The U.S. Lighthouse Society took a tour through Puget Sound to get an closeup look at lighthouses last month, including two in the North End. About 40 members, loaded onto a big tour bus, started in Seattle and in less than a week explored 15 lighthouses from the San Juans to Vashon Island.

Tour members, decked out in colorful lighthouse motif clothing and accessories, were from all over the country, including Oregon, Michigan, Colorado and Virginia. On Sept. 10, they stopped by Point No Point Lighthouse where they were met by docent Chaz Nicklin and Washington Lightkeepers Association founder and president Elinor DeWire.

After exploring the Point No Point Lighthouse and hearing some of the fascinating lore associated with it, they snapped photos and admired the view over to Whidbey Island.

The next stop was a rare look at the privately owned Skunk Bay Lighthouse a mile west of Hansville and three miles northwest of Point No Point.

Kate Joncas and David Traylor met the group to show them around their property, owned by 12 professional friends and acquaintances known as the Skunk Bay Lighthouse Association. The lighthouse is not open to the public and owners ask the public to respect their privacy by not trespassing.

The property was purchased by the association in 1970 from renowned maritime author Jim Gibbs. At the time, said DeWire, Gibbs had been diagnosed with a terminal disease and was not expected to live long so he decided to sell the lighthouse and move with his wife to Maui. Gibbs survived the bout and now lives in Cleft of the Rock Lighthouse in Yachats, Ore. His wife, Cherie, has since passed away.

Skunk Bay light active by accident

This “small memorial sentinel … became active somewhat by accident,” according to Gibbs’ description in his book, “Lighthouses of the Pacific.”

In 1964, when the Smith Lighthouse was doomed due to extensive erosion of the west side of the island, the Coast Guard gave Gibbs permission to remove the lantern tower before the whole structure tumbled down the cliff into the sea. The Smith Island Lighthouse had served since 1858, the first lighthouse commissioned in the inland waters of Washington at the eastern terminus of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The original fresnel lens that was in the Smith Lighthouse is now in the Museum of History and Industry of Seattle, DeWire said.

Gibbs transported the lantern to his one-acre waterfront site at Skunk Bay. He built a small keeper’s house and eventually a tower for the lantern house from structural plans that had been used on the Mukilteo lighthouse in about 1906. Gibbs had also salvaged the fog bell from the Columbia River Lightship No. 88 but transferred it to the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Ore. when No. 88, which has since been sold, was brought there as part of a display.

The Skunk Bay light became an aid to navigation inadvertently. The story goes, according to Joncas and Traylor, that Gibbs had a few too many martinis and was up in the tower blinking the fresnel light at passing ships. The light was left on overnight. The next morning, Coast Guard officers were at his door, after being barraged by calls complaining of an unauthorized beacon blinking over the shipping lanes toward Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. After inspecting the lighthouse and being impressed by its structure, the Coast Guard told Gibbs to either turn off the light permanently or operate it continuously in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Coast Guard. Since then, the tower houses a fixed red signal light and is identified on navigational maps.

Members of the Skunk Bay Lighthouse Association, who use the lighthouse as a time-share vacation getaway, added two bedrooms, an inside bath, living and dining rooms and a loft, dedicated in 1982. Each member of the association gets a one-week stay at the lighthouse each season for a total of four weeks per year.

The Friends of Point No Point Lighthouse is a new non-profit group to support the preservation and restoration of the lighthouse. Membership is $20 per year. Write to Friends of Point No Point Lighthouse, P.O. Box 428, Hansville, WA 98340 or e-mail friendsofpnp@wavecable.com.