How Lighthouse Keepers Survived Winter on a Rock in the Middle of the Ocean

What did lighthouse keepers do when the supply boat never came? Some waited 100 days on a rock in the sea, with food that ran out on a schedule. This is how lighthouse keepers survived months of isolation in the 1800s and 1900s: the "food clock" of cabbages, yeast and tinned beef, why they needed permission to open the emergency rations, the BBC reporters stranded 29 days on Bishop Rock, the 1934 storm that smashed Tillamook Rock lighthouse, the Smalls keeper trapped with a dead man, and 16-year-old Abbie Burgess, who kept the lights burning for four weeks while her family waited out the storm. Chapters 0:00 The rumble that cancelled a wedding 1:33 How lighthouse relief boats worked 2:29 The food clock: what keepers ate when no boat came 4:13 Kite fishing from 100 feet up 5:19 Keeping the light burning 6:29 Isolation: 29 days stranded on Bishop Rock 8:47 Terrible Tilly: the Tillamook Rock storm of 1934 10:15 The Smalls: a keeper trapped with a dead man 11:11 Abbie Burgess, 16, alone at Matinicus Rock 12:57 The last lighthouse keepers Sources A Lightkeeper's Life, a Trinity House keeper's memoir: https://lighthousekeepers.co.uk/narratives/alightkeeperslife.html The lighthouse keeper's wife, Trinity House: https://trinityhouse.co.uk/about-us/history-of-trinity-house/from-the-archives/the-lighthouse-keepers-wife BBC stranded on Bishop Rock Lighthouse, Trinity House: https://trinityhouse.co.uk/about-us/history-of-trinity-house/from-the-archives/bbc-stranded-on-bishop-rock-lighthouse The storm that nearly destroyed a lighthouse (Tillamook Rock): https://www.beachconnection.net/news/tillystorm072015_425.php The Smalls Lighthouse Tragedy, People's Collection Wales: https://peoplescollection.wales/node/2005051 Abbie Burgess, Maine Secretary of State: https://www.maine.gov/sos/maineatlas/explore-the-atlas/abbie-burgess A fine farewell, Trinity House: https://trinityhouse.co.uk/articles/a-fine-farewell Watch next How Ancient Egyptians Beat 50°C Heat Without Electricity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdfkVD9Ne1o What Did Ancient Humans Do When It Rained All Week?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq1wPASq9q8 Subscribe to Cognevo for more on how people survived the impossible: https://www.youtube.com/@Cognevo?sub_confirmation=1 #LighthouseKeeper #History #Survival