Penfield Reef Lighthouse

A very
benevolent
ghost
Penfield Reef is a nasty place. The long, curving and extremely treacherous reef has claimed many a ship over the years and decades. Even today with the lighthouse and modern navigational aids several boats every summer manage to find the reef.
The reef was well known and feared by mariners but it wasn’t until 1874 that the present lighthouse was finally constructed. It is made of granite and wood and is one of the very last «unique’ lights. Most of the ones built after it are the cheap, efficient, spark plug cast iron ones.
Since the reef has claimed so many victims over the years it’s a pretty spooky place. The reef has very sharp rocks that are just under the surface at low tide and even in a small craft like a kayak one has to be very aware of what is lurking just under the water.
The area got even spookier in 1916 when the lighthouse keeper, Fred Jordan, decided to row ashore and see his family for Xmas. Well the area can get really feisty, really quickly and poor Fred got blown out to sea, never to be seen again.
Even since that time people have claimed to have seen Fred. Sometimes rowing around the reef near the light and sometimes at the lighthouse itself but always looking seriously spooky.
Fred never seems to bother anyone and it fact in 1942 he is even credited with saving some young boys that got lost out by the light in a small boat. They said a strange man in a small dory guided them to shore.
They said the man that saved them didn’t say anything and wouldn’t come ashore even though the weather was getting really bad. The boys recognized that their savior was good old Fred from an old picture that was shown to them.
Whether or not you believe the stories of Fred is up to you. This unique lighthouse that stands about a mile off shore, on the end of a very nasty reef is still a very spooky and cool place.
If you go out there you better keep track of what is lurking just under the water and make sure you wave if you happen to see a guy in a small boat. A very spooky looking fellow named Fred.