Pine Islet Light, Lighthouse at Pine Islet, Queensland, Australia
Pine Islet Light is a lighthouse on Pine Islet in the Percy Isles group, about 130 km southeast of Mackay, Queensland. The original 1885 tower, a hardwood frame clad with riveted galvanized iron plates, was dismantled in 1986 and rebuilt at Mackay Marina between 1989 and 1995. The islet now has a 6.1 m fiberglass tower without a lantern, serving as a daymark.
This structure was built in 1885 and marked an important shift in the region's maritime navigation. After 100 years of operation with kerosene lamps, the system was modernized in 1985, ending an era of fuel-powered navigation lights.
The lighthouse's name comes from the pine trees on Pine Islet, one of the Percy Isles. The original tower was dismantled in 1986 and rebuilt at Mackay Marina by volunteers from the Pine Islet Lighthouse Preservation Society, starting in 1989. It was restored to full working order in late 1995 and remains the last operational kerosene-powered lighthouse in the world.
The original tower can be seen today at Mackay Marina, where it is displayed. The active station on the island itself is visible from the water and operates independently with modern solar equipment.
The original apparatus was a second-order revolving lens with four fixed and four flash panels, fitted with a red shade to mark Normanby Rock about 1.6 km to the southwest. A 1909 listing gave its range as 20 nautical miles.
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