A Beacon in the Night
" There are no words to express the feelings that induce a sailor to offer fervent prayers when he sees this mark of sympathy expressed by his fellow men. Suddenly he sees that he is no longer alone in the midst of the ocean waves; he sees that people are caring for him with paternal solicitude." -Lavrentiy Zagoskin, on sighting the lighthouse at Sitka, Alaska in 1839 Waugoshance Lighthouse in the open waters of Lake Michigan (photo by K. Walters) [I had a version of this post published in BoatUS Magazine (April/May 2013) as " U.S. and Canadian Lights Dimming ", but I prefer this version] The sun was on the rise to reveal the horizon when we left Beaver Island in the middle of northern Lake Michigan bound for Mackinac Island in Lake Huron . That day's sail covered a stretch of open water from the Beaver Island archipelago into the Straits of Mackinac, an area characterized by shoals and boulders broadly known as Gray's Reef. The navigationa