Adam writes-
Here’s a quiz for all you locals out there in GMG land.
Can you read the navigation codes for the south lighthouse at Thachers Island off Rockport, the lighthouse at Eastern Point, and the light at the end of the Dogbar at the entrance to outer Gloucester Habor?
Here are the codes, taken from the images below:
1. Thacher’s Island south light: FL R 5s 166ft 17m
2. Eastern Point lighthouse: FL 5s 57ft 20M
3. Dogbar light and horn: Oc R 4s 45ft 6M
First reader to give the correct answers gets to accompany Joey "Baitmaker" Ciaramitaro on his next trip out of town to chop up yet another counterfeit lobster roll maker into tuna chum.
(By the way, you can download NOAA’s printable pdf navatigation chart of Rockport and Gloucester inshore waters for $2.75 at NOAA 13279)
Good Morning Gloucester 
They are all the focal heights and ranges of the lights from the lighthouses!
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Thatchers -Flashing red every 5 seconds,166 feet above sea level, visible 17 n. miles
Eastern Point-Flashing White every 5 seconds, 57 feet above sea level, visible 20 n. miles.
Dogbar -occulting red every 4 seconds, 45 feet above sea level, visible 6 n. miles. Horn in reduced vis.
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1. Fl R 5s 166ft 17m = Flashing Rocky 5 seconds 166 feet Nautical Miles
2. FL 5s 57ft 20M = Flashing 5 seconds 57 feet 20 Nautical Miles
3. Oc R 4s 45ft 6M = Occulting Rocky (Red) 4 seconds 45 feet Nautical
I think it’s pretty close
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1. Thacher’s Island south light: FL R 5s 166ft 17m
The light is 166 feet above mean high tide and can be seen on a clear cool night at a distance of 17 nautical miles. (With warm air the light can appear at a greater distance because of the light floating higher in the thermals.) There is a short red flash with intervals of five seconds between the end of the flash and the beginning of the next flash.
2. Eastern Point lighthouse: FL 5s 57ft 20M
Same verbiage as above but a white flash with dark 5 second interval, 57 feet from MHT and seen from 20 nautical miles.
3. Dogbar light and horn: Oc R 4s 45ft 6M
Same verbiage as above but a white light which turns red for an interval of 4 seconds, 45 feet above MHT and visible at 6 nautical miles.
Or something like that. Kind of winging it; might be wrong on the MHT.
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That was weird; How did I get logged into my twitter account through wordpress? Computers are supposed to act logically but more and more they seemed to be possessed by some evil spirit that is trying to read my mind and doing a poor job of it.
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1. Thacher’s Island south light: FL R 5s 166ft 17m: Flashing red light at 5 sec intervals, height 166 ft at a 17 nm nominal range.
2. Eastern Point lighthouse: FL 5s 57ft 20M: Single flashing at 5 sec intervals, height 57 feet at visibility of 20 nm nominal range.
3. Dogbar light and horn: Oc R 4s 45ft 6M: Occulting red light at 4 second intervals, 45 feet high and can be seen at a nominal range of 6 nm.
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1. Thacher’s Island south light: FL R 5s 166ft 17m
Flashing Red light every 5 seconds, 166 ft high, can be seen for 17 miles
Horn in fog
2. Eastern Point lighthouse: FL 5s 57ft 20M
Flashing White Light every 5 seconds, 57 ft high, can be seen for 20 miles
3. Dogbar light and horn: Oc R 4s 45ft 6M
Occulting(more light than dark) Red Light every 4 seconds, 45 feet high, can be seen for 6 miles
Horn in fog
http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/13281.shtml
http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/13279.shtml
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Thanks, sailorJerry, for the clarity on occulting (Oc).
“Oc”is a NOAA abbreviation that has always confused me.
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just noticed, should be capital M as the chart depicts
Thacher’s Island south light: FL R 5s 166ft 17M
another good reference link:
Click to access Chart_No_1_Full.pdf
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1. Thacher’s Island south light: FL R 5s 166ft 17m
Flashing Red – period = 2 seconds – Height 166 feet – Range 17 miles
2. Eastern Point lighthouse: FL 5s 57ft 20M
Flashing (White) – period = 5 seconds – Height 57 feet – Range 20 miles
3. Dogbar light and horn: Oc R 4s 45ft 6M
Occulting Red – period = 4 seconds – Height 45 feet – range 6 miles
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Wow! All of you guys contact Joey C. as soon as possible.
Word is he’s formed a posse riding now. First they’ll round up those lobster roll counterfeiters working from restaurants between Maine and South Carolina.
Then on to the crux of the problem: that nexus of celery stalk-wielding foodies ruining lobster rolls in San Fran, LA and New York.
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Hi Adam There is 1 savior of a lobsta roll in LA and Orange Countys and they are the only one. Patrick did a report on this 1 about a year ago.
http://www.lobstatruck.com
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So I want to know who won the lobster roll road trip with Joey
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From where I stand on who helps bust heads with Joey, I’d say it’s a toss-up between SailorJerry and Paul Morrison.
— sailorJerry because I finally understand “occulting”
— Paul because he included mean high tide (though the heights might refer to height over sea level at mean lowest low tide), and because he described how lights loom on the horizon at night.
Glad to see lobstatruck.com out is keeping things honest out there on the west coast…
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Paul beat me by 6 minutes! I think Joey should open up a table at the block party, and have a lobster roll competition versus any restaurant in the city to show at least one of them how its done right….
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hmmmmm……..
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Ladies and gentlemen, I think what we have here now is a throwdown…
And now that the gauntlets are on the table, will Joey go for it?
Of course, Joey will have to enlist the help of The Mrs. Joey if he wants to win…
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Kind of pricey but what’s next? A lobsta roll eating contest!
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AHHH! SWIMDAD, CAUSING TROUBLE OVER 3,000 MILES AWAY! You gotta lov the guy! 🙂
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LOL Not trying to stir anything up but can you imagine 8+ people stuffing as many lobster rolls down their throats lets say in a 15 minute period! Sure beats the 4th of July hot dog eating contest at Coney Island. Mayo everywhere.
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