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I love my lighthouse, says Red Falcon relative
A WOMAN whose grandfather and father were Fleetwood trawlermen has a new career helping seafarers.
Trudy Watson, who lives in western Australia, is an avid reader of the Fleetwood Weekly News online.
And her job as lightouse guide at Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse has reminded her of the hazards faced by trawlermen - in particular because her grandfather was bosun on the ill-fated trawler the Red Falcon when she was lost off Skerryvore in December 1959.
"I have an avid interest in lighthouses, fishing and the sea," said Trudy. "My father was also a Fleetwood fisherman who became a marine engineer. He worked as chief engineer on the Boston Seafire, formerly Buzzard FD109, when the trawler made the passage from Fleetwood to new owners in Nelson, New Zealand, when she was chartered in 1969."
Trudy admits: "I never thought it was possible to love a lighthouse. Then, I became a tour guide at Cape Leeuwin, right where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet, where it is beautiful, wild and remote. Surrounded by granite rocks, ocean swells and unique Australian scrub the Cape is considered by mariners to be one of the most dangerous in the world. It's well known for its numerous shipwrecks and has a rich seafaring history of English, Dutch and French exploration.
3 days into my new job and I'm still in training to be a Guide. The wind has reached gale force today and I stagger past the old Lighthouse Keepers cottages, muttering to myself and hanging on to what's left of my tour notes - flapping bits of ripped paper. Perched at the Southern end of the Cape - 40 metres high and 112 years old - the lighthouse looks like some ancient phallic symbol and is stunning white against a dark stormy sky. I'm looking forward to being alone in the tower for the first time.
I think I'll be a good Lighthouse Guide. Coming from one of Fleetwood's oldest fishing families ensures my strands of DNA contain all the quirks and qualities that make a good lighthouse guide. For example, I have a natural ability to lean confidently round the corner into 40 knot winds - on the balcony at the top of the lighthouse, wind screaming past my ears, hair whipping my stinging face. I know exactly when to step back – a split second before a squall hits and could blow me over the side. I can not only withstand, but actually enjoy, the rosy bloom on my Lancashire cheeks as the hail and rain sweep over the Cape whenever it's my turn to walk up to the lighthouse. Unfortunately I haven't found my lighthouse legs yet and it's been rather embarrassing walking alongside my new supervisor as he strides, shoulders squared, on a steady path, while I speed up suddenly, sway, slow down, lurch sideways and bump into him yet again. It's the wind - it buffets me round like a feather. I'm sure it's only the damp Fleetwood Lifeboat beanie I'm wearing that keeps me on the ground.
I wrench the lighthouse door open, fall over the step and blow through the door. It SLAMS behind me, the wind is howling. I stand at the bottom of the lighthouse and gaze up the steep spiral staircase - 176 steps to the top. I glance at my notes 'Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse – Dedicated to the Worlds Mariners'. I wonder how I will start my tours. I want people to see and feel the lighthouse - from a ship, on a wild ocean and a black night. I start to climb.
"Level 5, the watch house, 1 level below the light. I press my face to a window and gaze at the crashing sea on the reefs below. I listen to the sound of the wind as it shrieks around the tower and I stare at the horizon, feeling old lighthouse keepers lingering in the atmosphere.
I suddenly think of my Grandfather. On the ill-fated trawler the Red Falcon. Heading for home and crossing the notorious waters of the South Minch where 7 tides meet, off the West Coast of Scotland. Battling 90 mile an hour winds and up to 40ft waves the Red Falcon went down with all hands lost off Skerryvore Lighthouse in 1959.
"For the first time in my life I get a small glimpse of the horror. I think of all the Fleetwood trawlers that used to make their way home from those distant and cold Icelandic fishing grounds, past the Scottish Highlands and its lighthouses, through the outer and Inner Hebrides and its lighthouses, down through the North Channel and the Irish Sea, past Barrow and into Morecombe Bay. I recall my own father telling me of going through a fierce gale while crossing the South Minch. As the trawler rolled onto its side in a massive sea, he wondered if he would ever get to see me – his first born daughter only 3 weeks old. I imagine his relief and happiness as the crew sighted the home beacon of Wyre Light, before heading through the channel toward the Lower and Upper Lighthouses of Fleetwood. Towards wives, mothers, fathers, sons and new born daughters.
"I climb the final set of stairs to the top of the lighthouse and open the balcony door – into gale force winds. The gusts are incredible, they slam into me and for a second I lose my breath. The raw energy of nature and this wild Cape is exhilarating and as I struggle to get my balance I can't help laughing out loud. I chain the door back and grasping the balcony rail gaze out to sea.
As I stand at the top of Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse under a huge Australian sky, with 2 of the world's oceans on either side of me, I suddenly feel a comfortable and familiar feeling of coming home. For a long while I stand there - and I remember the Fleetwood fisherman. I'm going to enjoy being a lighthouse guide, I have my bearings now."
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Weather for Fleetwood
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
