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Blogs

Animated Map of Global Wind Conditions

One of the duties of a lighthouse keeper is the reporting of the weather for the boats, aircraft and also for forecasting. One of the things reported is the wind speed. From all around the world the wind speed is recorded and reported from countless weather stations. Below are two screenshots of a new webpage […]

LEGO Does It Again!

As most of you know I love lighthouses and I have a special attraction for LEGO lighthouses (link1) (link2). Well, as you can see by the photo at the left, this is not a lighthouse, but it is a marine vessel which could very well sail past a lighthouse, and it is the largest ship in […]

Mise Tales Thirty-Four

  For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One. Jaw-dropping animated video on overfishing… It’s time for change!  ****************************  The Costa Concordia rests on its side on the morning of January 14, 2012 (click for larger photo)  Yes, it is a photo of the Costa Concordia, aground on the rocks, but […]

Oh No! Not Another Accident!

 This story could be titled Oh no, not another accident or to be more truthful How to give a helicopter a bath! If you keep up with aviation news you may have heard about a Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) helicopter that crashed in the Arctic.

What a Nice Christmas Present

What a nice surprise! Today on Facebook the lighthouse keeper, Colin Toner, who is residing at my old workplace at McInnes Island posted a fantastic video of the lighthouse. Please watch in full screen to get the full effect. Watch as the MBB105 helicopter approaches the island in the rain. You can see the rain […]

Lighthouses Visible in the Costa Concordia Disaster

 The Costa Concordia rests on its side on the morning of January 14, 2012 (click for larger photo) Yes, it is a photo of the Costa Concordia aground on the rocks but did anyone notice the lighthouse in the photo under which the lifeboats are all clustered? It is one of two lights guarding the […]

Fuels for Pharos

What fuels did/does a lighthouse (pharos – the Greek word for lighthouse) use? I became curious about this when I discovered in an Internet  article the name Colza oil. What the heck is Colza oil? Somebody’s mispelling of Coal oil? I had to find out. Well that led to this article on lighthouse illumination (more). […]

Mise Tales Thirty-Three

  For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.   Tell Tale Productions Inc’s. documentary “Lighthouses” – the film has been completed and has had its world broadcast premiere on CBC Television’s Land and Sea Sunday, November 24, 2013. If you missed it you can see it online on CBC Land […]

Ship Movements – It Keeps Getting Better!

On August 08, 2013 I wrote Canadian Firm Tracks Earth’s Ships From Space which also refers to another 2012 article What Ship Is That? Now we have an even better program, free, and online, called Marine Traffic. The screen shot above of Marine Traffic for 05:30 UTC (Z) for November 30, 2013 shows the freighter Axios (bottom left) off […]

Pachena Point Lighthouse

The photo at the left shows the lamp, lens, mercury bath bearing, and winding apparatus which was installed on the Pachena Point lighthouse in February 1908. The lens is a 1st order Fresnel lens made by Chance Brothers of Birmingham England – one of the largest sizes possible, and it all sits on a wooden […]