Tidepieces - Orient Point Light Tide Clock - Black Flat Panel

Tidepieces - Orient Point Light Tide Clock - Black Flat PanelExclusively available only from Mellow Monkey Handcrafted by local artisan, Alan Winick, this tide clock has the image of Orient Point Light, a sparkplug lighthouse off Orient Point, New York in Plum Gut of Long Island Sound, with a tide that rises and falls as the actual tide in your location goes from high to low. The United States Lighthouse Service placed a daymarker at the site in 1855, announcing that it would be replaced by a beacon, but its

• Exclusively available only from Mellow Monkey
• Handcrafted by local artisan, Alan Winick, this tide clock has the image of Orient Point Light, a sparkplug lighthouse off Orient Point, New York in Plum Gut of Long Island Sound, with a tide that rises and falls as the actual tide in your location goes from high to low.

  • The United States Lighthouse Service placed a daymarker at the site in 1855, announcing that it would be replaced by a beacon, but its completion was delayed by the hardness of the rock and a nighttime collision into the temporary staging by a trading vessel.

  • Construction of a cast-iron caisson tower on the reef began in October 1898 but was halted for a year by stormy weather. Construction began again in the spring, and by September, most of the project was in place. The lamp was lit on November 10, 1899, but the fifth-order Fresnel lens proved to be too weak and was replaced by a fourth order lens on May 1, 1900. A fog signal went into operation of June 1 of that year, and was upgraded in 1905
    

  • The steamship Halyoke missed hitting the lighthouse on August 30, 1912, when its steering went out. Although the current headed the ship directly at the light, the captain put the engines into full reverse, and the ship ran up on the rock but then backed up. No damage was done to the ship or the lighthouse.

  • On April 5, 1958, the lighthouse was automated, and in 1970 the Coast Guard announced its plans to tear it down. Popular sentiment saved the lighthouse from this fate, and the Coast Guard reversed its decision. Instead, repairs were made: additional concrete for the base, and a new coat of paint and epoxy preservative. The lens was replaced in 1988, and additional major repair work took place in 2000, including the installation of solar panels and batteries.
  • In June 2011, the General Services Administration made the Orient Point Light, along with 11 others, available at no cost to public organizations willing to preserve them. When no suitable caretaker organization was found, an auction was held in 2011 in which the high bidder failed to provide a required additional deposit; a second auction followed in 2013.
  • The lighthouse was purchased on September 18, 2013, by sculptor Randy Polumbo with a high bid of $252,000. Polumbo, the founder of the eco-construction company Plant, converted part of the lighthouse's interior into an artist's residency he calls "Plum Gut Grotto". According to Polumbo, the lighthouse has structural issues: part of the base is missing, allowing water to seep in

• Tide clock has a black frame with dual faced clock.
• Bottom of clock provides the traditional tide clock showing current tide. Dial provides hours to high tide and to low tide.
• Top of clock is what makes this time piece truly unique.  A mechanically animated display of the waterline rises and falls as the tide goes from high to low.
• Clock measures 11-in H x 6-1/2-in W x 2-in D
• Can be displayed free standing or on a wall.
• Construction: Plastic frame, plastic, paper and metal housing.
• Includes wood stand to hold clock when free-standing
• Uses one AA battery - not included.
• Ships in a gift box with instructions. 
• Artisan limited warranty: 3 years
• See the complete Tidepieces Collection