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  The classic lighthouseleft: D1630 Spain Nort Coast Punta del Castillo. Avilés Character: Oc WR 5s (Occulting light in which an eclipse is regularly repeated White/Red) Elevation: 38m Range: White 20 Miles Red 17 Miles He is the typical, best known representative of a beacon. Build for decades and centuries these kind of lights brave the elements of wind and weather on the coastlines of the world. Their light is the first thing you see when you approach the coast from the ocean, when they are in sight, your destination is near. The range of a lighthouse is typically the largest of all lights, enabled by its huge lenses. Usually lighthouses are located on capes, shoals or islands, which must be visible from a long distance. Therefore they are the tallest constructions amongst beacons. And finally, and there is no question about that, they are the best looking beacons of all and raise aspirations of loneliness and the sea. Some of them are still inhabited by lighthouse keepers which live in or at the lighthouse. |
 
The harbour entrance lightleft: D1550.2 Spain North Coast Ría de Santona Puerto de Colindres Dique S Character: Fl G 2,5s (Flashing light Green 2,5 seconds period) Elevation: 7m Range: 3 Miles Amongst the beacons they are the classic. Nearly each harbour is marked by entrance lights, where the starboard side (right hand side) is green and on the portside (left hand side) a red light is shown. Harbour entrance lights come in a variety of appearances. It can be a big lighthouse or a small metal post, nothing is impossible. Usually the coating fits to the colour of the light (red or green). The height of the beacon mostly depends on the extent of the harbour. Yacht Club Berths are usually satisfied with small ones, overseas harbours have to have relatively big harbour entrance lights. The location of the beacons are not limited to the breakwaters at the entrance. They can be found on the inner moles too. Even here the appearance can be as extraordinary as in the harbour of Tuborg, where the beacons have the shape of beer bottles. |
 
The cardinal lightleft: D1454.3 Spain North Coast Fuenterrabía Puerto de Refugio N Breakwater Corner Character: Q (3) W 5s (Quick light with a group of 3 flashes White 5s period) Elevation: 13m Range: 3 Miles Cardinal marks are navigational aids which mark a danger spot with the help of its light character, its coating and the topmark. In general there are four different cardinal points which are marked different. The light in the north (the danger spot is situated south of the beacon) is coloured black over yellow, wears a topmark with two black cones with their top up and as light character they show a steady quick flash. The east cardinal light is black with a yellow band, the bases of the black cones are situated together and the character is a quick light with a group of three flashes. South of the danger spot the coating is yellow over black, two black cones with their tops down and the light shows quick flashes in a group of six plus one long flash. The west cardinal light is yellow coated with a black band the cone ends facing together and the light character is 9 quick flashes. |
 
The mole lightleft: E3974 Ionian Sea Greece Korinthiakós Kólpos Loutráki Character: F R (Fixed light Red) Elevation: 6m Range: 1 Mile Wait a minute, it's about beacons, right? And not about streetlights. But this IS a streetlight, isn't it? Yes, that's right, it is a streetlight and at the same time it is a beacon. The lantern has been painted red to stand out of the rest of the street light and to show its superior position as a beacon. Of course not every light on a mole is that simple. Most of them are especially placed on the end of a mole, equipped with a distinctive light character and a special appearance. Fixed light characters are difficult to distinguish in large harbour areas with their illuminated working sites. Therefore flashing and long flashing characters are used. But also a streetlight can be established to a beacon, as you can see. But then fixed lights are used. |
 
The leading lightsleft: C0106 Kattegat Denmark Limfjord Bredhage SE Leading Light Front Character: Iso R 2s (Isophase Red) Elevation: 13m Range: 6 Miles Leading lights are always assembled by two beacons, the front light and the rear light. The meaning of these lights in line is to show the mariner an ideal line on which he has to navigate. This can be reached by bringing both lights in line, that means the front (lower) light has to be exactly under the rear (upper) light. The Beacons of a leading light mostly wear a topmark, where the front light shows a triangle with the cone end up and the rear light a triangle with the cone end down. When you are navigating directly on a leading line both cone ends of the triangulars are pointing together. Leading lights are established where the navigation outside the marked line is dangerous due to shallow waters etc. Usually you will find lights in line at harbour approaches, in the course of a river or marking a dredged channel. |
 
The direction lightleft: B1873 North Sea Denmark Ringköbing Fjord Ringköbing Havn Character: F WRG (Fixed light White/Red/Green) Elevation: 8m Range: White 8 Miles Red 7 Miles Green 7 Miles A direction light marks, like a leading line, a fairway. The difference is that there is only one light, not two as in a leading line. This is possible because the beacon is a box in which an intense light source is located. On the open side of the box is a three-coloured pane. This pane is red on its left side, white in the middle and green on its right side. When you look up into the light from a distance you can see the white light when you are in a direct line with the beacon (on the fairway). If you are on the left side of the waterway you see a red light, on the right hand side of the fairway the light appears green. The advantage to a moiré effect light is the higher range of the light and it is more precise than a leading line by warning the navigator with the different coloured sector when leaving the leading line. |
 
The pier lightleft: A0265 England South Coast Teignmouth Harbour Fishquay Character: 2 F G (vert) (2 Fixed Lights Green vertical arranged) Elevation: 5m Range: 2 Miles In large harbour areas it is the idea to mark all protruding piers, jetties and wharfs. Usually it is attempted to create differences in lighting to enable recognition of the different jetties. The standard beacon light for small piers is the character of two fixed lights vertically arranged. Thereby piers situated on the right hand side (starboard) seen from the harbour entrance will be marked with green lights, on the portside green lights can be seen. The double light (two insted of one red/green light) is a distinctive mark in harbour areas which are usually fair lighted and only one fixed light can be difficult to distinguish than two vertically arranged. |
 
The beacon on a capeleft: E4494 Aegean Sea Greece Thermaikos Kólpos Ákra Epanomí Character: Fl(3)W 18s (a group of 3 flashes White) Elevation: 11m Range: 6 Miles Beacons as a mass production, that is not widely known. But in a region with difficult and dangerous fairways, a lot of small islands and a cliffy coastline, not on every position which has to be marked a tall lighthouse can be erected. In this areas beacons off-the-shelf are used. As you can see on the picture often the light is put on a metal framework tower on a pedestal (which is used to stow away the gas bottles for the light). These kind of beacons are very common in the mediterranean sea beacuse of the large amount of small isles and capes, which can be lit without large construction works. These days the gas lighting is going to be replaced with solar panels as changing the gas bottles is costly and complex (and maintenance of the beacon can be reduced to a minimum). Also the change from metal towers to glass reinforced plastic objects is implemented as sea water is very agressive to the metal supports. |
 
The cable lightleft: B2052 North Sea Denmark Limfjord Virksund Havn Aggersund Front Character: F R (Fixed Red) Elevation: 7m Range: 2 Miles Cable lights are special leading lights. Front and rear light mark an undewater cable, which is submarine laid along the line of the leading lights. The cable lights indicate an area in which achoring can be dangerous (due to the cable, which isn't sluiced into the sea ground all the time, it also can be laid onto the sea bed) and magnetic variations to the compass might be possible (due to the magnetic field of an high voltage cable). The leading lights usually wear a topmark. The lower light is marked by a circle, the upper light by a circle over an on its cone end standing square. |
 
The moiré effect light (the direction light) left: A0596 England South Coast Southampton Water Prohibited Anchorage Character: Dir Lt (Direction light) Elevation: 9m Range: 2 Miles "Moiré " means the pattern on a picture. As you can see on the photo, the moiré effect light is a non-standard beacon without lenses. It is a square box with a permanent orange light. It appears as if you look on a monitor screen with vertical splines. Direct in front of the light big orange vertical stripes appear. When you move to the left or the right, the vertical stripes are biased due to the splines (as you can see on the picture). Left to the leading line an arrow appears which points to the right (towards the direction line). When you are on the right side, the arrow points to the left. These kind of beacons are used to mark anchoring limits, restricted areas or approaches, when a combination of front and rear lights cannot be used due to lack of space. |
 
The fog signalleft: B1861 North Sea Denmark Hvide Sande Kanal N Mole Character: Horn 15s (Horn repeated every 15s) Elevation: 10m Range: is not applicable, cannot be calculated (Wind, Rain etc) Fog signals are of course not beacons but nevertheless listed in the List of Lights. That is why the complete name of this bible is: Admirality List of Lights and Fog Signals. Usually fog signals are part of a light and are not stand-alone beacons. But it is possible that due to technical reasons the fog signal has to be placed in a good distance from the light or exist as a fog signal without any light. In these cases the signal is awarded with an own number listed in the List of Lights and is listed seperately. The purpose of such a signal should be clear; when a light cannot be sighted due to fog or rainfall which reduces the optical sight a fog signal is sounded. There are different emitters of sound: Diaphones, Horns, Sirens, Expolsions, Gongs, Bells or Whistles can sound and produce the fog signal. |
 
The aero lightleft: J3088 United States Florida San Carlos Bay Fort Myers Page Field Character: Aero AlFl WG 10s (Aero light Alternating light White Red 10s Period) Elevation: 21m Range: 15 Miles Aero lights, as the name suggests, are lights interesting for aviation. You can differentiate aero lights into two categories: there are air obstruction lights and orientation lights. Is an aero light situated near the sea or a river, this light will be upgraded to a beacon interesting also to seafaring. Due to the high range of the aero light even lights situated far away from the coastline might be beacons in terms of a navigational light when visible from the sea. Air obstruction lights are for example lit pylons or radio towers, chimneys or water towers. Orientation lights are beacons on a aiport tower or on another place at the airport, approach lights (at sea) or even lighthouses, which have a glas cupola through which aircraft can see the navigational light. |
 
The bridge passage lightleft: C1154.6 Baltic Sea Denmark Flensburger Förde Egernsundbrücke W side S side of channel Character: Fl R 3s (Flash light Red 3s period) Elevation: 6m Range: 4 Miles Bridges, when crossing channels, fjords or harbour parts, are marked by beacons when a fairway lays below the bridge. There are various characters of these light but positions and the colour of the lights are fixed. The pylons which are situated directly to the left and right of the fairwayare marked with green and red lights (where the rule is again: green light on the starbord side, a red one on the portside). Additionally a white light is shown directly above the navigable water on the highest point of the bridgespan. Bridge passages can also be marked with leading lights to alleviate the approach through the fairway. At bascule bridges, draw bridges or swing bridges an additional light might be visible which gives information on the status of the bridges (open, closed, prohibited). |
 
The lit tide gaugeleft: B1296.6 North Sea Germany Die Weser Wilhelmsplate Tide gauge Character: F Y (Fixed light Yellow) Elevation: 8m Range: 8 Miles In waters with a high tidal range tide gauges are essential for navigation. Tide gauges which are not located at the river banks but in the course or the estuary of a river mostly are marked with lights and its coating is painted yellow. So you can differentiate these beacons from other lights and they stand out of other beacons by there colour-coded coating. In the majority of cases the colour of the light is also yellow to mark the danger spot. Lit tide gauges usually can be found in waters where the water level changes frequently, for example ebb/flood or in estuary of rivers where the river water level changes due to melt water or similar. |
 
The beacon lightleft: J3196.7 United States Florida Tampa Bay Saint Peterburg Harbour Mole A Character: Fl W 4s (Flash light White 4s period) Elevation: 5m Range: 5 Miles The lighting of fairways is, except of leading lights, the main duty of buoys which might have a light. They mark the borders of natural or dredged navigational waters. When the sea bed at the margins of a fairway isn't too deep, beacons instead of buoys can be used. These beacons are usually made of wood or steel with optics on top. Top marks can complete the beacon. The usage of such beacons is an advantage but also has some disadvantages. The benefit is the reliability pf these lights. Light buoys tend to drift and extinguish due to the force of the water. The major handicap of a beacon is when the fairway borders move because of shifting sands and sea beds a big effort has to be practised to shift the position of the lights. |
 
The isolated danger markleft: E0460 Mediterranean Sea Spain Bajo Pereira (La Llosa de Palamós) Character: Fl (2) W 7s (a group of 2 white flash lights 7s period) Elevation: 10m Range: 5 Miles Unlike cardinal lights the isolated danger light can only be located in the water. That is because the main purpose of a isolated danger mark is be located directly on the point of obstruction. You can navigate around this point from all sides. This is why shallows, stones, wrecks or small islands are primary marked with this kind of light, assumed you can circumnavigate the point. Just like the cardinal light the isolated danger light has an accurately defined coating to differentiate it from other marks. The coating is black with red stripes. The topmark always is two black spheres on top of each other and the character is always two white flashes. Often isolated dangers are marked with buoys and not with fixed marks. |
 
The super buoyleft: C1278 Baltic Sea Germany Fehmarnbelt Lanby Character: Oc W 4s (Occulting light in which an eclipse is regularly repeated White) Elevation: 12m Range: 16 Miles This is a light too, even floating lit beacons usually are not listed in the bible, the Admirality List of Lights. Only when a buoy has a particular importance to navigation, like a very large range, an extreme dimension (mostly buoys which are automated data-collecting systems) or a special location (mid-channel marker). This small assortment is great luck for collectors and hunters because should all light buoys be listed in the List of Lights, beacon-spotting like we do it today, by car, would be nearly impossible. Light buoys are, by nature, in the ocean. Furthermore light buoys are frequently relocated to fit the changeing channels and depth contours. So it would be hard to keep the data up-to-date in the List of Lights. |
 
The light-vesselleft: A5966 Ireland East Coast South Rock Lt F Character: Fl(3)R 30s (a group of 3 red flash lights 30s period) Elevation: 12m Range: 20 Miles Light-vessels are ships on a fixed position in the ocean, tied down to the sea bottom by large anchors to stay on the marked position in sea charts. Part of the superstructure is a tower midships on which the optics are situated. The standard colour of these vessels is red with large white letters on the ship's side stating the name of the position to ease identification. Light-vessels usually are put in place to mark important approaches or shoals where the ocean bed is too deep or too loose for fixed beacons. The classic light-float has become rare these days and was replaced by large buoys as opertion of light-vessels with their crews is too cost intensive nowadays. |
 
The drilling rigleft: D8100 Spain North Coast Oil Production Installations Platform Gaviota Character: Mo (U) W 10s (Morse Code Letter U) White 10s Period Elevation: 25m Range: 5 Miles Oil and Gas Production Installation Platforms located in the sea, regardless if drilling rigs or mooring/loading points are marked by a distinctive light character, which enables the seafarer to identify it as a production platform. This morse code is SHORT SHORT LONG. That means, you see two short flashes and a long flash which represents the letter "U" and and gives notice of a production installation. These rigs or mooring points have special restrictions and precaution areas (passage with a good distance, supply by vessels, pipes in the water) and therefore are specially marked. The Admirality List of Lights mostly do not contain all rigs, only the major ones. The smaller ones are often replaced and special exploration rigs exist in the vicinity of the oil and gasfields to search for new sources. |
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