Descending on Saddleback Ledge Light
I want to share something a little different with you today. Back on June 8, 2017, U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod provided air support for USCGC TACKLE with an aids to navigation evolution at Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse.
The mission - to replace a 300mm incandescent marine lantern in the 1839 lighthouse with a VLB-44 light emitting diode (LED) beacon. The cutter previously tried to land a crew on the ledge by small boat weeks earlier, but was unable due to the sea state.
Anyone familiar with Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse and its storied history understands how bleak and forlorn the aura is that grips this isolated location in Penobscot Bay. For even on a good day, the sea is not to be tamed here.
A crewman from the USCGC TACKLE is lowered by basket onto Saddleback Ledge.
Given the inherent difficulty with landing at Saddleback Ledge, the cutter TACKLE’s command requested air support to complete the mission of installing an LED beacon in the lighthouse.
Once at the site, an MH-60T Jayhawk, a multi-mission, twin-engine, medium-range helicopter, lowered a rescue swimmer, and then one-by-one, the four-person crew from the TACKLE, onto the ledge below via a hoist basket.
The hoisting operation, which is not an everyday occurrence at a lighthouse, was necessary because there is no safe place to land a helicopter on Saddleback Ledge.
I hope you enjoy the clips that I was able to capture during this evolution. The U.S. Coast Guard performs amazing work in their quest to keep the lights shining bright!
Super video. So interesting
That had to be an awesome experience…so cool to see the helicopter in action!