Setting out on the Utopia, a small charter boat, we got to visit the newly opened Wood Island Life Saving Station sitting at the mouth of the Piscataqua River and the entrance to the Portsmouth Harbor off Kittery Point, Maine.  With Captain Rick (a 26-year Coast Guard retiree) and his able assistant Beatrice, we motored out on a cruise to the island.

Originally built in 1908, this life saving station (one of 13 in Maine) was designed to house surfmen or storm warriors who would go out in rowed crafts to rescue mariners whose ships had crashed on the rocks or on high seas.  The surfmen had a motto: “You have to go out, but you do not have to come back.”  These surfmen were obviously not risk-averse, but clearly inspired by a mission.  The photo below, courtesy of the Wood Island Life Saving Station 2023 book, documents some of the history and restoration of this historical landmark.

These surfmen, members of the U.S. Life Saving Service, worked in teams of eight, rowing surfboats, dories, picket boats and lifeboats out to distressed ships and stranded sailors.  As you might guess, ships typically didn’t crash on bright, warm sunny days, but more typically crashed at night during heavy gales – and most often during cold winter months.

The U.S. Life Saving Service (USLSS) was later merged with the Revenue Cutter Service which ultimately formed the U. S. Coast Guard in 1915.  The USLSS was credited with saving the lives of over 175,000 mariners, and the Wood Island station alone was credited with over 60 rescue events involving seagoing tugs, schooners, steamers, and even submarines, with hundreds of lives saved during its time of service.

Wood Island was one of thirteen U.S. Life Saving Stations along the coast of Maine.  During World War II the wood Island station was manned by the US Navy to patrol for enemy submarines that might seek to target the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.  Even to this day the Portsmouth Shipyard performs maintenance on naval ships, including submarines.

In 1948 the station was decommissioned and left abandoned and unmaintained for years.  In 2011 Kittery residents, interested in preserving and restoring the station, raised private funds towards this end.  Restoration was begun in 2016 and continues onward.

You can see the rail system in place to raise and lower the lifeboats into and out of the ocean.  Students from a local high school even built smaller replicas of some of the lifeboats used by the surfmen.

Sitting a few hundred yards away is the Whaleback Light, to assist mariners navigating Portsmouth Harbor, the Piscataqua River and seas between the Isles of Shoals.  The light houses a rotating search beacon, consistent with its historical accuracy.

The other stations in Maine have closed; some are museums, one is used by Outward Bound, and many others are now privately owned.  But visiting the Wood Island Life Saving Station is a great way to learn more about this chapter in our country’s history!