Daily Archives: July 17, 2011

VIDEO-The Lighthouse and the Aircraft Carrier

Coast Guard, Humour, Lighthouses, Old Website, Videos, , , , , , , ,

This is based on an actual radio conversation between a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier (U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln) and Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995. (The radio conversation was released by the Chief of Naval Operations on 10/10/95 authorized by the Freedom of Information Act.) 

Canadians: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid collision. 

Americans: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision. 

Canadians: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision. 

Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again,divert YOUR course. 

Canadians: No, I say again, you divert YOUR course. 

Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES’ ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH–I SAY AGAIN, THAT’S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH–OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP. 

Canadians: This is a Canadian lighthouse. Your call. 

– Author Unknown 

Now this is quite funny, but what is even better is that it is not true and has been around from at least the 1960s according to some websites. Check out the US Navy website where they contradict the “facts”! 

Click the screen below to see a video version of the same joke.

A funny video with a United States warship against a lighthouse, somewhere in the Irish Sea. . .

******************************

It looks like this joke has world-wide acclaim. Here’s a Scottish version . . . 

In the middle of foggy night in the North-west Atlantic…..two lights are heading directly for one another… and on the radio an American voice is heard saying “We suggest you alter course by 10 degrees to port”.

Back comes the reply “We suggest YOU alter course by 10 degrees to port!”

Then the American voice says “This is the battleship USS Missouri leading the American Atlantic battle fleet. You had better alter course by 10 degrees to port.”

Back comes the reply “This is the Outer Hebrides lighthouse, but it’s your call, Jimmy”. 

*******************************

and before the days of TV . . . … a 1939 book shows:

The fog was very thick, and the Chief Officer of the tramp steamer was peering over the side of the bridge. Suddenly, to his intense surprise, he saw a man leaning over a rail, only a few yards away.

“You confounded fool!” he roared. “Where the devil do you think your ship’s going? Don’t you know I’ve got the right of way?”

Out of the gloom came a sardonic voice: “This ain’t no blinkin’ ship, guv’nor. This ‘ere’s a light’ouse!”

 *************************************

And not to be left out, here is a German language version:

 While we are in the German section, might as well add this one too! 🙂

Lighthouse History 04 – Cape Beale (1872-05-29 to 1909-01-23)

Construction, Equipment, History, Information, Keepers, Lighthouses, Newspapers, On The Job, , , , , , , , , ,
Cape Beale

The following extracts taken from early Victoria, British Columbia (BC) newspapers are credited to Leona Taylor for her excellent work in indexing the papers. Full information can be found here: “Index of Historical Victoria Newspapers“, 2007-09.

As I was collecting this information from the newspaper archive website, I noticed that many articles were in consecutive order and applied to Cape Beale, so I collected them all together here. It is a bit long, but interesting, as it describes the building of a lighthouse from the ground up as they say. Take note of the dates at the end of each article. it surely was not done overnight. More extensive information can be obtained from the actual scanned copies of the newspapers themselves on the above website.

*****************************

Lighthouse recommended at Cape Beale, will provide a first-class light and powerful fog whistle. [Colonist, 1872-05-29]

 

Steamer Sir James Douglas, with Mr Pearse, will sail for Cape Beale in a few days. Mr Pearse will select a site for the lighthouse to be erected at that point. [Colonist, 1872-10-22]

 

Dominion Government Steamer Sir James Douglas will sail for Cape Beale with Mr Pearse to select a lighthouse site. Cape Beale is a bluff about 125′ in height with a bold rocky shore against which the breakers incessantly beat. Access to the Cape can only be had by going outside the Straits and running into the mouth of Bamfield Creek where a snug little harbor exists. From Bamfield Creek a road or trail about 2 miles in length to the Cape will have to be made. [Colonist, 1872-10-26]

Continue reading Lighthouse History 04 – Cape Beale (1872-05-29 to 1909-01-23) →

Beachcombing on Langara Island

Beachcombing, Childhood Memories, Children, Old Website, , ,

– by Jeannie Nielsen (daughter of Ed Hartt, Senior Keeper on Langara 1957 – 1963)

Glass ball on the beach
Glass ball on a beach

I lived on Langara between the ages of about 10 – 16. We had many adventures while we were there. My favorite thing to do was beachcombing. In those days you could find “dollar bottles”. Ocean Station Papa sent out these bottles with a message stating that if the paper inside was returned, you would receive a dollar. (They did it for the purpose of tracking ocean currents.) A dollar was a lot of money to a child in those days (late fifties, early sixties), so finding one was a source of great excitement.

Japanese glass fishing balls were another treasure, although in those days, they were pretty common. They ranged in size from Ping-Pong ball size, to sizes larger than a basketball. Their colours were mostly green, although we did find them in brown. Sometimes they still had remnants of their net on. I have since heard that any that are purple are highly coveted, as they belong to nets belonging to ancient royalty. We never found any.

Dead sea animals were always a source of great interest to our dogs and myself. They expressed their delight by rolling in the remains, no matter how long dead and stinky! One carcass I found was a mystery we never solved. It was a bedraggled bald eagle, missing its talons from the mid point of his legs down, and missing the one portion of it’s beak. We wondered if he had hooked onto a fish far too big for him to drag to shore. Often there were remnants of a boat or wharf, pieces of bamboo, and other mysterious planks. One could only wonder where they originated from, and how long they had drifted. My child’s mind imagined pirates and wild shipwrecks and lost souls . . .

– photo credit – Ray Morgan at BC Marina.com