Category Archives: Equipment

Supplies for Cape Scott Lighthouse 1975

February 15, 2012Adult Memories, Boats, Coast Guard, Construction, Equipment, Groceries & Mail, Incidents, Lighthouses, Old Website, On The Job, Ships, Workboats1975, accident, Cape Scott, CCGS Douglas, groceries, lighthouse, litehouse, ship, Sir James | Douglas, workboatretlkpr

douglas — CCGS Sir James Douglas - photo F&O Canada

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 →

Groceries at Green Island c.1975

February 12, 2012Adult Memories, Beachcombing, Coast Guard, Equipment, Groceries & Mail, Incidents, Lighthouses, Old Website, Shipsaccident, beachcombing, Cloo-Stung, Green Island, groceriies, highline, lighthouse, litehouse, mail, overboard, Prince Rupert. BCretlkpr

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 →

Triple Island – Inside the Lighthouse – 2012

February 6, 2012Automation, Coast Guard, Communication, Construction, Equipment, Government, Groceries & Mail, Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, Light, Lighthouses, On The Job, Radio, Ships & Shippingautomation, BC, Canada, Glenn | Borgens, Heritage lighthouse, inside, lighthouse, litehouse, photos, Triple Islandretlkpr

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.

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 →

Surviving on Fiddle Reef Lighthouse c. 1950s

February 3, 2012Adult Memories, Childhood Memories, Children, Equipment, Groceries & Mail, Keepers, Light, Lighthouses, Recreation, Rowboat, School, Weather, WomenArt | Swanson, childhood memories, children, Fiddle reef, lighthouse, litehouse, Oak Bayretlkpr

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 →

Discovery Island Lighthouse Rots in the Sun

February 1, 2012Anti-Automation, Automation, Coast Guard, Equipment, Foghorns, Government, History, Kayak, Keepers, Lighthouses, Old Website, Recreationautomation, BC, British Columbia, Discovery, island, lighthouse, litehouseretlkpr

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!

The Wind Speed Indicator Episode c.1935

January 27, 2012Childhood Memories, Equipment, Government, Keepers, Lighthouses, Old Website, On The Job, Operators, Radio, Ships & Shipping, WeatherC.E. | Carver, Kains, Kains island, lighthouse, litehouse, Quatsino, weather reports, wind, wind indicator, wind speed indicatorretlkpr

– Roy Carver (son of C. E. Carver on Kains Island 1933 – 1944)

One of the daily duties of a light house keeper was to estimate the wind speed during each day and record it, along with other meteorological observations and measurements, which also included sea water temperature, and a sample of sea water which was taken at a depth bellow the surface, weather permitting of course.¹

www.pac.dfo mpo.gc.ca science oceans data donnees lighthouses phares data kainst.txt — Average Seawater Temperature Kains Island 1935 - 2011 - Fisheries & Oceans

The small glass bottles with cork stoppers of sea water were stored in wooden boxes with many little squares, one for each bottle. These boxes would be shipped out when the supply ship re-supplied the station once a year, usually in July. As far as I know Father never did find out what happened to the bottles of sea water after they left the station.²

For an individual to estimate wind speed is a pretty tall order, especially on the edge of an island. If the wind is blowing in your face one would judge the wind speed higher than if it was blowing from behind you (behind the island), so wind speed estimating was not very accurate, even with the crude wind speed indicating instruments supplied at the station. Continue reading The Wind Speed Indicator Episode c.1935 →

Before the Manuals – Applying for the Job c.1930s

January 25, 2012Childhood Memories, Children, Communication, Equipment, Keepers, Light, Lighthouses, Old Website, On The Job, Operators, RadioC.E. | Carver, HAM, Kains island, lighthouse, litehouse, Quatsino, radio beacon, radio operatorretlkpr

– Roy Carver (son of C. E. Carver on Kains Island 1933 – 1944)

2ndClassFogQuals — Qualifications for 2nd Class Fog Alarm Engineer - scan Sandra Vigna & Roy Carver

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) of Canada was a very imposing body of bureaucrats who controlled the hiring and firing of government employees. It was a bit intimidating when I applied in 1969, and from the evidence on the documents that have been given to me, it was equally, if not more so, in 1933.

Clarence Edgar Carver applied for temporary employment as a lighthouse keeper on Quatsino lighthouse (aka Kains Island) and was accepted.

Continue reading Before the Manuals – Applying for the Job c.1930s →

Fairbanks Morse Type “N” Gasoline Engine c. 1900s

January 25, 2012Adult Memories, Automation, Equipment, Foghorns, History, Information, Lighthouses, Old Website, On The Jobdieseö, engines, Fairbanks-Morse, foghorn, gasoline, lighthouse, litehouse, motors, Type Nretlkpr

– With thanks to Harry F. Mathews and his Harry’s Old Engine website for permission to reprint this old information on how to fire-up the old Fairbanks Morse gasoline engines of the 1900s.

RailroadingOnline — Photo Harry Mathews & Railroading Online website

The following text is borrowed with permission from Harry’s Old Engine website. I never had the chance to work with these monstrous engines and found this information very interesting and wanted to pass it on here. Remember, he is referring to a farm engine, but I imagine the lighthouse engines were also close to 32 Hp. Continue reading Fairbanks Morse Type “N” Gasoline Engine c. 1900s →

Life on the Lighthouses c. 1950s to 1960s

January 21, 2012Childhood Memories, Children, Christmas, Equipment, Foghorns, Groceries & Mail, Keepers, Light, Lighthouses, On The Job, School, Travel, Visitors, WomenCape Mudge, children, Fiddle reef, lighthouse, litehouse, Pine Nootka, Sistersretlkpr

Nootka - Lighthouse with Clearcut in Background — Nootka light

I receive links to lighthouse stories in the most unbelievable ways. This one arrived in the middle of an email addressed to someone else, which was then passed on to me.

After contacting this first writer I was passed on to another. To keep track of all my contacts I think I will soon need a secretary!

The first writer was Ms. R. Dawson, and her grandparents were on five British Columbia lighthouses for a total of twenty plus years staring in the 1940s. Ms. Dawson describes herself as an activist and I believe she is onboard with the lighthouse keepers against automation as she says: “Lighthouses have been under attack for decades by federal government politicians who have no idea as to their worth and see them as an easy target.”

After contacting Ms. Dawson, I was told that her Aunt Juanita was older and had more stories to tell, and that Aunt Juanita is the sole surviving child of Ms. Dawson’s grandparents/Juanita’s parents. So, Ms. Dawson contacted Aunt Juanita, and I then received an email from Juanita’s husband Roy DuLong. Continue reading Life on the Lighthouses c. 1950s to 1960s →

Life on First Narrows Lighthouse and Fog Station c. 1915+

January 20, 2012Automation, Childhood Memories, Communication, Equipment, Foghorns, Keepers, Lighthouses, Old Website, On The Job, WomenCapilano, death, First Narrows, foghorn, George Alfred | Harrop, lighthouse, litehouseretlkpr

47_'Empress'_of_Japan-5-em-Dudley_200 — Capilano Lighthouse behind the Empress of Japan - photo Dudley Booth

– a letter written by Dorothy Mawdsley (Harris) Harrop (daughter of first light keeper, George Alfred Harris, at Capilano 1915 – 1925), with special thanks to Alfred Harrop, grandson of George Alfred Harrop, for letting me post the text of the letter.

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This letter is a bit long, as people were prone to write a lot before the advent of computers. If you have the time, this is a fascinating story of life way back then. – JAC

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Perhaps my grandchildren will take time to read this when I am long gone. We came to Vancouver in 1909. I had just turned my 13th birthday. My father could not get work of any description. He had a Chief Engineer Ticket from Liverpool [UK] but owing to the B.C. laws he was not allowed to work as an engineer even on a small tug in the inlet. It must have been very hard on both my father and my mother. Continue reading Life on First Narrows Lighthouse and Fog Station c. 1915+ →