Creal Reef Light is an active lighthouse located at Creal Reef, a planar reef about 150 kilometres (93 mi) east of Mackay, Queensland, Australia. It guides ships outgoing from Mackay into Hydrographers Passage, a deep water channel east of Mackay.[1] The structure is a stainless steel tower, which also serves as a daymark and carries a racon.
 The light is the tower on the left | |
 | |
| Location | Mackay Queensland Australia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 20°32′02.3″S 150°22′49.84″E / 20.533972°S 150.3805111°E |
| Tower | |
| Constructed | 1985 |
| Foundation | reinforced concrete on four piles |
| Construction | stainless steel skeletal tower |
| Height | 34.5 metres (113 ft) |
| Shape | square pyramidal tower with balcony and lantern |
| Markings | white tower with an orange square daymark in the upper half |
| Power source | solar power  |
| Operator | Australian Maritime Safety Authority |
| Racon | M |
| Light | |
| Focal height | 32 metres (105 ft) |
| Lens | VRB-25 |
| Intensity | 104,000 cd |
| Characteristic | Fl W 7.5s |
Creal Reef edit
Creal Reef is a middle shelf planar reef with an area of 1.6 square kilometres (0.62 sq mi).[2] It was named in the late 1920s by Captain John A. Edgell (RN) on the survey ship HMAS Moresby, during the Moresby survey of the Cumberland Channel inside the Great Barrier Reef.[3] It was named after Denis A. J. Creal, a pilot with the No. 101 Flight RAAF who assisted the Moresby with her surveys.[4]
Structure and display edit
The structure, established in April 1985, is a 21 metres (69 ft) stainless steel skeletal tower with a white lantern, standing on a reinforced concrete hut, supported on four piles. The total height from the ground to the top platform is 34.5 metres (113 ft).[5] The light shares the location with an automatic weather station.[6]
The current light characteristic is a white flash every 7.5 seconds (Fl.W. 7.5s) visible for a distance of 19 nautical miles (35 km; 22 mi).[7] The apparatus is a solar powered VRB-25 rotating at 1.33 rpm. The light source is a 12 Volt 75 Watt Halogen lamp with an intensity of 104,000 cd.[5] The racon, mounted at an elevation of 34 metres (112 ft),[8] transmits a morse code "M" (- -) for a distance of 16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi).[9]
The daymark, displayed at 33 metres (108 ft) above MHWS, comprises two orange 3 by 7 metres (9.8 ft × 23.0 ft) slats on the northern and western faces.[5]
Site operation and visiting edit
The site and the tower are operated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.[5] The island is accessible only by boat, and both the site and the tower are closed to the public.[1]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Australia: Southern Queensland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ "AIMS Research - Reef Monitoring". data.aims.gov.au. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
- ^ "HMAS Moresby (I)". Sea Power Centre Australia. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
- ^ Ray Blackwood (1997). The Whitsunday Islands - An Historical Dictionary. p. 55. quoted in "Street Names of Mackay , Queensland, Australia". mackayhistory.org. Mackay Historical Society. 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Creal Reef Light, QLD, AN424-01" (PDF). Aids to Navigation Schedule Issue 10. Australian Maritime Safety Authority. December 2006.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Michael Pitcher (September–October 2006). "The Lighting of Hydrographers Passage – Part 2". Lighthouses of Australia Inc. Bulletin. 9 (5). Archived from the original on 26 February 2011.
- ^ List of Light. Note that AN424-1 lists visibility distance of 16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi), but the date is 2006.
- ^ "Creal Reef Racon, QLD, AN424-04" (PDF). Aids to Navigation Schedule Issue 10. Australian Maritime Safety Authority. December 2006.[permanent dead link]
- ^ List of Lights, Pub. 111: The West Coasts of North and South America (Excluding Continental U.S.A. and Hawaii), Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Islands of the North and South Pacific Oceans (PDF). List of Lights. United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2010. p. 203.
External links edit
- "List of Lighthouses of Queensland". Lighthouses of Australia. Lighthouses of Australia Inc.
- Searle, Garry. "List of Lighthouses - Queensland". Lighthouses of Australia. SeaSide Lights.