Pine Islet Light, also known as Percy Isles Light, is an active

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

located at Pine Islet, a small islet belonging to the

Percy Isles The Northumberland Islands are a scattered island chain off the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. Geography and history The Northumberland Islands are to the south-east of the city of Mackay roughly between the latitudes 21°S and 22� ...

group of the

Northumberland Islands The Northumberland Islands are a scattered island chain off the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. Geography and history The Northumberland Islands are to the south-east of the city of Mackay roughly between the latitudes 21°S and 22� ...

, about southeast of

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The original lighthouse, established 1885, was active for a hundred years, until it was deactivated in 1985, by then the last

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

powered lighthouse in Australia. It was relocated to the Mackay Marina in 1985 and restored to full working condition, making it the last fully functional kerosene operated lighthouse in the world. At the original location now stands a modern

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

tower. The light was first proposed in 1881 and again in 1882. Tenders were called in 1883, and the lighthouse was constructed by W. P. Clark in 1885, a typical Queensland lighthouse built of a hardwood frame

clad Cladding is an outer layer of material covering another. It may refer to the following: *Cladding (boiler), the layer of insulation and outer wrapping around a boiler shell *Cladding (construction), materials applied to the exterior of buildings ...

with

galvanized iron Galvanization or galvanizing ( also spelled galvanisation or galvanising) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged ...

plates. The light source and the apparatus were upgraded in 1923 and in 1934 respectively. The cottages were replaced in 1927. The station received electricity in 1950, but the light remained kerosene operated until it was decommissioned in 1985. Reconstruction of the lighthouse at Mackay, where it stands today, took from 1989 to 1995. The lighthouse is accessible to the public and tours are available. The current lighthouse at Pine Islet is a high fiberglass tower without a lamp, which also serves as a daymark. The light source is a

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...

VRB-25 The VRB-25 is a lighthouse optical system designed and built by Vega Industries Ltd. in Porirua, New Zealand. It was originally designed in 1993-95 with the assistance of the United States Coast Guard to meet USCG requirements for a robust m ...

lamp. The site is not accessible to the public.

History

A lighthouse at Pine Islet was first proposed in a report to the Queensland Parliament on 26 July 1881, by Commander

George Poynter Heath George Poynter Heath (19 June 1830 – 26 March 1921) was a Royal Navy captain and the first portmaster of Queensland, Australia. It was under his supervision and administration that the of coast of Queensland, and its numerous river and cree ...

, the first Portmaster of Queensland. A second proposal was made by Heath in a report on 18 August 1882. Tenders were called at the end of June 1883 tenders were called, for the construction of lighthouse and

lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

cottages, for both Pine Islet Light and

Double Island Point Light Double Island Point Light is an active lighthouse located at the summit of Double Island Point, a coastal headland within the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park. It is located at the southern end of Wide Bay, north of Noosa Hea ...

. The contract for both lightstations, for the cost of £6900, was awarded to W. P. Clark, who already constructed Queensland's first lighthouse since Queensland's formation,

Bustard Head Light Bustard Head Light is an active lighthouse located on the southeast tip of Bustard Head, a headland, about northwest of Seventeen Seventy, in the Australian state of Queensland, within the Eurimbula National Park and locality of Eurimbula. Bu ...

(in 1868), and who was also awarded the contract for

Low Isles Light Low Isles Light, also known as Low Islets Light or Low Island Light, is an active lighthouse located on Low Island, a coral cay which together with Woody Island forms the Low Isles group, about northeast of Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia. ...

in 1877 and for

Cape Cleveland Light Cape Cleveland Light is an active heritage-listed lighthouse located on the northern tip of Cape Cleveland, a promontory projecting into the Coral Sea west of Cleveland Bay in the locality of Cape Cleveland about east of Townsville, Queensla ...

and

Dent Island Light Dent Island Light is an active lighthouse on Dent Island (Queensland), Dent Island, a small island off the coast of Queensland, Australia, part of the Whitsunday Group of the Whitsunday Islands. Located on the southwest tip of the island, the li ...

in 1878. Construction was completed and the lighthouse was exhibited on 18 July 1885. The building was

prefabricated Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. The term is u ...

and constructed on the islet, built of an internal hardwood frame, clad with

rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...

ed galvanized iron plates imported from Britain. It originally had a timber balcony floor. The original apparatus was a second-order revolving lens, having a

focal length The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light; it is the inverse of the system's optical power. A positive focal length indicates that a system converges light, while a negative foca ...

, with four fixed panels and four flash panels. Its optics were either

catadioptric A catadioptric optical system is one where refraction and reflection are combined in an optical system, usually via lenses (dioptrics) and curved mirrors (catoptrics). Catadioptric combinations are used in focusing systems such as searchlights, he ...

dioptric Dioptrics is the branch of optics dealing with refraction, similarly the branch dealing with mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of ...

. The original lamp was an oil wick burner running on whale or vegetable oil. A red shade was used to mark Normanby Rock, about to the southwest. A 1909 listing lists a visibility range of . In 1923, the light was converted to a

Chance Brothers Chance Brothers and Company was a glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands (formerly in Staffordshire), in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassmaking technology. The Chance fami ...

incandescent gas mantle file:Glowing gas mantle.jpg, A Coleman Company, Coleman white gas lantern mantle glowing at full brightness An incandescent gas mantle, gas mantle or Welsbach mantle is a device for generating incandescent bright white light when heated by a flame ...

fuelled by vapourised

. In 1927 the original keepers' cottages were demolished and three timber-framed and

fibro Asbestos cement, genericized as fibro, fibrolite (short for "fibrous (or fibre) cement sheet") or AC sheet, is a building material in which asbestos fibres are used to reinforce thin rigid cement sheets. Although invented at the end of the 19t ...

clad cottages were constructed. At the same year the tower's floor was replaced with concrete. In 1934 the light was again upgraded, replacing the apparatus with a

clockwork Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or weight. A clockwork mec ...

driven apparatus from

North Reef Light North Reef Light is an active lighthouse located on North Reef, a planar reef, about northeast of Gladstone, Queensland, Australia in the Capricorn and Bunker Group. The lighthouse was constructed on a migratory patch of sand inside a frin ...

. The height of the lighthouse meant this mechanism had to be wound every two hours. The light was visible for a distance of . In 1950 110 V electricity was installed at the islet and the cottages were electrified, but the light was not converted to electricity. A 240 V system was installed in 1965, again without converting the light. On 27 August 1985 the lighthouse was decommissioned, to be replaced by a modern

tower. By then it was the last kerosene power lighthouse in Australia. The tower was dismantled by the

Department of Transport and Communications The Department of Transport and Communications was an Australian government department that existed between July 1987 and December 1993. History The Department of Transport and Communications was one of 16 'super-ministries' announced ...

from 2 October to 12 November 1986. In 1989, after much lobbying, the lighthouse and apparatus were loaned to the Pine Islet Lighthouse Preservation Society for reconstruction at Mackay, mainly by volunteers. Reconstruction started on 18 August 1989 and the lighthouse was restored to fully functional status in late 1995, making it the last operational kerosene light in the world. In 2004 it was repainted by the Mackay Port Authority.

Current lighthouse

The current tower is a high fiberglass structure without a lantern, which also acts as a

daymark A daymark is a navigational aid for sailors and pilots, distinctively marked to maximize its visibility in daylight. The word is also used in a more specific, technical sense to refer to a signboard or daytime identifier that is attached to a ...

. The current

light characteristic A light characteristic is all of the properties that make a particular navigational light identifiable. Graphical and textual descriptions of navigational light sequences and colours are displayed on nautical charts and in Light Lists with the cha ...

is a white flash every ten seconds (Fl.W. 10s) visible at 318°-218°, for a distance of .''List of Lights'' The apparatus is a

rotating at 1

rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

. The light source is a 12

Volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defi ...

Watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

Halogen lamp A halogen lamp (also called tungsten halogen, quartz-halogen, and quartz iodine lamp) is an incandescent lamp consisting of a tungsten filament sealed in a compact transparent envelope that is filled with a mixture of an inert gas and a small ...

with an intensity of 63,155 cd. Of the other buildings on the station, one keeper's cottage is extant, painted white with a green roof.

Site operation and visiting

The original lighthouse stands in the Mackay Marina on the waterfront of Mackay Harbor. The site is managed by the Pine Islet Lighthouse Preservation Society and tours of the lighthouse currently not available until the Preservation society is reformed. The current lighthouse at Pine Islet is operated by the

Australian Maritime Safety Authority Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is an Australian statutory authority responsible for the regulation and safety oversight of Australia's shipping fleet and management of Australia's international maritime obligations. The authority ...

. The island is accessible only by boat, and both the site and the tower are closed to the public.

Notes

References

* * * * * as quoted in * * * * * *

External links