Sandvigodden Light

Two for the Price -

At the southeastern side of Hisøya Island near Sandviga in southern Norway stand two light towers of which only one is an actual lighthouse. Collectively, these two light towers are the Sandvigodden Lights. Only the taller tower facing the water is currently operational. They mark the west side narrow entrance to Galtesundet Strait which leads to the thriving harbor of Arendal Norway. 

When I photographed this lighthouse, the location was more elusive than most I have searched for and if it were not for my first cousin who knew of this Light and lived on Hisøya Island in Arendal I may not have found it. The location was difficult to find even for him as it was nestled tightly into a small residential area with only a one lane loop road with tight turns and no signage as to its location. In order to get this photo, I had to carefully wade through several low lying pools at the base of the rock bank and at the water's edge to access the angle at which the photo was taken. I do not regret it. It was taken with a Nikon S8200, f/6.6 at a shutter speed of 1/500.

The original square tower, the one to the back side in this photo, was built in 1844 out of masonry and has a two and a half story lightkeepers residence attached. With the commercial activity in Arendal harbor growing at a fast pace in 1844, there was much demand from mariners and local ship builders for this Light to be built. Local ship builders greatly contributed to the funding to get it built. It towers 56 feet above sea level and was manned 24/7 by a resident light keeper. It was decommissioned in 1934 to make way for a new tower built right in front of the old one. The newer tower is further outward to the water and more visible, and is automated rather than manned by a light keeper. The newest technology at the time also allowed the light to emit colors of red, green or white depending on the direction in which it was viewed. This led to greater navigational safety for ships moving through the narrow Strait entrance. The existing Light and keeper's residence were sold after the construction of the new tower and is now a private home. The new tower was government funded and is about 62 feet above sea level and can be seen 5.9 nautical miles out to sea. Both towers were painted white with a painted red top. As is typical for most Norwegian Lights though not exclusively, the lantern room glass is angled outward to reduce distortion and improve clarity of the light beam over a wider area as seen by mariners.

It should be noted that like in the U.S., each Lighthouse is registered by the government and has a registry number. In Norway, the registry number is identified on a plaque somewhere high on the tower. The number for the 1934 tower can be seen in the photo, though it is smaller in scale. It is located just under the lantern room glass facing the water side:  #061700. 

In Norwegian, the Light towers are referred to as the "Sandvigodden Fyrstasjon".