(autotranslated, could have mistakes)

Image removed from public review package. Local review only · not public no-info · lamp-103.jpgMy name is Vasily Korablev, I am the head of the non-profit project “Lighthouse. Virtual Museum of Lighthouses of the World" (www.mayachnik.ru). I thank your Association and the magazine for kindly providing the opportunity to tell a little about the lighthouses of Russia. Our project is the largest in Russia, although it is relatively young (created in 2008). One of the goals of the project is to collect and preserve information about lighthouses and lighthouse keepers in Russia in the form of an encyclopedia. Unfortunately, quite little information is published about lighthouses in Russia, compared to other countries, but we hope that thanks to the activities of our project and the organized Society of Lighthouse Lovers, we will be able to attract the attention of lighthouse lovers from other countries. I would like to take this opportunity to say hello to Brigit van den Broek and other lighthouse lovers from all over the world whom we have met. I’m always happy to help you learn more about Russian lighthouses. Although the encyclopedia is in Russian, you can always use Google Translate on our website.

Our project began with collecting information about lighthouses, but over time, talking with keepers, we realized that these people, who perform often invisible feats, are usually not mentioned. The beauty of lighthouses hides the most interesting human destinies. Of course, there are quite a few keepers that I would like to talk about, and in this article we’ll start with the keepers’ family: The head of the Kurbatova lighthouse, Elena Barbasheva, and her husband Vladimir (a mechanic), who have been working at the lighthouse since 2006.

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• Elena Barbasheva with her husband Vladimir and dog*

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Kurbatov's Lighthouse

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Kurbatov's Lighthouse

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Lighthouse "Kurbatov". Brief information.

Geographical coordinates: latitude 50°51.9’ N, longitude 156°28.7’ E

Location: Kuril Islands, Shumshu Island, Sea of Okhotsk, Pacific Ocean - 1st Kuril Strait.

Year of construction of the tower: 1956

Shape: Red octagonal concrete tower with lantern structure

Height of the structure from the base: 15 m. Height of the fire from sea level: 58 m.

Fire visibility range: 16 miles.

In general, at a lighthouse, especially one so difficult to access, you rarely see a female keeper. It was interesting to find out how this happened with Elena herself.

Disclaimer. The Russian version was not planned for publication, therefore, in order to prepare a professional English translation, the author's edition of the text was retained. No edits were made to the Russian version in order to accurately convey the “voice” of the lighthouse keeper. Judging by the review of the former keeper of the United Kingdom, Gordon Medlicott, this made it possible to very accurately convey the atmosphere of lighthouse life in the English version.

“The desire to work at the lighthouse arose long before we arrived at the lighthouse. After all, we have a port city. Previously, when our city was a closed border zone, everyone was somehow connected with the sea, fish, the fleet, and everything that ensures the operation of the fleet. Therefore, lighthouses are taken for granted. My father is a sea captain. Worked at the Kamchatka Shipping Company. As a girl, I often visited him on the ships on which he worked. Vladimir is my husband, a sailor. He worked as a boatswain, a mechanic on ships and even worked on Greek ships in international crews. In general, we know a lot about lighthouses, but we only encountered what lighthouses in Russia actually look like and how work is organized at them when we came to work at the lighthouse.

I am a lawyer by education. In 2006, our circumstances were such that we were forced to look for a new job. For three months nothing acceptable could be found. It was a very difficult period in my life back then. Once, having come to the shore of the bay, I prayed to get to a desert island, not to see any of my relatives, and to live in peace and quiet. I didn’t know then that our Universe takes everything literally, including prayers and requests.

And the brilliant idea came to my mind that I needed to get a job at the lighthouse. I don’t know whether this is a coincidence or the providence of God, but when my husband and I once again came to the employment center, I saw an advertisement that the military unit was recruiting people to work in remote locations at lighthouses. The next day, my husband and I already talked with the head of the Lighthouse Service Department, and the very next day we applied for work.  When we climbed to the lighthouse, I realized that my prayers were heard, the island is uninhabited. There are two lighthouses and an outpost on the entire island.”

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Elena Barbasheva. Photo by: Yulia Galochkina

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Vladimir. Photo by: Yulia Galochkina

This article was prepared for more than six months, because... For most of the last year we had no contact with the lighthouse, and the latest news about the life and everyday life of the family for the readers of your magazine was learned thanks to the expedition of Igor Anatolyevich Samarin (author of the excellent book “Lighthouses of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Historical Sketch”). Elena was also very interested in the opportunity to publish an article about the Kurbatov Lighthouse in the journal of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers. This is what Elena writes about life at the lighthouse today.

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Elena Barbasheva at the lighthouse in winter

“Our life is no different, especially in winter. We have one more person. It seems like we worked well together. We live together. Although disagreements arise. Many people don’t understand why we live and work at the lighthouse. They are surprised and ask strange, from our point of view, questions: “How long will you have to suffer here?”, “What are you doing here for such a salary?”, “Have you gone wild here yet?”, “Aren’t you bored here?” “What are you doing here?” etc.

How can we explain that we are not “suffering” here and are not bored, and the salary is of secondary importance, but there are plenty of worries here, that everything here does not turn on, turn off, light up and live on its own, that the work of a lighthouse keeper is rather a state of mind and a voluntarily chosen way of life. Despite all the difficulties, my husband Vladimir and I are very happy people. We are confident that we are exactly where we need to be. Let it be destiny or fate, but this is exactly how we approach life at the lighthouse. I think now I’ll say something that only a lighthouse keeper would understand. You know, having seen my lighthouse for years, I can look at its light in the night for a very long time without getting tired. For a lighthouse keeper, a lighthouse is not a tower of fire. He's alive. Throbbing. With its own special rhythm and spirit. Each lighthouse has its own aura, individuality.  The keeper must be in harmony with his lighthouse. If a person who comes to work at the lighthouse does not fit into this harmony, he will leave without any particular reason. When it happens that the automation fails and the fire goes out, the sight of an extinguished lighthouse causes inexplicable melancholy. Returning to the lighthouse at night, when he sees his fire, he always wakes up

When the mood changes, a very warm feeling of native fire arises.

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The light of the Kurbatov lighthouse. Photo by: Yulia Galochkina

Well, if we move away from subtle matters, then our work is, in principle, routine. Ensuring uninterrupted power supply to the lighthouse town. Diesel power plants are operating. Maintenance, repair. Current repairs of buildings. Cyclones with rain, sleet and winds of up to 50 m/s, and sometimes higher, have a very destructive effect on all structures. Of course, the main task is the work of the lighthouse fire. Ensuring the navigational safety of ships in our waters. There are two lights in the first Kuril Strait - our fire is red, and on Cape Lopatka there is a white light. Daily communication with management and weather reports via radio station. We do not have such miracles as cellular communications and the Internet. True, there is satellite television, if the wind doesn’t blow the dish away.

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Postcards with a special cancellation from the Kurbatov lighthouse

As part of the campaign to raise funds for satellite Internet for the Kurbatov Lighthouse, carried out by the “Virtual Museum of Lighthouses of the World” project, a limited edition of commemorative postcards of the Kurbatov Lighthouse was released for free sale. A lighthouse stamp was made especially for cancellation, and in August 2013, as part of one of the expeditions, postcards were stamped at the Kurbatov lighthouse and at the post office of Severo-Kurilsk. All proceeds from the sale will be used to organize Internet communication with the lighthouse. Purchase postcards

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Kurbatov Lighthouse. Photo by: Yulia Galochkina

From November to June we are practically cut off from everyone. Storm season begins at the end of October, and the snow melts only in May. Only helicopter depending on the weather. A snowmobile to go to the neighboring lighthouse. All supplies and diesel fuel are imported in the summer for the whole year. So if you haven’t thought through something and haven’t provided for it, wait until next summer. There is also little hope for medical assistance due to the weather conditions. The helicopter will not arrive right away. Therefore, we must be able to provide first aid ourselves.  In general, work is like work.

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Kurbatov Lighthouse. View from the sea in the fog on the top of Kurbatov Hill on Shumshu Island

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Vladimir goes grocery shopping on a snowmobile in winter

On long winter evenings, everyone pursues their own interests. Handmade crafts, sewing. I usually bring books back from vacation. It is in winter that there is time for reading.

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Vladimir maintains the lighthouse’s diesel generator

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Vladimir at work repairing and painting the lighthouse

Personally, everything is like everyone else. Adult children with their own big and small problems. We contact our relatives via satellite phone, and when we leave for the other end of the island, there is cellular reception there.  Once a year we take turns going on vacation. We solve the accumulated problems, undergo a medical examination, my husband and I go to hot springs. We dream, fantasize, make plans and try to implement them. And we always return to the lighthouse with a joyful and very warm feeling.

I don't know what else I can add.  Life flows with its own rhythm.  For now, we have no plans to leave the lighthouse. We’ll see how life turns out in the future.”

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Vladimir on the balcony of the lighthouse lamp tower

Additional information about the history of this family can be found on our project website. Anyone who is interested in learning about Russian lighthouses and lighthouse keepers can always contact us at [email protected]. We are always happy to meet new people and communicate. And may the light of lighthouses protect all sailors for many years to come!

Photos from 2006 to 2014 (photo authors: Elena Barbasheva, Igor Samarin, Olga Maurina, Yulia Galochkina).  Now the lighthouse, unfortunately, is in very poor condition. Next year they promise a repair team if nothing changes.

Read more about this interesting family of caretakers in the articles:

• Lighthouse life from the inside. For those who are thinking of becoming a lighthouse

• Do you want to live in a lighthouse? Try traveling to the Kurbatov lighthouse

Feedback from readers of the English version

*I have been the subject of many press articles myself, and have read many reports of others about the trials and tribulations of living in a lighthouses, and I have even contributed similar articles for publication myself, but your article in LAMP 103 has simply ‘blown me away’. This article, for me, epitomizes the dedication and mind-set of what lighthouse keeping is all about, and has got to be one of the finest descriptions of what it takes to be a lighthouse keeper that I’ve ever read.

My congratulations and thanks to you for such a memorable piece of writing.

If possible, please convey my best wishes and thanks to Elana and Vladamir for the work they continue to do at the lighthouse.*

Gordon Medlicott (ex-lighthouse keeper in the UK and a member of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers)

Lighthouse "Kurbatova". From the history of lighthouses of Russia

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Let me introduce myself. My name is Vasily Korablev and I am the head of the non-profit project "Light keeper. Virtual museum of world lighthouses" (www.mayachnik.ru). I thank your Association and the journal for the kindly provided opportunity to tell a little bit about the lighthouses of Russia. Our project is the largest in Russia, although it is relatively young (started in 2008). One of the project goals is to collect and preserve the information of Russian lighthouses and light keepers in encyclopaedic form. Unfortunately, very little information about lighthouses of Russia is published compared with other countries. We hope that our project and the Lighthouse Lovers Society, that is now being organized, will help you to learn more about the lighthouses of Russia. Encyclopedia are all in Russian, although other language version is also supplied through the Google Translate tool on our website.

We started and developed our project by collecting information about lighthouses. However the more we communicated with light keepers, the more we realized that these people who often performed an invisible feat were not usually mentioned.

The beauty of lighthouses conceals amazing human destinies. There are many lighthouse keepers to tell about. In this article I introduce you to one of the light keepers families: Barbasheva Elena, the head of the lighthouse "Kurbatova", and Vladimir, her husband (mechanic), who work at the lighthouse since 2006.

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Lighthouse "Kurbatova." Quick reference.

Geographic coordinates: latitude 50051.9’ N, longitude 156028.7’ E

Location: the Kuril Islands, Shumshu, Sea of Okhotsk, the Pacific Ocean – the 1st Kuril Strait.

Year built: 1956

Form: octagonal concrete tower with a lantern room, painted red

Tower height: 15 m.

Focal plane height of a light: 58 m.

Visibility of light: 16 miles.

At the lighthouse you can hardly meet a female keeper, especially at that one which is hard to access. That's why it would be very interesting to know how Elena happened to get there.

"The desire to work at a lighthouse had come to my mind long before we arrived at the lighthouse. We lived in the port city after all. Our city was earlier a closed border zone and, one way or another, all people were involved in the sea life, fishing industry, fleet and had to do with all that provided the fleet. So, lighthouses have always been normal state of things here. My father is a sea captain and he worked in the Kamchatka Shipping Company. Being a little girl I often used to be on the board of the ships where he worked. Vladimir, my husband, is a sailor. He worked as a boatswain and mechanic for the Russian Navy and also worked in international crews of the Greek ships. In general, we know a lot about lighthouses but we have realized what the lighthouses are actually in Russia and how they work only when we have come to work at this lighthouse.

I hold a degree in law. In 2006 it fell out that we were forced to seek new work. We could not find anything eligible for three months. It was a very difficult period in my life. Once having arrived at the embayed shore, I implored to let me get to a desert island, not to meet any of my relatives and live in peace and quiet. At that time I didn’t know that the universe took our thoughts literally as well as all the prayers and requests.

Soon a brilliant idea occurred to me: I needed to get a job at the lighthouse. I don’t know whether it’s coincidence or Divine Providence, but once we came to the employment center with my husband again, a particular announcement caught my eye. It said that the military unit recruited people to work at lighthouses in remote locations. On the following day my husband and I talked to the chief of the Lighthouse Authority Division, and the day after we were employed. When I gained the top of the lighthouse, I realized - my prayers were answered, the island was uninhabited. On the whole island there were two lighthouses and a frontier post. "

This article was prepared for more than six months as we did not have any connection with the lighthouse for most of the year. We managed to learn the latest news about the lifestyle of the family to tell the readers of your magazine due to the expedition of Igor Samarin (the author of the wonderful book "Lighthouses of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Historical sketch"). Elena was also very interested in the opportunity to publish an article about the lighthouse “Kurbatova” in the journal of the Lighthouse Keepers Association.

Here is what Elena writes about today's life at the lighthouse.

"There is nothing special in our life here, especially in winter. We've got one more person and we seem to work well together. We are on friendly terms although sometimes disagreements arise. Many people do not understand why we live and work at the lighthouse. They are usually very surprised and, from our point of view, they ask weird questions: "How long are you here to suffer?", "Why are you here if you get such a salary?", "You have not become wild yet?", "Don't you get bored here?" "What are are you doing here?" etc.

I wonder how we can explain that we don’t suffer here and don’t get bored, the salary is of secondary importance. We have enough worries as everything doesn’t turn itself on and off here, every appliance doesn’t live its own life. The work of the lighthouse keeper is rather a state of mind and a voluntarily chosen lifestyle. Despite all the difficulties, my husband Vladimir and I are very happy. We are convinced that we are exactly where we should be. Let it be our true calling or destiny - that's how we feel about the life at the lighthouse. Now I think I will tell something that only a lighthouse keeper can understand. You know, I have seen my lighthouse for years and I can tirelessly look at its light for a long time at night. For a light keeper his lighthouse is not only a tower with a light. It is alive, pulsating, with its special rhythm and spirit. Every lighthouse has its own aura, its own individuality. The keeper must be in harmony with his lighthouse. If a person, who has come to work at the lighthouse, does not harmonize with it, soon he will leave the work for no particular reason. Sometimes it happens that automation fails, then the lightless lighthouse brings inexpli

cable melancholy. When I return to the lighthouse at night, its light always boosts my mood and there is a very warm feeling of the home fire.

Well, if we deviate from the subtle matter, our work is rather routine. We ensure uninterrupted power supply to the light attendant station. Diesel power stations are used. Then maintenance, equipment repair, current repair of the constructions are required. Cyclones with rain, sleet and wind force of up to 50 m/s (sometimes higher) have a very devastating impact on all the structures. Of course, the main task is the right work of the watch light to ensure the safe navigation in our waters. At the First Kuril Strait there are two light stations. Our light is red, and at Cape Lopatka the light is white. Another part of our work is daily communication with the management and weather report broadcasts. We don’t have such miracles as cellular communication and the Internet. However, we can use satellite television, if the wind does not carry away the reception dish.

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Within the framework of the project "Virtual Museum of world lighthouses" we have launched a fundraising campaign aimed to provide the lighthouse "Kurbatova" with satellite internet. As part of the campaign the limited edition commemorative postcards depicting the lighthouse "Kurbatova" have been put onto the open market. The lighthouse stamp is specially made for the cancellation. In August 2013 due to one of the expeditions the postcards were stamped at the lighthouse "Kurbatova" and at the post office of Severo-Kurilsk. All proceeds from the sale will be used for providing Internet communication.

From November to June, we are practically cut off from the world. Since late October the season of storms begins and snow melts only in May. We can use only a helicopter, depending on the weather, or snowmobile to go to the nearby lighthouse. All year's supplies including diesel fuel are delivered only in summer. So if something is not thought out and provided, we have to wait for next summer. We also cannot entirely count on medical care due to poor weather conditions. The helicopter will not arrive immediately. Therefore we must be able to provide first aid to ourselves. Anyway, routine work.

In the long winter evenings each of us is busy doing the things they like: handicrafts, sewing. I usually bring books returning from my vacation. In winter, in particular, I have time for a long read.

Our private life doesn’t differ much from many others. We have adult children with their big and small problems. We get through to our relatives on the satellite phone. When we go to the other end of the island, mobile communication is available. Once a year we go on vacation one by one. During this period we solve problems and have ourselves carefully examined. We also enjoy going to thermal springs. We dream, fantasize, make plans and try to realize them. And then we go back to the lighthouse always cheery and with a very warm feeling.

I don’t know what else I can add. Life goes on, keeping its own rhythm. We are not going to leave the lighthouse just yet. What will our future life be? We'll see."

You can find more information about the life of this family at our project website. If you are interested in learning more about the Russian lighthouses and light keepers, you can always contact us at [email protected]. We are always open to new contacts and communication experience. And let the light of lighthouses save all the seafarers for many years!

Photo Gallery 2006 - 2014 (photo by Elena Barbasheva Igor Samarin, Julia Galochkina). Now the lighthouse is, unfortunately, in quite poor condition. Next year they promise to provide repair crew, if nothing changes.

Kurbatova Lighthouse - from the virtual museum of lighthouses of the world (LAMP spring 2015 issue 103) from Mayachnik SeeMan