PICAMILLO TOWER BEACON

The Picamillo beacon came to life as a result of a letter sent by the Fishermen’s Guild of O Grove dated 22nd November 1930, in which they made a request for the tower that was to be built on the “Fagilda” ridge to be replaced with a tower on the “PICAMILLO” ridge, as that one poses greater danger to shipping when the sea is rough.

Therefore, in the light of such a request, the Directorate General decided to suspend the building plans for the “Fagilda” ridge and to commence building on “Picamillo”.

In July 1933, in a letter that also complained about the state of the Camoucos beacon, reference was made to the fact that the Picamillo beacon was positioned too centrally, making access to the estuary very complicated. Besides, nothing more than the beacon had been built - there was no tower or light.

In view of the ongoing situation of the beacon, whereby more than a year had elapsed without it having either a tower or a light and thus it was no more than an artificial cement edifice on the rocks, and given the danger that it entailed for shipping, the Ministry of the Navy decided to intervene in the matter and banned shipping in the channel between the Picamillo and Punta Fagilda ridges.

In August 1933, erection of the tower and the light for the beacon commenced, which was to have similar characteristics as the rest of the beacons in the area, i.e. a 13-metre high tower, a light with a range of 8 miles, and beam height of 14.5 metres above sea level. Sailing between the delimited areas was still banned until the first half of September, which is when it was due to come into service.

Finally, in 1980, the colour of the light was changed from white to green, in accordance with the ‘A’ red to port scheme.

LOS CAMOUCOS TOWER BEACON

In December 1925, the Central Navigation Signals Service gave orders for the Camoucos ridge to be signalled with a beacon, and so a tower was built to house a white light with sets of three blinkers and with a range in average weather of 8 miles.
In 1930, once the tower had been built, the project to acquire the lighting device was approved. In May 1931, the certificate of delivery of the works to provide lighting for the beacon was issued, although in the end, that work was not carried out immediately.

In fact, it was not until July 1933, when a letter in the newspaper denounced the hazardous situation facing fishermen in the Ria de Pontevedra sailing near Camoucos due to the lack of lighting on the beacon and highlighted a series of accidents that could have been prevented had those ridges been properly signalled.

The protest was seconded by sailors and navigators in the estuary who had already sent letters of complaint and requests in previous years to the Ministry of the Navy and the State Ports central offices.

Finally, the authorities committed to putting lights on Camouco into service in the first half of September 1933, with the following characteristics: a cylindrical, 13-metre high tower supporting a cast iron column and a 3-flash, white light with a range of 8 miles.

In the end, it was early October 1933 when final installation of the lighting device was recorded. The installation was carried out and certified by Rafael Enamorado as Chief Engineer.

MOURISCA TOWER BEACON

The Mourisca beacon stands on an outcrop on an underwater reef near Cape Udra and its name is taken from the fact that it is located at the Punta Mourisca headland at the mouth of the Ria de Marin.

The tower is the same type as the other beacons in the Rías Baixas. It was built in 1923 and remained in continual service until it was destroyed by a violent storm seven years later, on 31st December 1930.

The importance of the ridge at that point being signalled led to the tower having to be rebuilt, a project that was carried out in 1933.

And so it remained until 1965, when again the tower was destroyed by storms and a floating light buoy installed as a temporary solution.

The erection of a new tower, at an approximate cost of 1,900,000 pesetas, was agreed on in December 1967 at the request of the head of the Galicia Coast and Ports Department. The new construction was approved in 1968 by the Central State Ports Board.

Today, the beacon can be seen perfectly as it fulfils its duty of warning ships of the reef in that area.

PUNTA COUSO

In 1954, the installation of this beacon was decreed by ministerial order and construction was commissioned to Carlos Alcon Sanz, engineer at the Public Works Department of Pontevedra. The light was to run on acetylene, like most beacon lights in the estuary, and it was to have a range of 10 miles and 4 months’ autonomy. The project presented by the Chief Engineer to the General Directorate had a cost of 211,433.40 pesetas, which was to be charged under the heading of works and facilities to the Ministry of the Navy’s budget.

The light was ordered to have a range of 10 miles in average weather for both its white and green sectors. To achieve such power in the Atlantic, it needs to have a light source of 950 candles. On 17th April 1960, sailors were notified that the Punta Couso lighthouse had come been put into service on a provisional basis, and its full operation finally commenced on 2nd March 1961.

On 10th March 1961, an error in the book of lighthouses was recorded, as the light from the beacon could not be seen after about 5 miles, even with good visibility, so it did not match the actual range indicated in the Book of Lighthouses.

National no: 04710 International no: D-1873
Name and location: Punta Couso
Latitude & longitude: 42 18,520 N / 08 51,420 W
Appearance interval: Fl(3)WG 10,5s
Elevation in metres: 20
Range in miles: W10G8
Tower height: 5 white green conical trunk tower
Observations status: 1;1,5;1;1,5;1;4,5 060º G 096º W 190º G 000º

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