Name and Location

The Grip Lighthouse, also known as Grip fyr, is an active coastal light station located in the tiny Grip archipelago off Kristiansund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The coordinates of the lighthouse are 63°13��59″ N, 07°36′33″ E (decimal 63.2338725, 7.6091314).

2. Construction and History

The Grip Lighthouse was built in 1888 and first lit on October 1 of that year. It was automated in 1977 and has remained so ever since. The original keepers’ quarters and service buildings date back to the same period, housing lighthouse families throughout much of the 20th century.

3. Architecture and Materials

The Grip Lighthouse is a late-19th-century industrial lighthouse with a tapered cylindrical tower and balcony. It features a lantern room made of steel and glass, standing 21.1 meters tall above sea level. The daymark is a white tower with a red lantern roof.

4. Light and Navigation

The lighthouse emits two white flashes every 12 seconds (Fl (2) W 12s), with a nominal range of 18 nautical miles (approximately 33 km). It was originally powered by paraffin, later electrified, and is now powered by on-site solar panels with battery backup and remote monitoring. The original Fresnel lens is on display at the Kristiansund Maritime Museum.

5. Accessibility and Visiting

The island is privately owned and has no scheduled ferry service. Visitors must arrange for private boat or charter from Kristiansund in fair weather. There are no visitor center or public amenities, and the interior is not generally open to tourists. The approach is via a small landing pier on Brattholmen, which requires sturdy footwear.

6. Notable Views and Landscape

The lighthouse offers panoramic views of the Norwegian Sea, nearby islands, and distant mountains around Kristiansund. At sunset, the white tower stands out against often dramatic coastal skies.

7. Anecdotes and Folklore

Former keepers endured harsh winters, isolated by ice during spring freeze-up, with letters in the Grip Stiftelsen archive recounting tales of steam-driven supply boats breaking ice in early spring. Local legend holds that a bell from a wrecked Baltic trader still tolls on stormy nights (unverified folklore).

8. Technical and Operational Details

The lighthouse is operated and maintained by the Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket) and remains active on nautical charts (Norwegian chart no. 742) and marked in AIS coast-station publications (as available). It is listed and protected as a cultural monument by the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage (Riksantikvaren), with status granted in 1998.

9. Further Information

For further information, please visit the Norwegian Coastal Administration official site (www.kystverket.no/fyr) or consult "Lighthouses of Norway" by Jan Høiby (Oslo Publishers, 2005).