Risking it All – Oil on our Coast is a short film that outlines the plans for the pipeline and tanker route and what it means for our beautiful coast. It is produced by Twyla Roscovich in association with Hartley Bay & Gitga’at Nation, Oil on our Coast is meant to inspire, empower and help fuel the battle to save what sustains us. – Twyla Roscovitch
One of the duties of a lighthouse keeper on some stations, was to do a daily Sea Water sample. It was started very early on (see the story here), before the advent of Global warming, and the observed data has been beneficial in many ways as you will see at the bottom..
Kains Island (Quatsino) lighthouse
In the above-mentioned story from Kains Island lighthouse, the samples started in 1935, so we have seventy-seven (77) years of ocean data. Also in the story is the fact that in the early years . . .
. . . the small glass bottles of sea water with cork stoppers were stored in wooden boxes with many little squares, one for each bottle1. These boxes would be shipped out when the supply ship re-supplied the station once a year, usually in July.Continue reading Ocean Water Samples→
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.
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phs/Clayoquot, called after a West Coast tribe of Indians. ‘Cla-o-quaht’ means people different from what they were. (See Walbran). It is situated partly on a peninsula of Vancouver Island and partly on Meares and Stubbs Islands. The white settlement is commonly known as Tofino, though it is registered at the Provincial Land Office as Clayoquot Townsite, and is situated at the Northwest extremity of the peninsula extending about 9 miles Northwest from Long Beach. The Indian village, known as Opitsat is situated on the Southwest shore of Meares I. The hotel, large store, and wharf belonging to Mr Dawley are on Stubbs I, with the Post Office and police stn shown on the Admiralty chart as Clayoquot. The common meeting ground of all the settlements is the large sheet of water between them, full of sand banks and channels, with strong tide rips, so that all the inter-communication has to be by boat, making it a miniature Venice. There are many Norwegian seafaring settlers, many of whom form the lifeboat crew at Tofino; besides owning their own houses, they build rowing and motor boats with great success. The only motor boats and pilots to be hired for the work up the many inlets of Clayoquot and Nootka Sounds are at Tofino. The expeditions after timber, minerals, earths, cannery sites and land locating in these sounds are nearly endless, and they have been all transported by these Tofino guides and their motor boats. In fact, Clayoquot is the best place to commence any small expedition to any inlet South of Cape Cook and Quatsino Sound. Continue reading Lighthouse History – 40 (1912-04-14 to 1912-07-20)→
In 1975 we (myself, my wife Karen and our two young children, our dog, cats, and all our furnishings) were on our way clockwise around Vancouver Island from Quatsino lighthouse to Pachena Point on board the CCGS Sir James Douglas with acting Captain Tom Hull. This was a grocery run so the trip was already pre-planned and we were just passengers.
The seas were not high but as we rounded Cape Scott, the northern-most tip of Vancouver Island, we began to roll in the southwest swell. As we motored around into quieter waters on the inside of Vancouver Island, we were still being tossed around by occasional large ocean swells. Continue reading Supplies for Cape Scott Lighthouse 1975→
Long time North Coast lightkeeper Dan McMurray passed away at his home in Wynndel, BC on February 15, 2012 after a gallant struggle with lung cancer.
He was pre-deceased by his wife Valerie who also succumbed to cancer in March 2010.
They retired off Pine Island Lightstation to their garden paradise in Wynndel in 2003 and spent many long and happy hours working together producing pure & natural seed stock which they traded with like minded people around the world. Check out his blog here.
Dan will be sadly missed by his family and many friends both on and off the lights.
Another artist that will get your lighthouse blood running is Graham Scholes. He just loves lighthouses and has artwork of southern and northern BC lightstations. Click the photo below for a link to his website.
The following video came in an email today and it brought back memories of the ravens that lived near my old lighthouse at McInnes Island. Ravens are very intelligent!
Orion constellation (south)
I was on the early morning shift for most of my time there. I loved it! Every morning very early (about 03:00) I walked from the house up through the trees in the dark with coffee cup in hand for the first weather report of the morning. It was such a delight if the sky was clear to see the constellations I recognized. One could almost tell the time by their position in the sky, especially with Orion, the hunter. Continue reading The Wise Raven→
The Cloo-Stung was a catamaran of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) used for delivery of personnel and supplies to Prince Rupert area lighthouses in protected waters. The groceries were delivered to the Coast Guard base in Prince Rupert from the local stores. These were then packed in slings (large canvas or net circles with ropes attached to allow them to be attached to a hook) and loaded onto the Cloo-Stung. Continue reading Groceries at Green Island c.1975→
If you do not know what Mise Tales is then please see Mise Tales One.
One or two things have come to mind. A friend wrote and asked if I had ever heard such and such a story about a crazy lighthouse keeper who killed himself.
Reading his story brought to mind another story that I had heard or read about at one time, but a Google search cannot seem to find any reference to either one.
Anyways, here are the two stories about crazy lighthouse keepers. If anyone can help in locating the source, or more information, please contact me.
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Tale Number One from my friend.
Bob says:
I was again browsing your multi-faceted site and got to wondering if you had ever chanced on the story of a supposed suicide wherein a keeper bludgeoned himself to death by repeatedly running headfirst into a brick/stone/concrete wall?
The instance as it was told to me almost fifty (50) years ago was that a headkeeper on an unnamed light on the Pacific Coast went mad and performed the terminal skull-smashing in the presence of his assistant keeper.
It was related that the assistant keeper was a recent immigrant from Eastern European background with very little English language capabilities and who, by dint of his Eastern Bloc Soviet state upbringing, was also very fearful of any form of police or military authority. Continue reading Mise Tales Three→
Here is a continuance of the tales of Juanita (Swanson) DuLong. Somewhere around the early 1950s, probably after a year at Fiddle Reef lighthouse the family was moved to Sisters Island. Juanita says:
Sisters Island
Fiddle Reef’s plumbing was a cistern and hand pump. Cold water only.
Sisters was a little tamer and had a bathroom. When we arrived we found the tub full of coal. The running water was cold only . A reservoir on the wood and coal stove heated enough water for small tasks.
At that time the lighthouse tenders also burned coal. The smoke could be seen well off.
While on the subject of heat, Dad nearly took a finger off chopping kindling. Mom patched it up, and a doctor later told her he “couldn’t have done it better himself”.
Here there were more and bigger buildings. I actually had a bedroom instead of my little pallet in the angle of the hallway (on Fiddle Reef). I cannot remember much about the day to day station workings, but I do remember the foghorn had a very brassy sound. Continue reading Sister’s Island c. early 1950s→
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.
