A GOLDEN BEAM OF LIGHT SWEEPS across the headland, growing brighter, brighter, flash! Ten seconds, another flash. A steady pattern through the night. Rainbows dance on the lantern room glass. The historic Fresnel lens shines again at the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse.

The Lighthouse stands atop a windy bluff at one of the few intact and publicly accessible light stations on the Pacific coast. Little changed by the passing of a century, the Point Cabrillo Light Station looks much as it did when lightkeepers and their families lived in the Craftsman-style houses and raised cattle and potatoes in the surrounding meadows. Hawks and songbirds still nest in the meadows, and wildflowers bloom on the headlands. And today the jewel that lit the night and kept ships safe in a seafaring world glows again.

Ever since the Coastal Conservancy acquired the Point Cabrillo Light Station in 1992, thus completing the 300-acre Point Cabrillo Preserve, people dreamed that the historic lens might one day shine again. Now that dream has been fulfilled, thanks to a unique collaboration between the U.S. Coast Guard’s 11th District, the Conservancy, and the staff and volunteers of the North Coast Interpretive Association (NCIA).

The Point Cabrillo Light was built on this rocky promontory after the 1906 earthquake and fire that destroyed San Francisco. The demand for building materials was at a peak, and the lighthouse served the doghole schooners and steam ships that plied the lumber trade along the Redwood Coast. The original Third-Order Fresnel lens by Chance Brothers is one of only three remaining British-made lenses in the United States. It was lit for the first time on June 10, 1909, with kerosene, and electrified in 1935. The Coast Guard replaced the Fresnel with an automated beacon in 1972. The original lens remained in the lantern room, covered and unused.

It took three years of planning and an entire year of construction to restore and relight the historic lens. Success is due to a brilliant mix of individual talents and a dogged persistence to push the project through hoops and over hurdles. More than 1,000 hours of volunteer labor and generous donations of equipment, money, and other support from the community helped to stretch public funds.

The first challenge was to disassemble the lens in such a way that it could later be reassembled in working order.

Every mechanical component of the pedestal and every screw was mapped and marked. Layers of paint were chipped away from the joints with dental picks, and the screws were soaked with penetrating oil. After weeks of planning and preparation, the lens came apart in a single day, like a giant three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle.

Once the lens was safely removed, the NCIA hired an independent contractor who had completed three other lighthouse restorations for the Coast Guard to lift the lantern room from the tower and rebuild it. Every piece was disassembled, sandblasted, and repaired. New glass was ordered and every pane had to be ground along the edges to fit the curved, diamond-shaped frames. The door to the catwalk, which may never have worked properly, was dissected and rebuilt and a new locking mechanism was fabricated from the original specifications. It now swings open without a whisper.

Work on the lens progressed simultaneously with the restoration of the lantern room. Volunteers in respirators and neoprene suits labored with chemical stripping agents. Cast bronze and golden brass fixtures emerged from layer on layer of paint and were arranged around the lighthouse like a dragon’s hoard.

On the morning of April 1, 1999, with due fanfare and a visit from Senator Wes Chesbro, the fully restored lantern room was returned to the tower. As it hung suspended from the crane, one of the team yelled: “The door’s in the wrong place!” A night of apprehension was evident in the panic in his voice. Slowly and without fuss, the crane operator rotated the dangling cupola and then settled it gently, perfectly, in place.

Three weeks later the Coast Guard brought in two Fresnel specialists, who reassembled the restored lens with NCIA staff. There was a false start, a bent drive shaft, and a new electrical system to invent, but by May the lens was operational, and the automated beacon was permanently removed from the building.

The restoration of the lantern room was funded through a federal TEA (Transportation Enhancement Activities) grant, with a matching grant from the Conservancy. The Coast Guard contributed equipment and expertise to the lens restoration. Leadership, labor, and supplies were paid for out of individual donations to the NCIA. The Point Cabrillo lens restoration was truly a labor of loving hands and hearts. All involved worked together to keep the wheels of bureaucracy turning with faith, elbow grease, and meticulous craftsmanship.

The Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team from Humboldt Bay will continue to visit quarterly to maintain the light, and additional support will be provided by NCIA staff and volunteers through the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Lisa Weg is the site manager of the Point Cabrillo Light Station and Preserve. The Preserve is two miles north of the town of Mendocino off Point Cabrillo Drive. The Light Station is a half-mile walk from the parking area. For further information contact the Preserve office at (707) 937-0816.