Monthly Archives: February 2012

Lighthouse History – 39 (1911-11-30 to 1912-04-10)

Construction, History, Information, Keepers, Lighthouses, Newspapers, , , , , , ,

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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Up to the time of going to press this morning no further word had been received regarding the accident to Tees reported to have struck a rock in Kyuquot Sound.


There was much anxiety regarding Tees since early yesterday. Northwestern en route to Seattle from AK, caught a wireless message from Tees. It was brief, stating only: ‘Tees struck rock. Kyuquot Sound.’ The message was transmitted to Estevan and thence to Victoria. United States Steamship Tahoma was at Neah Bay and when Tatoosh heard the news at 4:30am this vessel was notified and proceeded at once to the scene, being due at 11pm at Kyuquot. Mr E J Haughton, Superintendent of the Dominion Wireless Stations, sent a message to tug William Jolliffe of the Fisheries Protection service, which was off Quatsino. C P Edwards of Ottawa, who is on board making a visit of inspection to the coast Stations, has fitted a set of apparatus on the tug and sent a message reporting Jolliffe would reach the scene about 5pm. British Columbia Salvage Co sent the salvage Steamer Salvor with a wrecking crew, and Captain W H Logan, special agent of London Salvage Assn, was a passenger. Salvor is due at Kyuquot this morning. Steamer Newington of lighthouse service, last reported from Clayoquot 2 days ago, has also gone to render assistance.  Continue reading Lighthouse History – 39 (1911-11-30 to 1912-04-10) →

Lighthouse Photos by Cyril R. Littlebury c. 1922-1932

Adult Memories, Advertisement, Books, Cruise Ship, History, Hobbies, Lighthouses, Old Website, Photos, Photos, Seaplanes, Ships, Ships & Shipping, Stories, , , , , , , , , , ,

Photos of British Columbia lighthouses by Cyril R. Littlebury in the years 1922 to 1932 with thanks to Dudley R. Booth for permission to publish – please visit Dudley’s new website at Historic Photos. There are many more photos there besides lighthouses.

When Dudley Booth developed some old negatives his father gave him he found a treasure trove of scenes from 1920s and 1930s Vancouver. 

[nggallery id=43]

  Continue reading Lighthouse Photos by Cyril R. Littlebury c. 1922-1932 →

Quarter Master Design by Eric Nevatie

Advertisement, Fishing, History, Lighthouses, Old Website, Paintings, Paintings, , , , , , ,

A lot of contacts that I have made with this website have given me permission to use some of their lighthouse photos and art to illustrate my stories. Quarter Master Design is one of these. Perusing the website today, I decided that instead of showing selected items to wet your appetite, I would print a copy of their home page for you to see. Click on the picture above to go to the website of Eric Nevatie at Quarter Master Design – beautiful!

Triple Island – Inside the Lighthouse – 2012

Automation, Coast Guard, Communication, Construction, Equipment, Government, Groceries & Mail, Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, Light, Lighthouses, On The Job, Radio, Ships & Shipping, , , , , , , , ,
Triple Island

 

In June 22, 2011 I published an article about the Triple Island 3rd order lens which has now been replaced with a flashlight (see the article).

I have never spent any work time on Triple Island, but I have landed there once or twice with the Coast Guard helicopters as a passenger. I never did have any time to explore.

Triple Island - distant from Prince Rupert

There are two lighthouse keepers on Triple Island who rotate every twenty-eight (28) days with two other keepers. I always wondered what it would be like to live there in this day and age.

One of the keepers, my friend Glenn Borgens, has sent me some wonderful photos of the inside of the Triple Island lighthouse that I am going to share with you. For twenty-eight days, it looks like a comfortable place to live and work. Continue reading Triple Island – Inside the Lighthouse – 2012 →

Groceries and Mail on a Lighthouse

Adult Memories, Coast Guard, Fishing, Groceries & Mail, Helicopters, Lighthouses, Old Website, On The Job, Ships, , , , , , , , , ,
Groceries being loaded at Coast Guard Base - photo John Coldwell

Some of you may wonder why the number of stories about re-supplying the lighthouses exceeds the others on this site by a large margin (lots more coming!). Next to the family and job, the arrival of the mail and groceries was the most important event in the life of the lightkeeping family. 

Imagine no telephone, no television, no two-way radio, possibly no AM radio, and no contact with the outside world except what you saw going by your window. The post was and still is the most important contact to the real world.  Continue reading Groceries and Mail on a Lighthouse →

Hurricane on Langara Island – 1962

Childhood Memories, Lighthouses, Old Website, On The Job, Stories, Storms, Weather, , , , , , ,

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

Langara Point - photo Jeannie Nielsen

I had gone by myself to the cabin for a weekend, and in the evening of the second day I was sitting in front of an open campfire watching the sun set. As the sun sank in the sky, a fast moving band of black cloud moved in. 

By midnight that night, the wind was screaming, and the sound of the ocean was ferocious. I could see nothing in the black night, and shone my flashlight toward the bay. All I could see was spray and white water. I watched anxiously for any sign of water coming in under the cabin walls, as the cabin was not far from high tide mark. And from the sound of the ocean, it was wild out there. I was scared. I laid awake all night listening to the sounds of crashing branches, and just hoped that one of the giant trees around the cabin wouldn’t come down. It would have been foolhardy to try to go home in the dark, so all I could do was wait it out.  Continue reading Hurricane on Langara Island – 1962 →

Surviving on Fiddle Reef Lighthouse c. 1950s

Adult Memories, Childhood Memories, Children, Equipment, Groceries & Mail, Keepers, Light, Lighthouses, Recreation, Rowboat, School, Weather, Women, , , , , ,


View Larger Map

On January 21, 2012 I wrote about a family that lived on the lighthouses in the 1950s up to the 1960s, all in the days of no electricity – only kerosene lamps. I now have another installment from Ms. Juanita (Swanson) DuLong. She was only four years old at the time on Fiddle Reef, but memories are hard to erase – especially Lighthouse Memories!

List of Lights #215 - Fiddle Reef Sector

The map above shows the location of Fiddle Reef (1898 – 1978) just off Oak Bay, Victoria, BC. The lighthouse was on the rock under the green arrow. The lighthouse is long gone and is replaced with a white cylindrical tower with a white light and a red sector. Continue reading Surviving on Fiddle Reef Lighthouse c. 1950s →

Lighthouse History – 38 (1910-11-30 to 1911-06-25)

Construction, History, Information, Keepers, Lighthouses, Newspapers, , , , , , ,

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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After a rough passage from West Coast Vancouver Island Tees returned to port yesterday with 60 passengers from Holberg and other ports of the island coast. News was brought by Tees that the little tug bought a short time ago by Captain Milliken, of Alberni, suffered severely during a heavy gale on Sun night, her deckhouses being swept away and a deckload of lumber lost when enroute to Ucluelet from Alberni. Tees was tied up 4 times during the voyage owing to heavy weather, sheltering at Tofino during the gale of Sun night. Among passengers were Mr Britton, timber cruiser from Holberg, J Pearson, of the New Vancouver Coal Co, from Quatsino, J W Jones, who is working a copper property at Sydney Inlet, J Killeen, resident Engineer of the Marine and Fisheries dept, who has been overlooking construction work at the lighthouse being built at Nootka. The cargo included a shipment of salmon from Toquart and 54 drums of whale oil from the Kyuquot whaling station [Colonist, 1910-11-30] Continue reading Lighthouse History – 38 (1910-11-30 to 1911-06-25) →

Discovery Island Lighthouse Rots in the Sun

Anti-Automation, Automation, Coast Guard, Equipment, Foghorns, Government, History, Kayak, Keepers, Lighthouses, Old Website, Recreation, , , , , ,

Automated in 1977, these videos show what happens to a sadly neglected automated lighthouse. What a place for a B&B! Thanks to Discovery Island website for the information. Just for your information discoveryisland.ca does not seem to be working anymore.

The two following videos I found on Youtube were originally posted by the website discoveryisland.ca

Take a look at the tower and lantern that the keepers so meticulously maintained. 

Originally the keepers at Discovery Island would manual record the wind speed and direction, air temperature, sea temperature, humidity, sea level pressure, wave height, ocean swell height and direction, visibility and sky condition and then report it back via radio about seven times a day. Now due to the automation of the lighthouse the weather reports have gone the same way.

The new weather Instrument are mounted on the top of the tower and measure the wind speed and temperature and then automaticly report it back to Environment Canada, when it is not broken.

Only twenty-seven MANNED lighthouses are remaining says the government!