Classic Sailboats

John G. Alden MINOT’S LIGHT

minots light sailboat

Sail Number: 579

Type: Ketch

LOA: 58’1″ / 17.66m – LWL: 41’3″ / 12.52m – Beam: 14’3″ / 4.33m – Draft: 7’6” / 2.28m – Design Number: 0879 – Designer: John G. Alden – Original Owner: Clarence A. Warden, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania – Current Owner: – Year Launched: 1950 – Built By: Abeking & Rasmussen, Germany – Hull Material: Steel – Gross Displacement: 58,300 / 26,500 – Ballast: 19,000 / 8636 – Location of Plans: MIT – Hart Nautical Collection – Permission required – Spars: Hollow, Sitka Spruce – Sail Area: 1,518 / 141.1  

Historical:

Arthur Beiser – “The Proper Yacht”

“In looking for a yacht, intangible feelings are as important as tangible facts. I’m a believer in love at first sight as as essential an element in choosing a yacht as in life generally. Five minutes after meeting my wife, I knew our lives would become intertwined; we have now been married for 50 years. Five minutes after seeing Minots Light in 1957, I knew our destinies were to mesh too. ….Minots Light sat there a few boats away, a swan among mere ducks”

Minot’s Light is a prominent lighthouse on the coast south of Boston, between Cohassett and Scituate. Its chief characteristic is Gp Fl 1+4+3 and several generations learned to remember it as the ‘I Love You’ light, for its (1 4 and 3 letters).

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: Clarence A. Warden, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania

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One Comment

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I crewed on this boat with Arthur, wife, 2 children and two other crew. It was 1958 and for me between graduation from Choate and entering Dartmouth. We sailed from Long Island sound to Bar Harbor and stayed for the summer. We always came in dead last racing. Ondine’s Curse owned by Huey Long (as I recall) was there. Sailing was more in my blood afterwards.

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Women cruisers share their experiences, info and news

Sailing into the Eighties

Germaine Beiser on ARDENT SPIRIT leaving Venice.

If this title conjures up visions of fighting off cold and polar bears in Svalbard, or the Northwest Passage with Jimmy Cornell or rounding Cape Horn you will be disappointed (although we have sailed around Cape Horn). The eighties in this article are years of age.

Arthur Beiser

My husband Arthur and I are each 83 years old and have seen no reason to give up cruising. The reactions to this from friends and acquaintances vary from surprise to wonder to sharp disapproval.

We live on an island in France which has a marina. Recently we were chatting with a couple who had just tied up. When I said “ We live here but our boat is in Croatia ” the female partner, shocked answered ” But surely you are not still sailing! ” I guess we look pretty old!

So… how and why do we keep going? We are not risk takers and I am certainly not very strong.

A Bit of History

Arthur and I have cruised together since we were married more than 60 years ago.

Our first boat was 21 feet long, our second 27 feet and our third 33 feet. With these boats we sailed from Maine to Florida and the Bahamas, motored down and up the Inland Waterway, up and down rivers.

MINOTS LIGHT

At one point we saw the yacht Minots Light , a 58-foot ketch, a boat to dream about. By a curious set of circumstances which deserves its own story an underpaid physics professor, his wife and three small daughters became the owners of this magnificent vessel.

Minots Light wasn’t happy with our style of coastwise cruising. “ Minots Light wants to cross the Atlantic ,” said Arthur and so we did.

The children didn’t come with us. Their friends at school told them their parents were going to die; transatlantic crossings in a sailboat were not at all common in 1963. We didn’t die but I was so seasick that seemed an option.

Our plan was to sail in Scandinavia, then England, next the Med and thence back to the West Indies…all in one year. Such touching naivete soon met reality. In fact we never did sail Minots Light back. Every summer we sailed, with the help of our children, 13 seasons in Scandinavia interspersed with periods in the Med to thaw out. During the winter they went to school in whichever country we were in.

In Venice in front of St. Mark’s Square

In 1966 we discovered Yugoslavia, a marvelous coast with very few foreign yachts and no Yugoslav yachts that we could see. During the next years we returned often. We experienced the beginning of the war there.

From Croatia it was easy to visit Venice. For me there is no cruising experience greater than sailing one’s own boat into Venice.

In Finland we had a SWAN built for us… very pretty and very fast, especially good going upwind. Unfortunately the layout below as well as on deck was not good for cruising, just racing. Also its 47 feet felt cramped after Minots Light .

The 58 foot cutter which we bought in 1988 from the builders, Moody of Bursledon, England was just right. We named her Ardent Spirit . In 2002 we took a berth for her in Croatia where she is now.

ARDENT SPIRIT tied up

Now you can see why we keep going. We need to cruise every summer.

Obviously at our age there are problems. We can’t make long cruises like those of the past. Fortunately short cruises have their own pleasures. Sixty miles instead of 600 or 1600. Croatia is blessed with thousands of islands and some spectacular anchorages. We don’t have to go far to find places that are quite uncrowded. A luxury in the Med. If we do want to go far we do so…in stages.

Here are some of the ways that we cope with the lack of energy and strength that comes with age.

First: Stay as healthy as possible . Do whatever is necessary to deal with whatever physical problems arise. Make sure to take all the pills you need with you when you cruise as you cannot be sure of finding them everywhere. (If you are a live-aboard this is not a problem). The mantra of exercise every day: long walks or swimming, lots of fruit and vegetables, less fat, less sugar, turns out to be true. It is important to be able to maintain contact with your doctors as you travel as well as making an effort to find good doctors where you find yourself. This is not always possible.

Hire people to do some of the maintenance that must be done. Among these: cleaning and polishing the outside of the boat, antifouling the bottom, freeing the seacocks, taking the sails off for the winter and putting them back in the Spring. We are lucky in having skilled mechanics and a North Sails branch near us in Croatia.

There are breakdown services which tow disabled boats, deliver fuel, and help to start engines and so forth. I would hope that none of these events happen to us but it is nice to know that if there is an emergency there can be help. We subscribe to one of these services, have never needed it, expect never to need it but it is insurance.

As ARDENT SPIRIT is fairly big we have had electric winches from the start ; we would have trouble handling her now if we didn’t have electric help. The jib furl is electric with radio control: easy peasy.

Next question: what to do if the electric winches fail. Well, they are all manual as well and if it means that we don’t have the strength to hoist the sails it is not a tragedy to use the motor to get back. And if the motor fails? Cursing is in order. A breakdown service? Towing with the dinghy? These events are really important if one is offshore but we do most of our cruising these years in coastal waters.

Some more electric aids : we now have converted two toilets to electric push button operation . In the past we had electric toilets which didn’t work well so we got rid of them. Technology has moved on and these work very well. And yes, we do have another toilet and it is manual.

Arthur likes to joke that because I no longer have to pump the toilet the muscles in my right arm have atrophied so I can no longer reach the shore when I throw a docking line.

Not really true but an excuse for installing something most boats seem to have nowadays: a bow thruster . We didn’t wish to give up space in our forepeak to retrofit one but two years ago a model appeared that is installed outside the hull. ARDENT SPIRIT now has one. Tying up is no longer the nightmare of the past .The “torpedo” is so well streamlined that our speed is diminished by only a small fraction of a knot.

ARDENT SPIRIT at anchor in Croatia off the island of Brac

Partly because marinas are hot, noisy and not private and partly because we used to have so much trouble tying up we anchor nearly everywhere.

By now we know many anchorages which we don’t have to share with a lot of other boats. Our anchor is good but as we don’t want any worries about dragging we have had 25 extra pounds of lead poured into the hollow behind the point in our plow anchor; it now weighs 100 pounds. We feel pretty secure.

Often we spend a week or more at anchor, swimming for exercise or taking walks ashore if that is possible. It would be hard to give up this pleasure.

As new problems arise we have to solve them . I now have trouble starting the dinghy’s motor. It is important from a safety point of view that I as well as Arthur can get the dinghy ashore. We are now exploring electric-start motors .

This poses the next problem: the new motor will be a lot heavier than the one we have so we’ll have to come up with an improvement on our present system for getting the motor on board. Perhaps we’ll simply leave it on the dinghy. But that is this year’s problem.

About Germaine Beiser

Germaine Beiser on the quay at Marina Kremik

Germaine Bousquet was born in Cambridge Massachusetts in 1931. She graduated from MIT where she had majored in physics. For graduate work she enrolled at Columbia.

In New York she met Arthur Beiser who was at that time an instructor at New York University. She then transferred to NYU. They were married and for 9 years they worked together on cosmic ray research. Soon after their marriage they began cruising.They have three daughters.

Germaine published 4 books meant for teenagers. In addition she has had articles published in Yachting Magazine ,  Yachting Monthly  and Cruising World . Arthur has published 36 books; Germaine contributed to several of them.

Together they have sailed more than 140,000 miles including 2 trans-Atlantic passages. They cruised along the entire Atlantic coast and spent a winter in the West Indies. For 13 wonderful summers they sailed in Scandinavia and enjoyed very many Mediterranean harbours. A special thrill was sailing down the west coast of Chile and rounding Cape Horn on a friend’s yacht.

Now their 7th boat, Ardent Spirit , lives happily in Croatia, making occasional forays to Venice.

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International Yacht Sales and Charter

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REF (Reference)

28.8M 94.46FT

Minots light 2018 55′ 3″ discovery cruising sailboat.

The 2018 55′ 3″ DISCOVERY Discovery 54 Cruising Sailboat MINOTS LIGHT is a sail boat for sale located in Spain . Discovery 54, MINOTS LIGHT is built for extensive bluewater cruising and allows an owner to sail single-handed with ease. Quality is ever present in every inch of a Discovery – with the inherent strength of the keel structure hand laminated directly to the hull and the high specification of the materials used, such as carbon fibre. At build the owner chose a superb custom specification, with attention to detail clear throughout. Down below you have the customary detailed woodwork with the raised saloon and a large uncompromised aft cabin that is famous with these yachts. She has been lightly used for family holidays sailing around the south coast & Channel Islands. Cared for by a full time captain. Contact the yacht broker to receive more information or schedule a showing of this 2018 55′ 3″ DISCOVERY Discovery 54 Cruising Sailboat MINOTS LIGHT yacht for sale in Spain today!

Float Gallery

A picture is worth a thousand words, yatch specifications, all you need to now.

  • Builder DISCOVERY
  • Length 16.84 m
  • Length 180,45 ft
  • Draft 19,69 ft
  • Gross Tonnage 0 Kg
  • Gross Tonnage 0 GT
  • Power Engine - hp
  • VAT Status -
  • Classification NO
  • Destination Spain
  • Maximum speed N/A Knots
  • Cruising speed N/A Knots
  • Fuel type -
  • Stabilizers -
  • Located in Spain
  • Interior Design NO
  • Exterior Design NO
  • Accomodation
  • - Double berths: -
  • - Single berths: -
  • - Twin berths: -
  • - Number of cabins: 3
  • - Number of heads: -

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  • About this blog
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minots light sailboat

Historical Digression

Musings on history as viewed by someone with one foot in the past

  • The Tragic Story of Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse

The first Minot Light, built 1850

The first Minot’s Ledge Light, built 1850

On January 31, 1843, Isaiah W.P. Lewis, then 35 years old, submitted a report to Congress on the condition of lighthouses in New England. A respected civil engineer and former master mariner born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, Lewis had been appointed to this task some eight months earlier. In that time he inspected 70 lighthouses and surveyed many dangerous shoals in need of a beacon.[1]

Lewis’s report was scathing. He criticized the administration of Stephen Pleasonton (1775-1855) who had been Superintendent of the Lighthouse Establishment for the past 23 years. Pleasonton, back during the War of 1812 when he was a clerk with the State Department, had done our nation an enormous service by rescuing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and many other precious documents just before the British burned Washington. But he had done a great disservice by allowing the Lighthouse Establishment to fall into lethargy. The Establishment had failed to maintain facilities and made little effort to build new beacons or take advantage of new technology. Pleasonton was shamed into action. A Boston newspaper noted that Lewis’s, “temerity in exposing the actual condition of things” brought about immediate repairs and widespread replacement of lamps.[2]

One of Lewis’s recommendations addressed the terrible dangers of Minot’s Ledge just off the coast of Cohasset, Massachusetts near Boston Harbor. Ships had been going aground on the many large rocks in that vicinity for centuries–40 vessels between 1832 and 1841 alone. A report submitted in 1847 by Capt. Daniel Lothrop indicated that 40 lives had been lost there between 1817 and 1847.[3] Lewis recommended that a light be placed on the ledge immediately. His recommendation was supported by Capt. William H. Swift of the U.S. Topographical Bureau.

Lewis and Swift consulted together on the design for the first Minot’s Light. The extreme challenge lay in the fact that the light would have to be placed a mile offshore on a ledge that was only exposed for a few hours at low tide. Most of the time, the base of the lighthouse would be submerged and would need to withstand incredible pressure from wind and waves. Swift favored a design involving iron pilings, essentially placing the lighthouse on stilts. This would, in theory, offer less resistance to the tide than a solid, stone tower. The latter, Lewis and Swift concluded, would be too easily toppled.[4]

And so work began in 1847. It was an arduous process drilling the holes for the pilings. The platform set up for drilling was wrecked twice by storms in the summer of 1847 but no one was hurt during construction. With the holes drilled, work moved more quickly. Just three months before completion, in October 1849, the Brig St. John , a famine ship carrying Irish immigrants, ran aground and was broken up on the rocks near Minot’s Ledge. 99 men, women and children drowned. It was the worst shipwreck ever to take place on the Cohasset rocks. For those working on Minot’s Light, the tragedy must have added a new sense of urgency. Might it have been avoided if the light had been finished just a few months earlier?

The light was first lit on January 1, 1850. It was praised as a marvel of construction and was a great reassurance to New England mariners. But the first lightkeeper, Isaac Dunham, did not feel at all confident about the structure. Noting that it swayed severely during storms, he wrote the Lighthouse Establishment in Washington, asking them to shore up the pilings. When no action was taken, he resigned on October 7, 1850.[5]

Henry David Thoreau passed the lighthouse by boat shortly before it was completed and shortly after and recorded his impressions in his book  Cape Cod :

Here was the new iron light-house, then unfinished, in the shape of an egg-shell painted red, and placed high on iron pillars…A man was to live in that egg-shell day and night, a mile from the shore. When I passed it the next summer it was finished and two men lived in it, and a light-house keeper said that they told him that in a recent gale it had rocked so as to shake the plates off the table. Think of making your bed thus in the crest of a breaker! To have the waves, like a pack of hungry wolves, eying you always, night and day, and from time to time making a spring at you, almost sure to have you at last.[6]

The second keeper was Capt. John W. Bennett who brought on two assistant keepers, an Englishman named Joseph Wilson and a Portuguese man named Joseph Antoine. Bennett initially scoffed at his predecessor’s timidity. But it was not long before Bennett himself came to the conclusion that the structure was unsafe and repeatedly wrote to officials requesting that it be strengthened. The keepers frequently had to remove bent iron braces between the pilings and bring them to shore to have them straightened.[7]

A storm on March 16, 1851 caused the lighthouse to rock so severely that the keepers had to take shelter down in the lower store room for days, surviving on bread and raw meat.[8] The storm did serious damage to the lighthouse equipment and food stores, smashed the lighthouse’s dory, and further weakened the iron braces. At this point, newspapers picked up on the story, pointing out the clear danger and, in one case suggesting to authorities that, “…explanation is necessary to account for the violent motion of the structure during the gale.”[9]

On April 11, Capt. Bennett departed the lighthouse to visit the Customs House in Boston to arrange for the purchase of a new dory. He left the light in the charge of his two assistant keepers. The next day, he returned to Cohasset intending to get back to Minot’s Light. But an easterly gale had developed and the sea was extremely heavy. Venturing by boat out to the lighthouse was impossible.

Capt. Bennett could only watch and wait over the next few days as the storm intensified to hurricane force. The storm reached its peak on April 16, 1851 and caused tremendous damage up and down the New England coast. Much of Boston was submerged. The  Boston Evening Transcript  reported that it was likely the highest tide in Boston’s history and, “Great apprehensions are felt in regard to the lighthouse at Minot’s Ledge. The weather is still too misty to determine if it is standing.”[10]

The Destruction of Minot's Ledge Light, from

The Destruction of Minot’s Ledge Light, from “Gleason’s Pictorial”

Inside the battered lighthouse, keepers Wilson and Antoine kept the light burning and the bells sounding into the night of April 16. Residents on the shore of Cohasset recalled seeing the light as late as 10 p.m. It is believed that, around 11 p.m., the central support piling snapped and the lighthouse began to list, held up only by a few of the smaller outer pilings. Somewhat before 1 a.m. on April 17, 1851, these gave way. Residents claimed to have heard the lighthouse bell ringing violently about this time, perhaps an attempt by the keepers to communicate their terrible distress. No one could see the lighthouse as it toppled in the waves. Joseph Antoine’s body washed up on Nantasket Beach that morning. Joseph Wilson’s body was found on tiny Gull Island, just about 300 yards from the mainland of Cohasset. It is believed he managed to swim to the island but died of exposure.

After the tragedy, newspapers recorded much indignation. “It has been a matter of wonder to us,” a Brooklyn paper read, “that measures were not taken by the government to strengthen it, or if that were impracticable, to abandon it altogether and not continue to imperil the lives of brave men…”[11]

Capt. William Swift, who had been the primary designer of the structure, visited the site on April 22, inspected it thoroughly and made sketches of the broken pilings. Defending his design, he argued that much damage had been done by a hawser which keeper Bennett had apparently fastened to the lantern deck. The keepers used it for running boxes or a landing chair up and down–something like what we might call a zip-line now. The lower end was tied to a huge granite block resting underwater. With the surf pushing this block, it would actually have the effect of pulling on the lighthouse near its highest point–almost as though designed to pull it down.[12] While this may have contributed, clearly the structure failed in a great many ways.

The second Minot's Ledge Light c. 1890. Library of Congress photo.

The second Minot’s Ledge Light c. 1890. Library of Congress photo.

The lighthouse on Minot’s Ledge was rebuilt, this time as a granite tower standing 114 feet tall. It was first lit on November 15, 1860 and still stands today.

As is the case with many dramatic stories of this sort, ghost stories almost inevitably crop up around them. In fact, the first time I heard of the destruction of the Minot’s Ledge Light, it was related to me in the context of a ghost story many years ago. Keepers of the new light, so the stories go, believed it was haunted by Wilson and Antoine. There were mysterious groans, pounding, even signs of the lenses having been recently polished when the earthly keepers went to do so. Allegedly, a crew of Portuguese fishermen passing the lighthouse saw a man on the outer ladder calling to them, telling them in Portuguese to stay away. And there are tales of Gull Island being haunted by Wilson.

I have an interest in tracking down the origins of New England folklore (as returning readers will know) and I can say with some confidence that the first published source telling of ghosts at Minot’s Light was Edward Rowe Snow’s 1940,  The Story of Minot’s Light . This does not come as a surprise. I’ve traced more than a few persistent New England legends back to Snow–his story of “The Lady in Black” at Boston’s Fort Warren being perhaps the most notorious for fabricated (yet widely accepted) history. This sort of thing is troubling to say the least. And yet, a good deal of valid and valuable New England oral history would likely be lost to oblivion if not for Snow’s works. In short, I have mixed feelings about Mr. Snow.

[1] Arnold B. Johnson, “Lighthouse Establishment,”  Appleton’s Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1880 , (1887), p. 433 [2] Ibid. [3] U.S. Coast Guard, “ Historic Light Station Information & Photography: Massachusetts ” and Edward Rowe Snow,  Storms and Shipwrecks of New England , (1943), Applewood Books 2005 ed., p. 96 [4] Ray Jones, “Lighthouses through History,”  The Lighthouse Encyclopedia: The Definitive Reference , (2013), p. 29 [5] U.S. Coast Guard, “Historic Light Station Information” [6] Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod , (1865), Houghton Mifflin 1893 ed., p. 318 [7] U.S. Coast Guard, “Historic Light Station Information” [8]  The Brooklyn Daily Eagle , April 16, 1851 [9] Ibid. [10] Snow, p. 98 [11]  The Brooklyn Daily Eagle , April 18, 1851 [12] George W. Cullum, “William H. Swift,”  Register of Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy , (1891), vol. 1, p. 241

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5 responses to “ The Tragic Story of Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse ”

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Patrick: Thank you for this and all your other most enjoyable and interesting Historical Digression articles. I am the editor of the Dunham-Singletary Family Connections quarterly newsletter. You very kindly gave us permission to use one of your earlier articles which related to a Dunham in our newsletter. I would like your permission to use the article The Tragic Story of Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse in our 15 January, 2016 issue.

The Isaac Dunham who was the keeper of the Minot Ledge Lighthouse, mentioned in your article, was Isaac-7 Dunham (Cornelius-6, Cornelius-5, Israel-4, Eleazer-3, Joseph-2, John-1 Dunham). This Isaac was born 4 Sept. 1789 in Plymouth; d. 25 March 1856 in North Bridgewater, MA. The 1850 census shows him together with his 24 year old son (also named Isaac) at the Minot Rock Lighthouse. This Isaac Dunham had been the keeper of the light at Pemaquid Point, Lincoln Co. Maine prior to moving back to Massachusetts.

I would like to write an article about the above Dunham family for the 15 January, 2016 newsletter.

Gratia Dunham Mahony

101 Cheval Blvd. SE

Brownsboro, AL 35741

[email protected]

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Hi Gratia, Thanks for the information. I’d be happy to have you reprint the article. I’ll e-mail you shortly with a little more information. Patrick

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I have a much loved oil painting of Minot’s Light and would love to know the name of the artist. Initials on lower right corner are EWK or EHK. The E and K are clear. Thank you for any information you may have. It has been in my family for at least 40 years.

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Your article is so well put together, may I share it with others?

Certainly. Glad you enjoyed it.

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Minots Ledge Light: The Most Dangerous and Romantic Lighthouse in America

Minots Ledge Light, the most romantic lighthouse in America, is also the site of the most tragic event in the history of the American lighthouse.

The original Minots Ledge Light

The original Minots Ledge Light

Minots Ledge Light rises dramatically from a tiny outcropping of ledge one mile off the coast of Cohasset and Scituate , Mass. Its beacon flashes in a 1-4-3 cycle, the same number of letters in ‘I love you.’ Hence the nickname ‘Lover’s Light.’

Author Edward Rowe Snow called it “the most dangerous beacon in America.” On April 17, 1851, a hurricane swept the original Minots Ledge Light to sea.

It had been built over two years and lighted for the first time on Jan. 1, 1850. The need for a lighthouse on the ledge was clear. Many ships wrecked on the rocks and the reefs nearby. The first of many shipwrecks was recorded in 1695; by the 1750s, 80 ships and 400 lives were lost in the surrounding waters. After Boston merchant George Minot lost a ship on the rocks in 1754, people called it Minots Ledge.

In 1843, lighthouse inspector I. W. P. Lewis reported there was a great need for a lighthouse on Minots Ledge, as more than 40 vessels were wrecked on the ledge in the past 10 years. He wrote the area was “annually the scene of the most heart-rending disasters.”

minots light sailboat

Minots Ledge Light

Capt. William H. Swift, of the  United States Topographical Bureau , agreed. The question was whether a granite cylinder anchored to such a tiny speck of ledge could withstand the wind and the waves.

Swift proposed a radical new approach: cement nine iron pilings into the rock and build the lantern and the keeper’s house on top of them. He reasoned the waves would break harmlessly through the uprights.

It took two years to build the lighthouse, as people could only work on it in calm weather.

Henry David Thoreau passed by it in 1849, describing it thus:

Here was the new iron light-house, then unfinished, in the shape of an egg-shell painted red, and placed high on iron pillars, like the ovum of a sea monster floating on the waves…When I passed it the next summer it was finished and two men lived in it, and a lighthouse keeper said that in a recent gale it had rocked so as to shake the plates off the table. Think of making your bed thus in the crest of a breaker!

The first keeper’s pet cat jumped to its death, so panicked by the dramatic swaying of the tower during a storm. The keeper, Isaac Dunham, wrote that a storm in March “makes the light reel like a Drunken man.” He asked the government to strengthen the tower, but the government ignored him. Dunham quit on Oct. 7, 1851.

John Bennett took Dunham’s place, confident in the safety of the tower. Then he changed his mind. On April 16, a fierce nor’easter pounded the tower. During a lull at the beginning of the storm, Bennett had rowed across to the mainland. His two assistant keepers, Joseph Wilson and Joseph Antoine, remained. Though terrified by the reeling lighthouse, they heroically kept the lantern lit and the bell ringing.

 Message in a Bottle

Sometime around midnight the surging waves snapped off the central support to the tower. At 1 a.m., the residents on shore heard the furious sound of the keepers pounding the lighthouse bell. The lighthouse probably toppled into the sea about then.

Two days later a Gloucester fisherman found a message from the keepers in a bottle: “The beacon cannot last any longer. She is shaking a good three feet each way as I write. God bless you all.”

Joseph Antoine’s body washed ashore at Nantasket . Joseph Wilson died of exhaustion and exposure on Gull Rock.

For the next nine years, a lightship was stationed near Minots Ledge. In 1855, workers started building a new stone tower under the watchful eye of a lifeguard. It took five years to finish because another storm swept it away, unfinished. Keepers finally lit the light on Aug. 2, 1860.

Minots Ledge Light now belongs on the National Register of Historic Places . Memorial plaques honoring Joseph Wilson and Joseph Antoine were lowered to the ocean floor in 2007. Some fishermen claim they can hear their ghosts crying for help.

This story updated in 2022. 

Images: Minots Ledge by Bill Llott via Flickr , CC by ND 2.0 .

Frederick Douglass: ‘I glory in the battle, as well as in the victory’

Flashback photo: j.p. morgan canes a photographer.

minots light sailboat

Thank-you that was a great interesting story and one day l will have to go there!!!

minots light sailboat

Excellent story behind the lighthouse! Thanks!

minots light sailboat

My mother Elaine Richardson Leahy ‘s great grandparents came into Boston from Ireland on the ship Plymouth Rock, the same night the tower tragically came down.

[…] Lighthouses had not yet become an artistic cliché. It was Hopper who made of the lighthouse a representative and enduring American image, observed Carl Little in Edward Hopper's New England. […]

minots light sailboat

I really like all the info behind the story! I never knew a lot of this.

[…] Netflix, boredom posed a serious problem for lighthouse keepers. In the 1890s someone visited Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse, which sits on a rock off the coast of Scituate and Cohasset in Massachusetts. The keeper told the […]

[…] Lighthouses had not yet become an artistic cliché. It was Hopper who made the lighthouse a representative and enduring American image, observed Carl Little in Edward Hopper’s New England. […]

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Home » Things to Do » Outdoors & Adventure » Lighthouses » Minot’s Ledge Light

Minot’s Ledge Light

Minot's Ledge Light

Minot’s Ledge Light, officially Minots Ledge Light, is a lighthouse on Minots Ledge, one mile offshore of the towns of Cohasset and Scituate, Massachusetts, to the southeast of Boston Harbor. It is a part of the Town of Scituate, in Plymouth County.

Accessibility: The lighthouse is not open to the public. It can be seen distantly from points along the shore of Cohasset and Scituate, but it is best seen by boat. The facility: Active Coast Guard aid to navigation. Lighthouse built 1860. Light flashes white; fog signal is one blast every 10 seconds.

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Cohasset Rocks outside Boston Harbor

MINOTS LIGHT

Year Build:

1951

Hailing Port:

LOS ANGELES, CA

Official Number:

262653

Call Sign:

WD9085

Hull Length:

50.6 feet ( 15.4 meters )

Hull Breadth:

14.2 feet ( 4.3 meters )

Hull Depth:

7.4 feet ( 2.3 meters )

Gross Tonnage:

26

Net Tonnage:

24

builder:

ABEKING & RASMUSSEN BLDER

Hull Material:

Steel

Year Build:

1951

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Minot's Ledge Lighthouse

Minots Ledge lighthouse

Cohasset, Massachusetts Built in 1850

On a treacherous ledge just outside the entrance of Boston Harbor. Can only be viewed by boat.

Latitude: 42° 16' 12" N Longitude: 70° 45' 30" W

Historic Stories:

Minot's Ledge is a narrow ledge that is covered over in high tides. In 1847 a survey showed that at least 40 lives were lost at the site from dozens of shipwrecks on the ledge.

Minot's Ledge is known as the "I love you" light, named for its 1-4-3 flashing pattern.


The original lighthouse took three years to build from 1847-1850, and was built as a lantern perched on a skeletal iron tower so as not to be blown over by the strong winds, so the engineers believed. It was lit on January 1, 1850.

When the new lighthouse was built, the first Keeper Isaac Dunham complained of the unsafe conditions of the wave-swept ledge and the constant shaking and swaying of the tower. Even his cat went crazy and jumped off the tower to its death. He quit after only nine months on duty.

Destruction of the Lighthouse

Dunham's replacement, Keeper John Bennett also complained, and in April 16, 1851, the tower was destroyed by huge tidal surges and giant waves caused by hurricane force winds from one of New England's most powerful nor’easter storms, killing the two assistant keepers, Joseph Wilson and Joseph Antoine, who were left on duty. Wilson's body was found washed ashore near nearby Gull island, and Antoine's body was washed ashore onto Nantasket Beach.

A light ship was brought in temporarily and new construction began in 1855 of a stone tower made of granite, hailed as the greatest achievement in lighthouse engineering. Construction took time as many construction workers were swept off the rocks by the pounding waves, even at low tide.  For safety reasons, only workers who could swim were allowed on the project.

Two years later during the construction, the ship the New Empire crashed on the rocks and destroyed most of the lighthouse. The lighthouse was finally completed three years later in 1860, as one of the most expensive lighthouses to be built in the nation’s history.

It is still considered to be one of the top engineering feats of the old United States Lighthouse Service.

Note: The bell from the original Minot's Ledge Lighthouse that was destroyed in New England's most devastating storm now rings from the tower of the Bryant Pond Baptist Church in Bryant Pond, Maine.

Note: For more explicit details into the desctruction of Minot's Ledge lighthouse, select the link "Lighthouse Storm" at the top of the page above. For details into the hauntings of Minot's Ledge light, select the link "Ghost Keepers" at the top of the page, to be directed to my Lighthouse Stories section.

Places to Visit:

Once in a while Friends Of Boston Harbor Islands may pass by the lighthouse during their harbor tours, although rarely done these days, call ahead of time. Sometimes you'll find mariners hanging out in Cohasset Harbor by their boats and you can have them charter you out to visit the lighthouse.

Cohasset is a friendly coastal town with three historical museums, two beaches, and the Whitney and Thayer Woods Reservation for hiking and recreation. Visitors will enjoy great scenic views of opulent homes and unique architecture, and lots of ocean views when driving along the coastal shore road.

Check out the South Shore Music Service where many visitors come to enjoy great concerts of all kinds of genres of music.

Nearby in Hull,  The Hull Lifesaving Museum , provides maritime exhibits, educational workshops and tours, and open water rowing competitions for young adults. For those who want to step into the footsteps of lighthouse history, the museum is housed in the former Point Allerton US Lifesaving Station, opened in 1889, where, under the leadership of Captain Joshua James appointed there at age 63, with his lifesaving crews supported by the Massachusetts Humane Society, saved many lives during his 13 years there. Captain James has been credited with being involved in helping save over 500 lives since he was a teenager.

You can also visit the Paragon Carousel , one of the oldest carousels in existence.

Next door, in Hingham, relax at the Wompatuck State Park.

This book, published by Schiffer Publishing, provides special human interest stories from each of the 92 lighthouses in southern New England, along with plenty of indoor and outdoor coastal attractions and tours you can explore, with contact info to plan your vacation.

In the book you'll find local stories from all lighthouses in the Boston area region, including more details about Minot's Ledge light. Yes, it's considered haunted too.

This image-rich book contains over 50 stories of famous shipwrecks and rescues around New England lighthouses, and also tales of hauntings.

You'll find more details and imagery in the story of the "Lighthouse Storm" named after the destruction of Minot's Ledge Light, and the hauntings of the two men who perished in the lighthouse tower, in one of New England's worst storms.

You'll find this book and my lighthouse tourism books from the publisher Schiffer Books .

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Wrecked off Minot’s Light

Our lighthouse journey took a bit of a beating as heavy seas pounded our trusty Miss Cuddy II , parted her newly installed Hazelett Marine mooring at Graves Light and cast her ten miles to smash her on Strawberry Ledge at Situate.

Minot’s Ledge Light is seen in the distance as the guys from Sea Tow Boston and South Shore recover Miss Cuddy II , upright her, and float her away.

The North Atlantic’s merciless thrashing on the granite reminds us of the dangers of the sea. Yet Miss Cuddy II’s hull was left intact – testimony to the shipwrights at Safe Boat who built her for the US Coast Guard.

Fortunately the crew was safe at Graves Light the whole time. Many thanks (again) to Capt. Jim of Boston Scuba who came out to get us two days later when the seas were calm enough. The treacherous rocks and waters of Graves Ledge are no stranger to Capt. Jim, who rescued Miss Cuddy II a year ago.

Miss Cuddy I , the unsung hero of Graves Light , was wrecked in 2018. We turned her into a barge to help build the catwalk and upgrade the oil house, and her hull was scrapped the next year .

As for Miss Cuddy II – she was floated back to shore and got a ride on a trailer. Meanwhile, we brought a group to dive around Strawberry Ledge and pick up the wreckage. Many thanks to state and local authorities for their help.

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From the Keeper’s Blog

  • On the second day of Land Court trial to annex Graves Light, Hull lawyer Lampke requests a recess June 24, 2022
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Welcome to Graves Light

Graves Light is a historic landmark. At the outermost entrance to Boston Harbor and the tallest lighthouse in the Boston area, Graves Light is privately owned but continues to serve as a navigation aid run by the US Coast Guard.

The new owners welcome the adventurous public to enjoy the sights of Graves Light, but warn that there are no electrical, water, sanitary, first aid, or other facilities of any kind available to the public at the lighthouse or on Graves Ledge.

Graves Ledge is dangerous. Submerged rocks present a navigation hazard. We insist that visitors enjoy the ledge and lighthouse from the safety of their boat or kayak.

Meanwhile, follow us through this website, Facebook, and on Twitter @GravesLight.

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Minot Light and Cohasset Harbor

The trip from Boston Harbor to Cohasset Cove should take less than an hour in calm sea conditions. This is a small but beautiful harbor inlet between North Scituate and the South side of the town of Cohasset. To the South is Bassings Beach and the Scituate Glades, and the entrance to the North is marked by Minot light. This is a treacherous passage. There are multiple ledges and rocks, the outermost of which is Minot ledge, upon which the lighthouse sits, approximately one mile from shore. This area has been the scene of many deadly shipwrecks, including the wreck of the St. John , a ship bringing immigrants from Galway Ireland in 1849.

Here is a chart of the area, with the lighthouse in the upper right corner:

(Note chart clip is provided by NOAA and should not be relied on exclusively for navigation. See NOAA disclaimer here ).

A view of the Barrel Rock, one of the many dangerous obstructions in the western channel approach. Fortunately this rock is well marked, unlike the nearby Grampus Ledge:

Minot light has quite an interesting history. I have heard that before the light was built, the great ledge beneath was a subject of legend among Native Americans. The original structure was built in 1847 in response to the many disastrous wrecks which had occurred on the nearby ledges, and in April of 1851, the light collapsed in a strong storm. The light has been known to have been hit by and withstood large very large waves -over 80 feet- during Nor’easter storms. Below is a picture I took during a Nor’easter storm last fall…I wouldn’t want to be out there during that! For more details about Minot light and its history, see here.

I would recommend making the trip to Cohasset Cove from Boston. If you decide to do it I would keep in mind that Cohasset Marina does offer transient slips, but does not have a fuel dock. The entrance around Minot is treacherous, and the entrance to the cove itself is tight, with a sandbar at Bassings Beach emerging at mid-tide. Once in the channel, you will find that it is well marked, but very narrow and tight given the large amount of boat traffic that you will see on a summer weekend afternoon. Finally, recall that on the way south from Hull, you have to beware of Harding Ledge , which lies right between the southern entrance of Boston Harbor and Cohasset.

Entering Cohasset Harbor through the very tight channel: 

A panoramic view of a summer weekend day at Bassings Beach:

A GPS Chart view of Bassings Beach , which appears and dissappears with the tide. Note my position, which was enough at low tide for the boat to still have 2″ of draft.

Cohasset Inner Harbor:

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Norma of Minots Light

Norma of Minots Light

Norma of Minots Light. Aage Nielsen design, built at Walsted in 1971, just arrived at Walsted for winter storage and repair. A nice reunion with the boat and the new owner.

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Minots Light

minots light sailboat

User Profile

Nationality:, make / model:.

Discovery 54

LOA (feet):

Previous diary entries, this is a test.

minots light sailboat

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  • Data Updated on 11/9/2017

MINOTS LIGHT Vessel Information


Download all available information for MINOTS LIGHT to a formatted spreadsheet or other file type
(Managing owner of the vessel) (available with or
)
(Address the US Coast Guard has on file for this vessel) (available with or
)
(A unique 12 digit alpha-numeric identification number that all boats manufactured after 1972 are equipped with on their transom (the flat rear end of the boat) and reflects the manufacturer, serial number, and month and year of build) n/r
(Displayed on the vessel's stern and may be used to best determine the vessel's geographical area of operation) (available with or
)
(This is a unique number that is assigned by Lloyd's Registry for the life of the vessel. Most vessels with this number are self propelled, over 100 gross tons, and operate on ocean and/or coastwise waters.) n/r
(Unique code designated for the vessel's radio transmissions) (available with or
)
(Unique ID awarded by the U.S. Coast Guard to a documented vessel and is permanently marked on some structural part of the hull interior but not to be confused with the manufacturer's hull identification number.) 262653
 (United States)
(General use of the vessel) Recreational
50.6000 ft
26
24
1951
ABEKING & RASMUSSEN BLDER
(e.g. Monohull, Trimaran, Catamaran, Unknown) UNSPECIFIED
UNSPECIFIED

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  • MINOTS LIGHT II

Sailing vessel, MMSI 503069090

  • VesselFinder
  • Miscellaneous

The current position of MINOTS LIGHT II is at East Australia reported 171 days ago by AIS. The vessel MINOTS LIGHT II (MMSI 503069090) is a Sailing vessel and currently sailing under the flag of Australia .

No photo

Position & Voyage Data

Predicted ETA-
Distance / Time-
Course / Speed 
Current draught-
Navigation Status -
Position received
MMSI503069090
CallsignVNZ2626
FlagAustralia
Length / Beam14 / 4 m

Map position & Weather

Recent port calls.

MINOTS LIGHT II current position and history of port calls are received by AIS. Technical specifications, tonnages and management details are derived from VesselFinder database. The data is for informational purposes only and VesselFinder is not responsible for the accuracy and reliability of MINOTS LIGHT II data.

IMAGES

  1. Minot’s Light, John Alden 58’ Steel Ketch, 1950

    minots light sailboat

  2. Discovery 54, MINOTS LIGHT

    minots light sailboat

  3. MINOTS LIGHT 2018 55' 3" DISCOVERY Cruising Sailboat

    minots light sailboat

  4. MINOTS LIGHT II

    minots light sailboat

  5. MINOTS LIGHT 2018 55' 3" DISCOVERY Cruising Sailboat

    minots light sailboat

  6. MINOTS LIGHT 2018 55' 3" DISCOVERY Cruising Sailboat

    minots light sailboat

VIDEO

  1. First Sail on the Southern Cross

  2. Tuesday Night Race

  3. Wave crashing over Minots Ledge Light

  4. Яхта "Минуэт 15" своими руками. Парусный слёт 2023 в "ВМК №1"

  5. S. L. Weiss: Two Minuets

  6. Minots Ledge Lighthouse in winter (no sound)

COMMENTS

  1. John G. Alden MINOT'S LIGHT

    Minot's Light is a prominent lighthouse on the coast south of Boston, between Cohassett and Scituate. Its chief characteristic is Gp Fl 1+4+3 and several generations learned to remember it as the 'I Love You' light, for its (1 4 and 3 letters). ... I crewed on this boat with Arthur, wife, 2 children and two other crew. It was 1958 and for ...

  2. Anyone remember Minot's Light?

    Clarence A. Warden, Jr. of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, had commissioned his original MINOTS LIGHT from the John G. Alden Company. That yacht was a 58' steel-hulled auxiliary ketch built at Abeking & Rasmussen in Germany in 1951. When Warden was ready to think about a new design in 1957, he sought out Nielen. (pg. 144)

  3. Alden Designs

    "Minots Light" Click on any thumbnail below to view larger image Design 0879: Ketch, Full Keel Design Category: "Offshore" ... Sail Area: ft^2/m^2. 1518: 141.1 The design may not be modified or reproduced without our written permission. ...

  4. Sailing into the Eighties « Blog

    Minots Light wasn't happy with our style of coastwise cruising. " Minots Light wants to cross the Atlantic," said Arthur and so we did. The children didn't come with us. Their friends at school told them their parents were going to die; transatlantic crossings in a sailboat were not at all common in 1963.

  5. MINOTS LIGHT 2018 55′ 3″ DISCOVERY Cruising Sailboat

    The 2018 55′ 3″ DISCOVERY Discovery 54 Cruising Sailboat MINOTS LIGHT is a sail boat for sale located in Spain . Discovery 54, MINOTS LIGHT is built for extensive bluewater cruising and allows an owner to sail single-handed with ease. Quality is ever present in every inch of a Discovery - with the inherent strength […]

  6. The Long Blue Line: Minots—loss of the deadly "Lover's Light" 170 years

    As a result, Minots Ledge became known as the "Lover's Light." In 1947, the service automated the lighthouse and, today, its 45,000 candlepower light is visible for 15 miles. In June 2007, an expedition supported by personnel and assets from over a dozen local, municipal, state and federal agencies returned to the site of the 1851 ...

  7. The Tragic Story of Minot's Ledge Lighthouse

    The storm reached its peak on April 16, 1851 and caused tremendous damage up and down the New England coast. Much of Boston was submerged. The Boston Evening Transcript reported that it was likely the highest tide in Boston's history and, "Great apprehensions are felt in regard to the lighthouse at Minot's Ledge.

  8. Minot's Ledge Light

    Minot's Ledge Light. /  42.26971°N 70.75914°W  / 42.26971; -70.75914. Minot's Ledge Light, officially Minots Ledge Light, is a lighthouse on Minots Ledge, one mile offshore of the towns of Cohasset and Scituate, Massachusetts, to the southeast of Boston Harbor .The current lighthouse is the second on the site, the first having been ...

  9. Alden Designs

    John G. Alden Naval Architects designed the world famous custom and production Alden boats and yachts. Hart Nautical Collection, MIT Museum offers stock plans of all the Alden true classic boats.

  10. The Long Blue Line: Minots Ledge Lighthouse

    Feb. 14, 2022 — A rigid-hull inflatable small boat from the Coast Guard buoy tender Abbie Burgess speeds out to the site of the survey project. (Courtesy of Mr. Brian R. McMahon) On April 17, 1851, the newly constructed lighthouse at Minots Ledge collapsed into the sea surrounding the ledge killing both its lighthouse keepers.

  11. Minots Ledge Light: The Most Dangerous and Romantic Lighthouse in

    Minots Ledge Light rises dramatically from a tiny outcropping of ledge one mile off the coast of Cohasset and Scituate, Mass.Its beacon flashes in a 1-4-3 cycle, the same number of letters in 'I love you.' Hence the nickname 'Lover's Light.' Author Edward Rowe Snow called it "the most dangerous beacon in America." On April 17, 1851, a hurricane swept the original Minots Ledge ...

  12. Minot's Ledge Light

    Minot's Ledge Light, officially Minots Ledge Light, is a lighthouse on Minots Ledge, one mile offshore of the towns of Cohasset and Scituate, Massachusetts, to the southeast of Boston Harbor. ... but it is best seen by boat. The facility: Active Coast Guard aid to navigation. Lighthouse built 1860. Light flashes white; fog signal is one blast ...

  13. MINOTS LIGHT 1987

    MINOTS LIGHT FRP (Fiberglass) boat built by LORD NELSON YACHTS in 1987, hailing port FERNDALE, owner DON LUDWIGSEN 3629 GRANDVIEW RD PO Box 1997, Ferndale, WA 98248 UNITED STATES. Identification information: Official Number 915647, Hull Number OEY370530187.

  14. MINOTS LIGHT 1951

    MINOTS LIGHT Steel boat built by ABEKING & RASMUSSEN BLDER in 1951, hailing port LOS ANGELES, owner WINGS FOUNDATION PO BOX 1018, AGOURA, CA 91301. Identification information: Official Number 262653, Call Sign WD9085.

  15. Historic and Mysterious Minot's Ledge Lighthouse in Massachusetts

    Minot's Ledge Light. Courtesy US Coast Guard. The original lighthouse took three years to build from 1847-1850, and was built as a lantern perched on a skeletal iron tower so as not to be blown over by the strong winds, so the engineers believed. It was lit on January 1, 1850. When the new lighthouse was built, the first Keeper Isaac Dunham ...

  16. Wrecked off Minot's Light

    Yet Miss Cuddy II's hull was left intact - testimony to the shipwrights at Safe Boat who built her for the US Coast Guard. Fortunately the crew was safe at Graves Light the whole time. ... Wrecked off Minot's Light April 7, 2021 'The Last Lightkeepers' - Beautiful new is documentary now available on Amazon January 7, 2021;

  17. Minot Light and Cohasset Harbor

    Minot light has quite an interesting history. I have heard that before the light was built, the great ledge beneath was a subject of legend among Native Americans. The original structure was built in 1847 in response to the many disastrous wrecks which had occurred on the nearby ledges, and in April of 1851, the light collapsed in a strong ...

  18. Norma of Minots Light › Walsteds Bådeværft A/S

    A nice reunion with the boat and the new owner. 21.10.2016 Bettina Walsted. ... Norma of Minots Light. Aage Nielsen design, built at Walsted in 1971, just arrived at Walsted for winter storage and repair. A nice reunion with the boat and the new owner. 21.10.2016 Bettina Walsted.

  19. History of Minots Ledge Light, Scituate, Massachusetts

    This gale would be immortalized as the Minot's Light Storm. Bennett had gone to Boston to see about procuring a new boat (to replace one that was lost in a storm on April 9) on Monday, April 14, and was unable to return to the lighthouse on Tuesday because of heavy seas. The two young assistant keepers, Joseph Wilson and Joseph Antoine, a 25 ...

  20. MINOTS LIGHT Boat Information

    MINOTS LIGHT vessel information - Ocean Eagle Yacht Building Corp - 1987 Year Built - 915647 - boat owner, contact info, hull identification number, boat builder, hailing port, length, ...

  21. Minots Light

    Minots Light Discovery 54. Latest Post: 2022-03-14 User Profile. Profile Nationality: USA. Make / Model: Discovery 54. LOA (feet): 54. Previous Diary Entries. 2022 Mar 2022 This is a Test. Mon 14 Mar 05:05 About teleport-blog Home Pages; Fleets; Features; Services; Connect with us ...

  22. MINOTS LIGHT Boat Information

    MINOTS LIGHT vessel information - Abeking & Rasmussen Blder - 1951 Year Built - 262653 - boat owner, contact info, hull identification number, boat builder, hailing port, length, ...

  23. MINOTS LIGHT II, Sailing vessel

    The current position of MINOTS LIGHT II is at East Australia reported 99 days ago by AIS. The vessel MINOTS LIGHT II (MMSI 503069090) is a Sailing vessel and currently sailing under the flag of Australia . Plans & Prices. Track on Map Add Photo. Add to fleet.