# I Want To Marry A Lighthouse Keeper.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 28, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788 "2010-08-28T14:35:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/1 "2010-08-28T14:35:15Z")
_… and keep him company!_ [Fascinating job opening](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/28/MNGO1EVUIQ.DTL) for a couple who might want to operate a lighthouse/bed-and-breakfast. Some of the job requirements: > [@](#): > > Applicants must have a U.S. Coast Guard commercial boating license, eschew pizza delivery and enjoy the company of, well, seagulls. They must also relish hard work. Four days out of the week, the three-story Victorian bed and breakfast hosts up to five couples who pay from $295 to $415 a night for a gourmet breakfast, four-course dinner and ferry service to and from the island. > > The innkeepers must keep track of the business’ paperwork, make weekly trips ashore for groceries and other supplies and ensure that the foghorn and flashing Fresnel light in the 1874 lighthouse are working. They’re paid a total of from $60,000 to $100,000 a year. I went to cooking school and have operated high-end catering establishments and multiple small businesses, so I can handle much of the business aspects of the B&B including the meals. And while I have sailed extensively, I don’t have a boating license. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/2 "2010-08-28T14:48:55Z")
I’m having a hard time reconciling the part about enjoying the company of seagulls with the fact that you’re operating a hotel. Five couples staying overnight four nights a week? I’d be the only lighthouse keeper in the country who’d be wishing he could get away from the crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/3 "2010-08-28T15:16:06Z")
Last week I heard about a lighthouse for sale. The price seemed very reasonable – but the owners would have to be able to put up with the automated fog horn, which sounded every ten seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/4 "2010-08-28T15:20:09Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Last week I heard about a lighthouse for sale. The price seemed very reasonable – but the owners would have to be able to put up with the automated fog horn, which sounded every ten seconds. I doubt that it sounds every ten seconds _when it isn’t foggy._ But them suckers are _loud_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/5 "2010-08-28T15:22:59Z")
It seemed pretty frequent to me, but that’s what I heard on the radio. Weather conditions weren’t specified. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/6 "2010-08-28T15:50:08Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > > Last week I heard about a lighthouse for sale. The price seemed very reasonable – but the owners would have to be able to put up with the automated fog horn, which sounded every ten seconds. > > I doubt that it sounds every ten seconds _when it isn’t foggy._ But them suckers are _loud_. Well, here in the Bay Area, the frigg’n fog horns have been on constantly since almost February. Coldest, grimmest summer in years… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/7 "2010-08-28T16:16:03Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > Well, here in the Bay Area, the frigg’n fog horns have been on constantly since almost February. Coldest, grimmest summer in years… ‘The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco.’ – Attributed to Mark Twain, though he may not have said it. He did write something similar about [Paris](http://www.twainquotes.com/Paris.html), though. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/8 "2010-08-28T16:31:32Z")
Be careful what you wish for… you might go [insane](http://lyrics.wikia.com/Van_Der_Graaf_Generator:A_Plague_Of_Lighthouse_Keepers). ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/9 "2010-08-28T19:36:20Z")
I cannot imagine anyone wanting to do this-my Dad knew a couple, who ran a B&B-till they got sick of it. It is one thing to serve guests-at least you can get away from time to time-but to be stuck with them, on some remote island, 24/7 ? THAT would drive me nuts! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/10 "2010-08-29T02:35:49Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > > Last week I heard about a lighthouse for sale. The price seemed very reasonable – but the owners would have to be able to put up with the automated fog horn, which sounded every ten seconds. > > I doubt that it sounds every ten seconds _when it isn’t foggy._ But them suckers are _loud_. I’m wondering if that would actually be worse. I think you could get used to a foghorn going off every ten seconds and eventually stop noticing it. But if it only operated intermittently you’d notice it every time it started up again. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/11 "2010-08-29T07:06:16Z")
It’d be a great place to be during a zombie apocalypse. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/12 "2010-08-29T08:51:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Applicants must have a U.S. Coast Guard commercial boating license, eschew pizza delivery and enjoy the company of, well, seagulls. They must also relish hard work. Four days out of the week, the three-story Victorian bed and breakfast hosts up to five couples who pay from $295 to $415 a night for a gourmet breakfast, four-course dinner and ferry service to and from the island. > > The innkeepers must keep track of the business’ paperwork, make weekly trips ashore for groceries and other supplies and ensure that the foghorn and flashing Fresnel light in the 1874 lighthouse are working. They’re paid a total of from $60,000 to $100,000 a year. Sounds like an opportunity to make a fortune. Not for the couple doing the work, but whoever is looking to hire them could make out like a bandit. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Captain\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/13 "2010-08-29T11:03:28Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I cannot imagine anyone wanting to do this-my Dad knew a couple, who ran a B&B-till they got sick of it. It is one thing to serve guests-at least you can get away from time to time-but to be stuck with them, on some remote island, 24/7 ? > THAT would drive me nuts! I think that would depend on the clintelle you would recieve and how much “running around” you would have to do for the guests. It would also seem that someone would have to be a “jack of all trades” to do this job, being a plumber, carpenter, cook, accountant, whatever. I would make it clear what my responsibities are and what constitiutes an emergency after hours (no power, someone sick or hurt etc.). I couldn’t take the job because I am not a boat person. I like the ocean, but I don’t care for boats too much. The obnoxious sound of the lighthouse would get me too. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/14 "2010-08-29T21:13:57Z")
There just aren’t many active lighthouses any more. Radar cheap enough that almost every boat can afford it has made most of them obsolete. And the few remaining active ones are fully automated. So the only ‘job opportunities’ in this field are cases like this, where it is more a ‘unique’ vacation destination than a working lighthouse. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/15 "2010-08-29T21:34:14Z")
There are still allot of them on the Great Lakes, this one has brought me home on many boating voyages. [![](https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4101/4938859815_9a7c27a46a_z.jpg) ](https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4101/4938859815_9a7c27a46a_z.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![MemoryDump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@MemoryDump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MemoryDump)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/16 "2010-08-30T05:22:39Z")
It is isolated, but not remote. Thousands of cars crossing the I580 Richmond-San Rafael bridge can see the lighthouse off to the north. We have often speculated while crossing the bridge on how expensive and how much fun it would be to do a getaway weekend there. We take the bridge several times a year when we go to visit our son who lives in Marin county. [Google map.](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=east%20brother%20light%20station%20image&revid=875585390&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl) The infamous San Quentin prison is just to the south of the west bridge approach. Thanks for starting the thread Doughie ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/17 "2010-08-30T06:25:37Z")
[Another opportunity](http://www.newdungenesslighthouse.com/lighthouse-keepers.html), which is both shorter and doesn’t involve running a B&B. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-marry-a-lighthouse-keeper/551788/18 "2010-08-30T10:13:38Z")
Its nice to know that even in this day and age that there are still interesting and dare I say it (I dare, I dare) romantic jobs around. I wouldn’t mind a stint at it myself but unfortunately totally can’t cook.