However, what might be in store for the facility's famous foghorn, which has helped guide mariners safely in and out of Lunenburg harbour for the past 75 years, and lull locals to sleep on damp, misty nights, is another matter.

 On January 10 a group of about 20 area commercial mariners, fishermen and other interested citizens met with two members of the Canadian Coast Guard Aids and Navigation Department to discuss what options might be available for the light and the horn moving forward into the future.

 "We want to talk about Battery Point. We hope to modernize that so that's why we wanted to come out and talk to the users," explains coast guard representative Peter Furness. "Basically, I need to know who uses the light and the fog signal, how do you use it, what are your routes, and then I can take that information, go back, plug it into the model that we have and we can come up with a decision for our superintendent. The superintendent will say 'yes' or 'no' through our recommendations."

 Currently, the beacon that is housed in the structure is a fixed light powered by an electrical cable that runs from the mainland to the end of the breakwater. That source also runs the antiquated fog sensor and foghorn whose mournful groans are so familiar to people living in, and visiting, the Lunenburg area.

 Mr. Furness said the coast guard would like to replace the fixed light with a solar powered flashing light, thus eliminating the electrical cable and cutting costs.

 In doing so, however, that would in all likelihood spell the end of the foghorn, whose sensor draws too much electricity to be practically operated utilizing solar power.

 He said the coast guard divides sailing entities into three groups - Category 1, which includes larger commercial vessels requiring marine certification; Category 2, which takes in smaller commercial craft such as lobster fishers and tour boats; and Category 3, which encompasses pleasure boats.

 Since the larger Category 1 vessels employ more sophisticated navigational tools, the existence of either the Battery Point light or its horn does not hold as much significance as it does for the Category 2 boats.

 Mr. Furness said the latter are the primary targets of the system as they are operated by people who actually make their living from the sea and are often required to enter and leave the harbour in a variety of weather conditions, including fog and hours of darkness.

 "We put all these aids and navigation in mostly for the people who have to be out on the water for their livelihood, the fishers, the people in the tour boats who have to take their people out there so they can make some money," he said. "And when they come back, they have to be able to get into the harbour so they can land their catch in a reasonable amount of time before it goes bad, or take the people back."

 While the number of Category 3 boats is probably the fastest-growing sector of mariners using the harbour, "they don't really have to go out when the weather is bad.

 "They can stay alongside and if the weather is bad when you're out there, well, we hope that you have an anchor," Mr. Furness said.

 Mr. Furness said that in order to reduce power consumption and the number of solar panels required to run the Battery Point light, the coast guard is recommending an LED unit which operates with two flashes followed by a four-second delay.

 That is something that did not sit well with a pair of veteran local mariners, Bill and Walter Flower, who were adamant that the light remain fixed, and not flashing, as it has always been.

 "If it ain't broke, don't fix it. You're just so used to it, it's there every time," Bill said.

 With regards to the foghorn, Mr. Furness said that if it can be determined that 75 per cent of everyone who uses the harbour has electronic navigation systems, "then we would like to get rid of [it].

 "The reason we would like to get rid of the foghorn comes back to power issues. If they want to solarize it, then they would have to put more solar panels, more batteries and maybe even a windmill there to get the power this time of year to make everything work," he said, adding the device serves as more of a warning than a navigation tool.

 "Most fishers ... they're inside their boats, they have the engines on, they don't hear the foghorn until they're really, really too close for it to be effective."

 Several members of Lunenburg's increasingly growing pleasure boat fleet in attendance disagreed, voicing support for retention of the foghorn as it is their group that is more likely to utilize the sound as a navigational tool if they are outside the harbour and the weather closes in.

 Walter Flower agreed, saying he often shuts his engines down and utilizes the Battery Point horn to guide him back into Lunenburg.

 "I use it as a reference, I know which way I'm pointing without looking at the compass or anything like that," he said.

 Mr. Furness said that any changes will not happen overnight and it will likely be three to four months before a decision is made as to how to move forward.

 Back in September 2004, the coast guard turned off the Battery Point foghorn as part of a movement designed to "discontinue sound at sea."

 A couple of weeks later, the device was reinstated after public backlash from disgruntled Lunenburgers.