Lighthouse Gets A Battery Change

Jersey's Coastguard has been out at sea this week replacing the huge batteries that power the Navigation Aids.

Bad weather in the last few weeks have meant that the journey to the aids has been too dangerous.

But yesterdays (9 February) tides and weather conditions opened up a window of opportunity for the teams at the Coastguard and the Ports Navigation Aids and Marine Services.

The job of changing the 14 batteries that run the Demie de Pas aid and fog horn fell onto trainee Luke, who previously worked as an Electrical Technician at the Airport.

While the boat was held up against the lighthouse, in what the coastguard call 'in a bit of very skilled seamanship' the batteries, which each weigh 30kg were wiched up.

The old batteries, which seem to last up to 4 years, had reached the end of their 'useful life'.

Once they had been changed, Luke and his colleauges checked that the solar panels were charging them up.

The old batteries then had to be wiched down and the coastguard officers climbed down from the light house to a moving boat.

"It was a very successful trip, not only for the repair to a very important Navigation Aid, but also in allowing one of our Coastguards to see first hand the challenges involved in keeping the Island's Navigation Aids working."