation. I reckon the taming of a place by putting up a sign, or a mark or a light, is viewed as proprietary by other people or peoples. As long as there's no clear evidence of the place having a use, perhaps it can't be claimed. So anyone trying to apply a use to the rock, can expect others to want to disable it.

Look at that metal dome-thing...heaven knows how they got it up there. Probably it's a metal shell filled with cement? Can anybody imagine a wave which would leave that thing, exposed on top of the rock, while nevertheless ripping the light off the dome? Not me.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Look at that metal dome-thing...heaven knows how they got it up there. Probably it's a metal shell filled with cement? Can anybody imagine a wave which would leave that thing, exposed on top of the rock, while nevertheless ripping the light off the dome? Not me.

I believe that it's a great big lump of bronze, lifted into place by helicopter.

 

[jwilson]

it would be good to land, if the swell is not too bad... enjoy

Was aiming to land once, but once got there far too much swell even in about F4-5.

 

[bikedaft]

Was aiming to land once, but once got there far too much swell even in about F4-5.

there is a great vid online of (one of the various madmen) jumping off a wood covered rib, with crampons on... he made it up, at 2nd attempt iirc

wondered about a rocket/crossbow to put a line over first? looks like a hard target to get the line to stay on top tho

how close did you go in the boat? did you get in the dinghy and go closer?

etc

 

[AntarcticPilot]

A note for those interested in the mechanisms by which waves erode rock (and lights!). The main factor is the enormous pressure that is exerted by a wave when it breaks on a surface. WHen I was a student, the highest measured force of a breaking wave had been measured at Dunbar Harbour; it was only a "highest measured" as the instrument itself was destroyed! We're talking about pressures in the MegaPascal range. This enormous pressure penetrates cracks and pores in the rock, and any weak plane such as a glue line will certainly be penetrated in fairly short order. That's what destroys equipment, not shattering by rocks etc. thrown by the waves.

 

[lpdsn]

If they made the light barnacle shaped it might stay on.

 

[westhinder]

If they made the light barnacle shaped it might stay on.

A LEB perhaps?

(Light Emitting Barnacle)

 

[lpdsn]

A LEB perhaps?

(Light Emitting Barnacle)

Best get the genetic engineers working on this as soon as possible. It could be a major breakthrough in navigational safety.

We'd need two species at least through, red LEBs and green LEBs.

 

[westhinder]

Best get the genetic engineers working on this as soon as possible. It could be a major breakthrough in navigational safety.

We'd need two species at least through, red LEBs and green LEBs.

And white LEBs of course.

I think I already have a brand name: Fukushima.

 

[lpdsn]

And white LEBs of course.

I think I already have a brand name: Fukushima.

It might require mating a barnacle with a firefly. Or cross-splicing the genes in some way.

We'd also need a Blue LEB variety for Motor boaters. With glowing blue barnacles they could save the cost of both underwater LEDs and anti-foul. The extra drag is OK as MoBos never move anyway.

 

[Aja]

Sorry, but forum won't let me upload images from my iPad, but on looking closely, there is a concrete block but no light, and that was July 2016.

There was also a very frayed blue polypropylene rope on one side possibly there to assist access to the rock but now about twenty feet short of sea level.

Plenty of evidence that seabirds used the rock, mainly gannets and fulmars.

I'll try again with some images later.

Regards
Donald

 

[Fascadale]

Here is a very good article on the matter of the Rockall light
http://www.historicalrfa.org/archived-stories/1161-the-rockall-beacon

 

[JumbleDuck]

Here is a very good article on the matter of the Rockall light
http://www.historicalrfa.org/archived-stories/1161-the-rockall-beacon

Good find. Thanks!

 

[Fascadale]

Maybe the best article about the Rockall light question.

Well worth downloading the Navy report. Great picture of a helicopter "landing" on Rockall

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/03/22/rockall_peak_blasted_off_navy_expedition/

 

[Minchsailor]

I was at the HQ of the NLB last week and asked a Very Senior Person about the light.

His answer: "There isn't one, and there isn't going to be one".

 

[guernseyman]

2018 Reeds Almanac says "Lt, Fl 15s 13M, is often extinguished for long periods due to weather damage."