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From the Makapu'u Light on Oahu's southeastern most
point, the world's largest lighthouse lens reflects a beam that can
be seen from 19 nautical miles away.
The 12-foot-tall and
8-foot-wide Hyper-radiant Fresnel lens takes up more than a quarter
of the space inside the 46-foot-tall lighthouse.
With more
than a thousand prisms, the lens is almost five feet taller than the
First Order Fresnel lens in America's tallest lighthouse, the
207-foot-tall Cape Hatteras Light in the North Carolina Outer Banks.
It is wide enough for several people to stand inside.
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December 10, 2014 - Makapu'u Lighthouse stands atop the
southeastern most point of Oahu, Hawaii. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy
photo)
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“It is, by far, the largest lens that I have ever seen,”
said Chief Petty Officer Ernest W. Rucker, who leads the
Honolulu-based U.S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team
(ANT) that maintains the lens.
The Hyper-radiant lens
was unveiled at the 1893 Chicago World Fair. Once it reached
Hawaii, pieces of the giant lens were hoisted from a moving
ship up the steep lava slope and reassembled in the
lighthouse.
Lit in 1909, the Makapu'u Lighthouse
shines across the Kaiwi Channel between the islands of Oahu
and Molokai.
The State of Hawaii maintains a trail
that climbs more than 500 feet to a whale watching site
above the lighthouse. From the summit, the islands of Lanai
and Molokai are visible on a clear day.
Martha Yent
from the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources,
Division of State Parks, said the state renovated the trail
last year. The accessible trail is pet friendly and bikes
are allowed.
“It is popular with residents for
exercise and the opportunity to view the historic lighthouse
from the scenic lookouts,” said Yent.
The Makapu'u
Light is among the more than 48,000 Aids to Navigation
(ATON) maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard, including buoys,
beacons, ranges, sound systems and electronic aids that
guide mariners through U.S. coastal, intracoastal and inland
waterways.
Located in the 14th Coast Guard District,
the Makapu'u Lighthouse is one of nine lighthouses that have
elevators named after them in the U.S. Coast Guard
Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
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December 10, 2014 - Makapu'u Lighthouse sits along an approximate 2-mile hiking path of the appropriately named Makapu'u
Point Lighthouse Trail in Oahu, Hawaii. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy
photo)
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The Honolulu-based
14th District covers more than 12.2 million square miles
from the 50th state to the Far East, with units in Oahu,
Maui, Kauai, Hawaii, American Samoa, Saipan, Guam, Singapore
and Japan.
In addition to the Makapu'u Light, the
Honolulu Aids to Navigation Team maintains 96 fixed
navigational aids around the Hawaiian Islands. Rucker said
the aids mark multiple near shore reefs.
The chief
said the navigational aids shepherd mariners through the
well traveled waters around the Aloha State. Freighters sail
to Honolulu from the U.S. West Coast and barges transport
goods between the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii is also home to
many fishing vessels, dive boats and cruise ships.
With land-based aids located from the south point on the big
island of Hawaii to the small atoll known as Lihue Rock on
the southwest coast of Kauai, the Honolulu ANT covers vast
distances by helicopter and visits some very remote corners
of the Hawaiian Islands.
“The ANT gets to go to some
places that seldom get seen by humans,” said Rucker, a
native of Oxford, Mississippi.
The Makapu'u
Lighthouse is an exception. The lighthouse is one of the
best known navigational aids in Hawaii.
An estimated
350,000 visitors hiked the Makapu'u trail in 2015 and the
lighthouse has served as a location for many of the
television shows filmed in Hawaii, including Baywatch,
Hawaii Five-O and Magnum P.I.
By U.S. Coast Guard Walter Ham
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2016
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