NANTUCKET LIGHTSHIP

A sucker for anything nautical, I love lighthouses and boats. Combine the two? Awesome. When out on Long Wharf in Boston, you can sometimes spot the red ship across the harbor with bold, white letters spelling NANTUCKET on the side. I have always been curious about the ship, and was happy to learn about its history and that it is being preserved and utilized today. The ship has been refurbished and is now available for charters, rentals, and private events...how fun would it be to host an event on this ship? And as an added bonus, the proceeds are a way to sustain the life of the lightship for years to come. Here is a brief history, as listed on the official website, www.nantucketlightship.com.

The Nantucket Lightship wlv-612 was built in 1950 and was stationed three miles off of the Golden Gate Bridge as the San Francisco from 1950-1969. As Lightships were replaced with 40 foot unmanned buoys, the 612 next served off Cape Mendocino in California as the blunts reef from 1969-71 and in 1971 she went back through the Panama Canal to serve as the portland in Maine from 1971-75. Finally from 1975-1983, she served as the nantucket on the last Lightship station in the United States 45 miles southeast of Nantucket Island. In 1985, the Nantucket Lightship was decommissioned by the United States Coast Guard as the last Lightship in the United States. In 2000, Bill and Kristen Golden bought the ship on Ebay to preserve her, spent three years refurbishing the Ship and now offer the luxury yacht for charters, vacation rentals and events.


The mission of the Lightship was, a life saving mission, to stand resolute regardless of the peril and
guide all to safe haven. The first US Lightship was placed on station in 1820. In 1854, after hundreds
of shipwrecks, the United States Congress established the Nantucket South Shoals Lightship Station
to protect trans-Atlantic and coastal shipping from the dangers of the treacherous shoals. The wlv-


612 is one of a proud line of Nantucket Lightships which were known as the Guardian Angels of the
North Atlantic From 1854 to 1983, it was the Nantucket Lightship and not the Statue of Liberty which first greeted mariners and immigrants to America. Lightships serving this station were in international waters and were exposed to the dangers of fog bound collisions, enemy attacks and natural disaster from hurricanes and severe winter storms.


The Nantucket Lightship wlv-612 is one of a dozen lightships which remain. The others have all been
sunk or scrapped as artificial reefs. It is the objective of Bill and Kristen Golden to showcase the
Nantucket Lightship wlv-612 as a new model for historic marine preservation so that other ships may be saved for future generations.