![]() This season will be a little extra exciting, too, since Big Sable will turn 150 years old. Those volunteering for a week will continue through Sunday, leaving that night or Monday morning. And volunteers usually get Thursday, or another day, off for their own adventuring. The association members check in throughout the week. The week usually starts Monday, when the keepers arrive, and Tuesday begins with training on duties and history lessons. Manting said for Big Sable, there are only about 10 spots left for next season already.Īnd don’t worry: volunteers aren’t thrown into lighthouse keeping without a little training. “If you’re a couple, you can have a two-week vacation for $150 at Big Sable Lighthouse,” Manting said.īut you better move quickly. Those wanting to sign up can visit the website at. Those interested in signing up need to fill out two applications: one to become a member of the SPLKA (fee for the application is $60 for individuals and $100 for couples) and then the keeper application (fee is $30 for individuals and $50 for couples). “A lot of being a lighthouse keeper is sitting around the dinner table at night and sharing meals together.” ![]() “You each have separate bedrooms,” Manting said. At Big Sable, six to eight people usually volunteer at a time, while five to six people each are usually staying at the other two stations. That’s because the stay there is at the lighthouse, while those volunteering for the other two stay at park ranger houses during the off hours. “The ones at Big Sable fill pretty quickly,” Manting said. Little Sable Point and Ludington North Breakwater lighthouses require a one-week commitment each, and the White River Light Station, which has a regular lighthouse keeper, offers daily volunteer opportunities, but nothing with an overnight stay. ![]() The Big Sable Point Lighthouse is the biggest commitment: a two-week stay at the lighthouse itself. There are four lighthouses being monitored and kept by the Sable Points Lighthouse Keepers Association: the Big Sable Point Lighthouse, at Ludington State Park, about seven miles north of Ludington the Little Sable Point Lighthouse, at Silver Lake State Park the White River Light Station in Whitehall, on the channel between Lake Michigan and White Lake, and Ludington North Breakwater Lighthouse, right at the end of downtown Ludington.Įach of the lighthouses has a slightly different setup. each day of the stay.Īnd when the volunteers are off duty, they can enjoy their stay at the provided quarters. These duties would be performed 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Those who sign up can expect to perform daily duties during their stay including manning the gift shop, greeting visitors and taking tickets and sharing historical information at the top of the lighthouses, as well as basic upkeep, such as cleaning and restocking bathrooms and sweeping walkways. The association is accepting applications now for next season. Luckily, hundreds of people every season have an opportunity to do just that by becoming a temporary lighthouse keeper for one or two weeks at a time. “It’s the romance of doing it,” Peter Manting, executive director of Sable Points Lighthouse Keepers Association, said. There’s no question as to why staying at a lighthouse is on many people’s bucket lists. The adventure of keeping watch over a historical building and meeting people from all over the world. The quiet isolation offering reprieve from a hectic world. The crashing waves against the shoreline.
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