Ile Aux Galets

Infobox_Lighthouse
name = Ile Aux Galets


caption = Skillagalee Island Light Station circa 1920.
location = SW OF WAUGOSHANCE ISLAND/LAKE MICHIGAN
coordinates = coord|45|40|35|N|85|10|23|W|type:landmark_scale:100000_region:US-MI_source:GNIS
yearbuilt = 1888
yearlit = 1888
automated = 1969
yeardeactivated =
foundation = Stone
construction = Brick
shape = Octogonal hourglass
marking = white w/black lantern
height = Tower - convert|58|ft|m
elevation = Focal plane - convert|58|ft|m [cite web|url=http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/index.htm |author=Pepper, Terry|title="Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes"]
lens = Fourth order Fresnel lens
currentlens = 300mm Tidelands acrylic plastic lens
intensity =
range = convert|11|mi|km
characteristic = Fl W 6 s [ [http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pubs/LightLists/V7COMPLETE.PDF Volume 7, US Coast Guard Lightlist (PDF).] ]
fogsignal =
admiralty =
NGA =
ARLHS = USA-399
USCG = 7-17795

Ile aux Galets or Gallets, and also known as "Skillagallee" or "Skillagalee Island", is located in northeast Lake Michigan approximately 7.0 miles (11.3 km) northwest of Cross Village, Michigan. The Emmet County, Michigan lighthouse sits atop and warns of a dangerous gravel shoal -- it extends almost two miles to the east and half a mile to the northwest [ [http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080520/SPECIAL01/80519001 Detroit News, Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses.] ] -- that is an imminent hazard to navigation, ships and men. [ [http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/michigan/slillagallee/skillagallee.htm Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Skillagallee Island Light Station.] ] This site has continuously been the home of an operational lighthouse run by the U.S. government since 1850.

The islet is home to a significant colony of ring-billed gulls. Its name, given by early French explorers, means "Isle of Pebbles." [ [http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Michigan/skillagalee.htm Wobser, David, boatnerd.com, Ile Au Galets, Skillagalee Island Lighthouse.] ] It is said that the English speakers found the French name unpronounceable, and "Ile aux Galets" -- soon misheard, misunderstood and mispronounced -- transmuted into "Skillagalee" (or some variant) which took hold. By the "mid 1800's references to the original French name all but disappeared." [ [http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/michigan/slillagallee/skillagallee.htm Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Skillagallee Island Light Station.] This is similar to the mutation of "Seul Choix Harbor" into 'sishwa' or the development of the peculiarly named Waugoshance Light.]

There are many wrecks on Skillagalee island. However, in September 27, 1850, the loss of the A.D. Patchin -- a wood sidewheeler, convert|226|ft|m long and built in Trenton, Michigan in 1846 -- led to the construction of the first light on the island. Loaded with general goods, the Patchin's course into Grays Reef Passage was disrupted by currents that pulled her onto Skillagalee's shore. Her crew escaped and was rescued, but foul winds and weather thwarted many attempts to set her free. She was "pounded to pieces, becoming yet another of Lake Michigan's many victims." [ [http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/michigan/slillagallee/skillagallee.htm Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Skillagallee Island Light Station.] ]

Congress appropriated sums to construct a light on Skillagalee Island in 1851, and the task was undertaken by the Department of the Treasury, the administrative predecessor to the Lighthouse Board. Due in part to the extreme exposure of the location, that lighthouse badly and quickly deteriorated and was replaced in 1868. [ [http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/michigan/slillagallee/skillagallee.htm Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Skillagallee Island Light Station.] ]

In 1888, the United States Lighthouse Board built the current 58-foot (17.5-m) tower and equipped it with a 'state of the art' fourth order Fresnel lens. [ [http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMI.asp U.S. Coast Guard's complete list of Michigan lights with photographs and descriptions, including Ile Aux Galets/Skillagalee Island Light.] ] This is the third lighthouse on the island. [ [http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Michigan/skillagalee.htm Wobser, David, boatnerd.com, Ile Au Galets, Skillagalee Island Lighthouse.] ] This "handsome" lighthouse shares its design with only one one other, Port Sanilac Light, on Lake Huron. [ [http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/miel.htm Lighthouse Digest, Port Sanilac Light, University of North Carolina.] ]

In 1890, the station's fog signals were upgraded from the existing steam siren to 10-inch steam whistles. On October 4th, the Lighthouse steam barge RUBY delivered a work party and the necessary equipment for the upgrade. Within the month the task was completed, and the old sirens were thereupon transferred to Beaver Island Head Light. "Life was busy for the keepers . . . that following year, since in addition to tending the light and maintaining the equipment, they operated the station's new steam whistles . . . 268 hours, [stoking] 26 tons of coal into their boilers." In 1894 the boathouse, boatways and landing crib were moved fifteen feet toward the lake, due to the ever fluctuating water levels. [ [http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/michigan/slillagallee/skillagallee.htm Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Skillagallee Island Light Station.] ]

The islet and lighthouse were occupied by lighthouse keepers from 1850 until 1969, when the Fresnel lens was retired. At the time, a Coast Guard crew razed all the structures (fog signal building, keeper's house, oil storage shed and boathouse), leaving only the tower in the middle of the island. [ [http://www.nps.gov/history/maritime/light/skillag.htm National Park Service, Inventory of Historic Lighthouses, Maritime Heritage, Ile Aux Galets (Skillagalee Island) light.] ] An automated 300mm Tidelands acrylic plastic lens was placed in the lantern, [ [http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/closeups/illumination/acrylic/300mm/300mm.htm 300 m.m. acrylic optic lens, Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light.] ] powered by 12-volt batteries attached to a photovoltaic array mounted on the parapet's railing. [ [http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/michigan/slillagallee/skillagallee.htm Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Skillagallee Island Light Station.] ]

It is accessible only by small boat. [ [http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Michigan/skillagalee.htm Wobser, David, boatnerd.com, Ile Au Galets, Skillagalee Island Lighthouse.] ] Due to shallow water and dangerous reefs, any close approach to the island by boat is almost impossible (one source notes: "dangerous waters, and there are no facilities for landing on the island") [ [http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/miwl.htm Lighthouse Digest, Western Michigan lights, Ile aux Galets (Skillagalee) Light (University of North Carolina.)] ] ; and the light is closed in any event. [ [http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=207 Lighthouse friends, Skillagalee Island (Ile Aux Galets) Light.] ]

The light is listed on the National Register of Historic Places Reference #84001389; Name of Listing: SKILLAGALEE LIGHT STATION. [ [http://www.michiganlights.com/skillagaleelh.htm Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, Skillagalee Island Light.] ]

Notes

Further reading

* [http://www.michiganlighthouse.org/bibliography.html Bibliography on Michigan lighthouses.]
* Crompton, Samuel Willard & Michael J. Rhein, "The Ultimate Book of Lighthouses" (2002) ISBN 1592231020; ISBN 978-1592231027.
* Hyde, Charles K., and Ann and John Mahan. "The Northern Lights: Lighthouses of the Upper Great Lakes." Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0814325548; ISBN 9780814325544.
* Jones, Ray & Bruce Roberts, "American Lighthouses" (Globe Pequot, September 1, 1998, 1st Ed.) ISBN 0762703245; ISBN 978-0762703241.
* Jones, Ray,"The Lighthouse Encyclopedia, The Definitive Reference" (Globe Pequot, January 1, 2004, 1st ed.) ISBN 0762727357; ISBN 978-0762727353.
* Noble, Dennis, "Lighthouses & Keepers: U. S. Lighthouse Service and Its Legacy" (Annapolis: U. S. Naval Institute Press, 1997). ISBN 1557506388; ISBN 9781557506382.
* Oleszewski, Wes, "Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses", (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) ISBN 0-932212-98-0.
* Penrod, John, "Lighthouses of Michigan", (Berrien Center, Michigan: Penrod/Hiawatha, 1998) ISBN 9780942618785; ISBN 9781893624238.
*
* Putnam, George R., "Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States", (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1933).
* United States Coast Guard, "Aids to Navigation", (Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1945).
* [http://www.uscg.mil/History/weblighthouses/h_lhbib.asp United States Coast Guard, "Aids to Navigation Historical Bibliography".]
*
* Wagner, John L., "Michigan Lighthouses: An Aerial Photographic Perspective", (East Lansing, Michigan: John L. Wagner, 1998) ISBN 1880311011; ISBN 9781880311011.
* Wargin, Ed, "Legends of Light: A Michigan Lighthouse Portfolio" (Ann Arbor Media Group, 2006). ISBN 9781587262517.
* Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, "Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia" Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1550463993.

External links

* [http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080520/SPECIAL01/80519001 Detroit News, Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses.]
* [http://www.lighthousesrus.org/Maps/mapIt.htm?file=GL/MichiganNorth.xml Interactive map of Lights in Northern Lake Michigan, mapped by Google.]
* [http://www.lighthousecentral.com/lighthouse_gallery.php4?lighthouse=Skillagalee%20Island%20Light Lighthouse Central, Photographs, History, Directions and Way points for Skillagalee Island Light, "The Ultimate Guide to West Michigan Lighthouses" by Jerry Roach (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC - 2005).] ISBN 0-9747977-0-7.
* [http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/miwl.htm Lighthouse Digest, Western Michigan lights, Ile aux Galets (Skillagalee) Light (University of North Carolina.)]
* [http://www.lighthousefriends.com/macstraits.html Lighthouse Friends, Lighthouses in the Mackinac Straits, (Skillagalee Island Light).]
* [http://www.michigan.gov/documents/hal_mhc_shpo_lightmap_50933_7.pdf Map of Michigan Lighthouse] in PDF Format.
* [http://www.michiganlights.com/skillagaleelh.htm Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, Skillagalee (Ile Aux Galets) Light.]
* National Park Service [http://www.nps.gov/history/maritime/light/skillag.htm Inventory of Historic Lighthouses, Maritime Heritage, Skilagalee (Ile Aux Galets) Light.]
* [http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/michigan/slillagallee/skillagallee.htm Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Skillagallee Island Light Station, Ile Aux Gallets Island, Lake Michigan.]
* U.S. Coast Guard [http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMI.asp 's complete list of Michigan lights with photographs and descriptions, including Ile Aux Galets/Skillagalee Island Light.]
* [http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pubs/LightLists/V7COMPLETE.PDF Volume 7, US Coast Guard Lightlist (PDF).]
* [http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Michigan/skillagalee.htm Wobser, David, boatnerd.com, Ile Au Galets, Skillagalee Island Lighthouse.]