I am a connoisseur of photos of “our” two lighthouses – the one at Point Cabrillo and the one at Point Arena. I am afraid I do not know the name of the photographer of these photos. If I did I would say, “thanks for sharing.”
Point Cabrillo at Sunset
Looking up the stairs to the glim (light)
Mahvellous what?
This is a comment from Lynn Catlett in her Facebook page, “You know you’re from Mendocino if ………” “The rainbows we’ve been seeing on the coast lately have been pretty spectacular – but this photo from Tracy Salkowitz from this morning takes the cake.”
I absolutely agree with Lynn. Probably the most spectacular pic of Point Cabrillo I have ever seen. The pic was taken on Mendocino, CA.
This somewhere over a rainbow is the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse on the Mendocino Coast
Click on the photo to see it full size. Thanks Lynn.
The Point Cabrillo lighthouse is a little over a 100 years old – her glim (light) was first lit in 1909. The lighthouse is situated on top of a 50 foot bluff about two miles north of Mendocino and is in full operating condition. One of our members, Joe Green, acts as a docent there.
This photo, the only one I know of that shows her under construction, must have been taken in 1908 or 1909 – 110 years ago!
Point Cabrillo lighthouse under construction
Point Cabrillo is one of the iconic features of the Mendocino Coast. I have been collecting what I consider to be the best pics for as long as I have been the author of these sites. These are a few of the more recent, in my view, incredible photos:
Cover of Book
This is a book of photographs with modest but very informative text. It traces the history of the lighthouse, shows how the lens of the Point Cabrillo lighthouse was refurbished, describes the neighbours of the lighthouse as well as showing pictures of a selection of the sail and steam schooners that used the Point Cabrillo lighthouse to stay safe from the plentiful and very dangerous rocks along the coast of the Mendocino Coast.
The book is one of the Images of America Series published by Arcadia Publishing. I wish that the book had been published before Colin Menzies built the model of Point Cabrillo Lighthouse that now adorns Club Member Mike Aplet fantastic diorama of Point Cabrillo and the Frolic foundering on the rocks below the lighthouse. Why? On pages 44 and 45 of the book is a scale drawing of Point Cabrillo. Colin’s model was built from photos with measurements supplied by yours truly. Twas I who made 20 odd visits to Point Cabrillo armed with a tape measure to get the data Colin needed. If we had had a copy of the scale drawing my legs would be a couple of inches longer!!!!
Point Cabrillo Lighthouse Model
Clubmember Mike Aplet has been building a diorama showing the wreck of the Frolic on the rocks below the Point Cabillo lighthouse. Over the past couple of weeks he has begun texturing the “rocks” which are made completely of scrap redwood.
Rocks carved from scrap redwood
Mike took these three photos recently to show the progress he has made:
Here you can see the washes that have been applied so far
You can see the unfinished waves crashing up the cliff.
Here’s the deatail adjacent to the lighthouse:
Afternoon teas is being served
Club member Lynda Davis is a surfer and has a red jeep. So, husband Frank decided she should “star” on the layout:
Lynda with surf board ready for action
The Point Cabrillo Lighthouse is situated about half way between Fort Bragg and Mendocino near Caspar. Check here for map. The lighthouse “opened for business” in 1909 and is still going strong. In whale watching season it’s a great place to go.
Club member Mike Aplet is building an incredible diorama of Point Cabrillo for our layout – more on that when it is finished.
Club member Roger Thornburn and his wife Nancy help keep Point Cabrillo in pristine condition and club member Joe Green works hard in the Point Cabrillo gift shop.
As one of the Mendocino Coast’s places to visit it gets photographed a lot. Many of the pics I have seen are much of a muchness. Relatively recently though I have come across a few which stand out:
Shot from the headlands at Mendocino with Point Cabrillo in the distance
Point Cabrillo
Point Cabrillo on a wet day
Storm coming in
The glim at sunset
Point Cabrillo at Sunset
Remarkable night shot on a foggy night
Pay a visit if you are up our way.