hile standing on a charter boat far out in the Atlantic, Mike 

 Allen points to the 125-foot Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower that was 

 once his home away from home. 



"It is good to see her after 25 years," says Allen, who was one of 

 the last U.S. Coast Guard crews to serve on the tower. "The antenna is 

 where my room was. She has gotten older and rusted." 

 There have been other changes. Hurricanes washed away the tower's 

 bulkhead, landing, and parts of the spiral staircase that Allen used to climb to 

 le top, he recalls. 



Not long after Allen served on the tower, it was automated. As a 

 musical tribute, he wrote 'The Lady" while still on duty. 



During a charter trip on the SS Winner Queen, Allen sang and 

 shared his memories of working on the tower — which ttansmitted 

 signals to ships near low sandy areas or shoals. Carolina Ocean Saidies, 

 an educational tour group out of Carolina Beach, sponsored the trip. 

 The tower automation saddened Allen. "It was like taking 

 ie soul of the tower," he adds. "There were times when 

 pie needed assistance on their boats, but couldn't be heard on 

 shore. When there was a crew on the tower, you could at least 

 relay a message." 



The tower — along wi th the one at Diamond 

 Shoals — will be dismantled in the near future 



because of advances in radio navigation. 

 ^ "Light towers were like lighthouses in 

 the water," says Bob Browning, Coast 

 Guard chief historian. "They replaced light ships as 

 an economic move and navigational aid. Since Frying Pan 

 Shoals was a dangerous area and more than 20 miles out in the 

 Atlantic, it was an important navigational point for mariners." 

 The dismantling of the tower is an ongoing project, says Dave 

 Santos, media relations specialist in the Coast Guard's Atlantic area 

 office. "The demolition project was still out for bids in March." 



After the tower is dismanded. it will be used as an artificial reef that 

 will be managed by the N.C Division of Fisheries. The hard bottom pro- 

 vides an ideal habitat for marine life, including snapper, grouper and porgy. 

 "It is respectful and appropriate to give the tower a burial at sea" says 

 Richard Cecelski, Carolina Ocean Studies director. "There has been a light ship or tower 

 here since 1854, with the exception of three years duiing the Civil War and two years 

 since World Warn." 



I Valerie Dugan, a John T. Hoggard High School ocean science teacher in Wilm- 

 & ington, agrees. 



H "The tower is like a friend to me," says Dugan. "At least once a year, I take a 



Wk trip out to see the tower." 



wk Last fall, the Coast Guard announced it would not replace the weather 



Ml instruments on the Frying Pan tower. Instead, the National Weather Service 



anchored a 3-meter discus buoy near the tower. The buoy transmits data on wind 

 speed, water and air temperature, air pressure, dew point and wind direction to 

 weather stations on shore. Its data are available online. 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 13 



