Fort Jefferson, where I live, is on Garden Key. Three miles away is Loggerhead Key, which is home to the area's only vital, functioning lighthouse. Buffeted by winds and hurricanes, Loggerhead Lighthouse is kept up and running by devoted volunteers who come and stay for a month at a time.
See photos of Loggerhead.
One set of volunteers, Robin and Terry, are notorious for the coffee they serve up in cups that hold about a quart of the caffeine- and sugar-loaded concoction. I was lucky enough to sample some of their home brew one day when my Robin was getting his tour of the utilities and I tagged along (as official volunteer).
These utilities consist of several interesting systems that truly take some ingenuity to keep them functioning. Because it's still the Dry Tortugas (no water), there is water collection from a precarious setup that intakes from the ocean and pumps it through a reverse osmosis machine (same as it is here on Garden Key).
Power comes from a generator and a solar array (with its accompanying battery array). The volunteers have to keep everything running.
Reportedly, the island has been free of Tortugas Squirrels since around 2001. However, there is fresh evidence of a recent infiltration (probably from a Coast Guard vessel).
2 comments:
As always, your photos are amazing!! Robin is clearly extremely talented and BRAVE to tackle all these various lash-ups! You may be the first person to actually DOCUMENT these areas in any detail. Keep good notes, it could be a Discovery Channel special!
I think this is perfect material for Mike Rowe with Dirty Jobs! He would have a field day raking those compost toilets the campers use and bagging poop!
I concur -- Robin certainly is extremely talented and brave!
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