French lighthouse shift change....WOW

Hi,

That has been doing the rounds elsewhere on the net.

Interesting that it was a few years ago, can you imagine the HSE anywhere condoning that sort of carry on these days?

How would you see transferring service personel and gear done today? I'm thinking that a Jacob's ladder would be just as dangerous. A helicopter drop would present it's own dangers and $600+ an hour. Reminds me of when I was working crew boats and had to go across a ladder from our bridge to a ship's deck or transferring pallets of supplies in 8' seas (think hook the cargo net and run like the wind as it launches).

A very nice video Brian, such maneuvers can not be seen in the North Sea any more. ALL light houses and lightships are now fully automatic and remote controlled. The good old lonely man in his lighthouse is a thing of the past. Only maintenance crews come to the light houses for regular inspections and only during nice weather. Recently a maintenance crew got stuck for 3 days on one of those lighthouses only accessable by boat, due to deteriorating weather. What an emergency (with big lines in the local newspaper).

Germany used to have 3 light ships in the German bay for guidance into the Elbe river until the late eighties (Elbe 1, 2 and 3). Elbe 1 was on station from 1948 until 1988. Each of those ships got hit by big ships during heavy fog and low visibilty at least half a dozen times. Those crews had a very monoton but hard and dangerous job during their 14 day shift.

In the seventies, we used to sail from the Frisian coast to the island of Helgoland and back on the weekends. On the way back home, we usually stopped at the lightship Elbe 1 (the most endangered one) and handed over to the crew some of our duty free boost, purchased at Helgoland. Our "support missions" were really appreciated by the light ship crews . What a boring job, 14 days on the hook, only cleaning light bulbs and feeding the geni but always in peril of one's life.

See the cinema film from 2004 " L’Équipier". Don't know the English title - sorry.
The German title was "Die Frau des Leuchtturmwärters".

???

Question: What is a Jacob's Ladder ? Not trying to hijack, I've heard the term and saw the movie but I have no clue what it is.

Hi,

Neither does the first lot of results on Google

I found something useful on the 2nd attempt: https://www.google.com/search?q=jac...DtoATBkoDwCQ&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1360&bih=601

Hi,

I did not say it wouldn't or couldn't be done just that it would be unlikely to be condoned by the HSE/OSHA lot who did not have the same tentacles when that video was shot.

The current crop of service vessels see an increase in Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull designs

Google pilot ladder ... jacobs ladder is a slang term.

Jacobs ladder

Marmot is correct. It is the pilot ladder used on larger ships for climbing on board. But the name Jacob Ladder is not a slang word. It has its origin in the holly Bibel (book Genesis 28,11). Jakob saw in his dream a ladder leading from earth to haven............

Old seafarers took over this term for rope ladders on ships. In Europe, most rope ladders are called Jacobs ladders. Even we as kids called the rope ladders for our tree houses Jacob ladders.

Hardware stores offer a version for home fire safety escape.


Werner 17 ft. 2-Story Not Rated Fire Escape Ladder with 375 lb. Load Capacity-ESC220 at The Home Depot