Monthly Archives: April 2012

Let’s Finish the Month With . . .

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We started this month with an April Fool’s joke – lets finish it with a few more jokes.

Below are a group of jokes, mostly about management, the office, and working hours, etc., all related to lighthouse work in a way. A lot have been adapted from other jokes. Authors are mostly unknown, or they won’t come forward! Enjoy!

Tools of a Lighthouse Keeper

Q. What are a lightkeeper’s two best friends? A. Duct tape and WD-40.

If it moves and shouldn’t, use the duct tape. If it doesn’t move and it should, use the WD-40.

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New Rules for Government Employees

Dress Code

It is advised that you dress according to your salary.

If we see you leaving on holidays wearing fancy shoes and carrying an Eddie Bauer bag, we assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a raise. If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a raise. If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.

Sick Days

We will no longer accept a doctor’s statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to go to work. Continue reading Let’s Finish the Month With . . . →

New HCF Funding Available for Fundy Shore Lighthouses

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From:                         “Heritage Foundation of Canada”  HeritageCanadaFoundation@heritagecanada.org

Subject:                     HCF / FHC Communiqué : 

                                 

                       New HCF Funding Available for Fundy Shore Lighthouses

Date sent:                  Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:13:05 +0000

HCF Funding Available for Fundy Shore Lighthouses

Ottawa, ON, April 24, 2012 – The Heritage Canada Foundation (HCF) is pleased to announce the availability of heritage grant funding for the repair and conservation of historic lighthouses along Nova Scotia’s Fundy Shore, in the counties of Digby, Annapolis and Kings. Funding will come from HCF’s Runciman Endowment Fund for Heritage Conservation, created with the assistance of a generous bequest.

HCF will consider funding requests from community groups and organizations seeking one-time financial support for repair and heritage conservation work at historic lighthouses in the three named counties.

Among other considerations, priority will be given to: Continue reading New HCF Funding Available for Fundy Shore Lighthouses →

Lighthouse History – 48 (1923-04-11 to 1924-02-03)

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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.

 

Pt San Juan likely to get station…; WC will be well guarded… Carmanah, Pachena, Beale to have radio phones… Clayoquot lifesaving station to be linked by cable with Lennard I lighthouse…; 18 – Bamfield life-saving crew’s work appreciated…; Apr 13, 1; proper safeguards on WC…; Apr 17, 5 – confirmation, WC to get wireless station – Pachena Pnt…; Apr 18, 19 – will test Pachena as wireless site… [Colonist, 1923-04-11, p. 17]

Continue reading Lighthouse History – 48 (1923-04-11 to 1924-02-03) →

Foghorns and the Changing Coastal Soundscape

Adult Memories, Anti-Automation, Audio, Automation, Bed & Breakfast, Equipment, Fog, Foghorns, Lighthouses, On The Job, Operators, Radio, Ships & Shipping, Videos, Weather, , , , , , , , ,

 Foghorns and the Changing Coastal Soundscape

Technology and politics are changing the tune of the maritime chorus

April 20, 2012 | 3:46 PM | By  and with thanks to Climate Watch

Read the full text version of this story at KQED’s QUEST site. (more photos – retlkpr)

East Brother Island, with the 19th-century lighthouse on the left and fog signal building on the right. - Craig Miller

East Brother Island, with the 19th-century lighthouse on the left and fog signal building on the right. Continue reading Foghorns and the Changing Coastal Soundscape →

Book Review – The Light Between Oceans

Australia, Boats, Books, History, Lighthouses, Military, Women, , , , , , , ,

A new book has been released about the adventures of a lighthouse family on an Australian lighthouse. The title is The Light Between Oceans. The lighthouse is fictitious as  the story is a fictional and moral adventure, but the reviews show that the author, Ms. M. L. Stedman has a masterpiece here. Read some of the reviews below and see what you think. If anyone has read the book, please comment.

When Tom decides to become a lighthouse keeper, he’s given a placement at Janus Rock. It’s a tough posting on a square mile of green, accessible only by boat, that ”dangled off the edge of the cloth like a loose button that might easily plummet to Antarctica”. The closest community is Point Partageuse, a town long neglected by the outside world until the outside world found use for its young men in 1914. http://www.smh.com.au  Continue reading Book Review – The Light Between Oceans →

Deadline Looms for Canada’s Lighthouses

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Deadline Looms for Canada’s Lighthouses

From:                         “Heritage Foundation of Canada”  HeritageCanadaFoundation@heritagecanada.org

Subject:                     HCF / FHC Communiqué : 

                                 Deadline Looms for Canada’s Historic Lighthouses

Date sent:                  Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:11:01 +0000

Deadline Looms for Canada’s Historic Lighthouses

Copy of the petition - Do not sign this one! - Go to the link

Ottawa, ON, March 23, 2012 – The Heritage Canada Foundation (HCF) is urging Canadians to sign a petition http://www.savecanadaslighthouses.ca/   to help save Canada’s historic lighthouses.

 The Government of Canada owns hundreds of iconic lighthouses, and has declared almost all of them to be “surplus”. Canadians have until May 29, 2012 to nominate lighthouses that matter to them for designation under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act. However, almost all of them will require a proposal from an organization or group willing to acquire and invest in them. Continue reading Deadline Looms for Canada’s Lighthouses →

Weather Reporting at Boat Bluff c. 2004

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The Lightkeeper – many years ago he had no contact with anyone – now the whole world can communicate with him and through him! 

Around 2004 the Canadian government decided to limit the weather report information put out by the lighthouse keepers to a very restricted set of criteria. 

Wind detecting devices (anemometers) were removed, pressure detecting devices (barometers) were removed and devices for measuring cloud height (ceilometers) were also removed. Basic weather training was kept to a minimum. The lightkeeper was left to his own devices to observe and report the weather every three hours to his designated Coast Guard radio station. 

No one was interested or affected . . . except those that used the weather reports! – the aircraft pilots, cruise ships, fishing boats, recreational boaters, and others that travelled the wind-swept and storm-lashed west coast of British Columbia. This coast is over 7,000 kilometres long from Vancouver, BC to Alaska, USA if you follow all its indentations, and sometimes these indentations are a life-saver when a storm blows up. (see the article Why We Need MORE Lighthouses . . .) Continue reading Weather Reporting at Boat Bluff c. 2004 →

Return of the Fishboats

Adult Memories, Boats, Fishboats, Fishing, Information, Lighthouses, , , , , , , , , ,

One of the events we looked forward to every year was the return of the trollers1 in the Spring to McInnes Island waters. Around the station was troller territory. In the deeper waters of Milbanke Sound was the place for the seiners.

We made friends with a few of the fishermen, and always got a wave from all the boats when we were on the water. Sometimes we also got advice on what to use (lures or bait) and how deep. They knew we were not much competition.

Trolling looks like a very leisurely activity, and it usually is in a sport boat with only one or two lines in the water. On a commercial troller boat with fifty (50) lines in the water it was hectic. It was an all day job, from first light to dusk. Sometimes alone, sometimes with two men, depending on the size of the boat. Continue reading Return of the Fishboats →

Mother’s Day Brunch in Canada 2012

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Many Canadians celebrate Mother’s Day by showing their appreciation for Mothers or Mother figures. The Mother’s Day date in Canada is on the second Sunday of May each year and it will be on Sunday, May 13, 2012 this year.

Lighthouse Bistro and Pub, Nanaimo, BC

For all of you living on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada (or in Vancouver) there is a special Mother’s Day Brunch at the Lighthouse Bistro and Pub in Nanaimo, BC (Vancouver island). Continue reading Mother’s Day Brunch in Canada 2012 →

Books on BC Lighthouses

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Over the years since I started this website in 2005 I have collected many books on British Columbia lighthouses. Some with only a reference to lighthouse, others dedicated exclusively to BC lighthouses like Donald Graham’s books.

Later I will dedicate a page to each book as I have to some earlier ones, but right now I am more interested in showing newcomers what is/was available so that they will recognize them when they are found in a flea market or garage sale.

If you click on the photo left, it will take you to a modified page from my old website which lists books that I have collected over the years. It will also specify if the book is available for sale or not.

Listed below are a few more lighthouse-related books that did not make it onto that list before I created this new website. If you can, please send me an email or comment about a new book that you have found. I will add it to the list and we can make this as complete as possible. Also, if possible, would you please also send a scan of the front cover so I can add it to the pages. You know the old saying “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Thank you.

Shipwrecks Along the West Coast Trail – Richard E. Wells – Sono Nis Press

Silent Seige III – Bert Webber – 301 pages – Webb Research Group (December 1992) 

The Last Island – Alison Watt – Harbour Publishing – 978-1-55017-296-6 · 1-55017-296-4
$34.95 · Hardback 6.5 x 9.5 · 192 pp · September 2002 (Available)
http://www.harbourpublishing.com/title/TheLastIsland
ISBN-10: 0936738731, 10.7 x 8.3 x 0.9 inches

There’s A Landing Today – Richard E. Wells – Sono Nis press