One hundred and fifty steps to heaven

(autotranslated, could have mistakes)

August 7, 2008

On August 6, the Shoina lighthouse was lit for the 50th time. He appears from afar as a good hope for everyone. Especially for sailors.

Shoina is not even visible on the horizon, and the lighthouse is already visible as a tiny dot above the far shore. With each mile, the lighthouse becomes more and more clear, more distinct, and before entering the mouth of the river it suddenly appears before the traveler in full height.

The lighthouse is one of the main signs of Shoina. It hovers over the village like a temple. But from the river it is still difficult to imagine its true size. And only up close, at the foot of a sandy hill or at the lighthouse itself, do you see with your own eyes how serious it is. The lighthouse rises 33 meters up, and its lamp, taking into account the hill, shines at an altitude of 52 meters above sea level. And it turns on when the polar day ends here and navigational twilight sets in. And no matter what happens, no matter what cataclysms happen, on this day, August 6, the lamp must light up and not go out. In any power and any weather.

Today the Shoina lighthouse celebrates its half-century anniversary. It was built in 1958 to replace the old one that had expired. The hero of the day looks much younger than his age. But the fact is that last year we managed to overhaul the tower. With Norwegian money. And now the lighthouse seems to shine, attracting all Shoina’s guests with a brand new red and white “vest”. It’s probably rare that anyone can resist coming up and admiring such a miracle.

I was lucky - the head of the lighthouse, Alexey Nikolaevich Shishelov, who continued the family tradition, became a kind guide to the lighthouse. The head of the Tersko-Oryol lighthouse (on the Kola Peninsula) was his grandfather Pavel Alexandrovich. Then Alexei's father took over the baton. Nikolai Pavlovich Shishelov, who died not so long ago, worked in lighthouses all his life. First on Tersko-Orlovsky, and then on Shoinsky. He passed on to his son the management of the lighthouse business, and with it the family tradition, a sense of pride and responsibility for the important maritime business.

In a word, lighthouse business is, as they say, in Alexey Shishelov’s blood. He was born at the Tersko-Orlovsky lighthouse in 1965, and spent his entire childhood and adult life at the Shoina lighthouse. Unless he was “absent” for three years for military service. To the navy, of course. He served on the destroyer "Desperado" as commander of the helmsman squad and participated in two long-distance Mediterranean campaigns. And after the Northern Fleet - again a lighthouse. He serviced the floating barriers, worked as a technician, and in 2005 took over command of the lighthouse from his father.

According to my first impressions, the lighthouse was in good hands. Wherever Alexei Shishelov and I looked during the excursion, there was almost exemplary, I would say, naval order everywhere. And I’ve probably never seen such clean, well-maintained engines as in a diesel engine anywhere. Everything here shines, like at an exhibition, ready for work. And the old sea clocks (lighthouses are also time keepers), which are more than half a century old, also fit perfectly.

Of course, I wanted to look into the very “heart” of the lighthouse, and together with Alexey we went from the house to the tower. At its foot, I threw my head back and could not take my eyes off the dome and the fancy antennas (the radio beacon operates year-round) quietly floating in the July sky. My companion, rattling his keys, opened the door, and we went up the iron spiral staircase. In truth, to get to the lamp, you need to climb not 150, but 147 steps. But only the head of the lighthouse and his colleagues know about this. Sometimes every day, and more than once, they have to go this route. Alexey walks with a businesslike pace, but I trail behind, barely catching my breath, listening to the booming echo of our steps. I stop, marvel at the perfect cleanliness, and look with curiosity at the cast iron sections from which the tower is built.

“Lighthouses are inviolable, like plenipotentiaries of states,” says Alexey Nikolaevich during one of the breaks. - But at the same time, they belong to all of humanity. And they are under the protection of UNESCO.

We open the hatch - and... here it is, the lamp! Soon it will flare up and shed light for many miles. Alexey is silent in understanding, and I look around, hear the wind in my ears and look with delight at Shoina’s toy houses below, at the sands, at the tundra, at the endless White Sea.

“Happy birthday, lighthouse,” I suddenly shout. - Do not bend from the wind and storm! Shine as before, giving hope to everyone!

Source:  http://pravdasevera.ru/newspaper/

Information from the website of the Pravda Severa Agency pravdasevera.ru