Cape San Blas Lighthouse
It was one miserable night. The wind was howling through the rigging, and occasionally when the lantern would sway in a certain direction, you could see the rain blasting by in a horizontal downpour. The temperature in and of itself was not that bad, it was in the mid 70’s, but the wind and blowing rain caused a chilled you to the core of your body. Foul weather gear wouldn’t even keep you dry in these conditions. The sails were all reefed to the last reef point. Any farther would result in no sail at all and we would loose the ability to control the boat. This is the third day of this nasty weather and the navigator has not been able to get a celestial fix for two days now. The only fix he had was from the first day, and due to the poor conditions that day, he wasn’t sure of its accuracy. It sure would be nice to know what our position is. We should be close to landfall, as we left Tampa three days ago for what should have been a three-day run to Panama City. This weather has caused us to change course so many times though, that we are not sure of where we are exactly. Our only hope is that the weather will break just long enough for us to see the light from Cape San Blas.
The story above, in this instance is fiction, but having been to sea myself, I know all too well that it has been lived and re-lived thousands of times over the years. Modern electronics make things a lot simpler these days for navigators, but in the days before electronics were invented, lighthouses were a primary source of coastal navigational information. Cape San Blas lighthouse is no exception. True, it is now dormant, but it still stands as it did when it was constructed in 1848, as a solitary beacon, and a reminder of our maritime history. In 1882, in the midst of its active service years, there was no other light along the 120-mile coastline between Cape San Blas and Pensacola. (more…)