Category Archives: Fishing

Life on Kains Island 1933 – 1944

Adult Memories, Childhood Memories, Children, Coast Guard, Communication, Equipment, Fishing, Foghorns, Government, Groceries & Mail, History, Incidents, Keepers, Light, Lighthouses, Medical, Old Website, On The Job, Operators, Pensions, Radio, School, Weather, Women, , , , , , , , , ,

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

Roy Carver told me he “was born at the Bancroft Nursing Home at 705 Cook Street in Victoria, BC in mid 1930s. This nursing home was set up for expectant mothers that lived in out of the way places with no doctors, like his mother Evelyn Carver. They could come to the home a month before the due date and stay a few days or a week before returning home.” 

Quatsino Lightstation c. 1930s - photo BC Archives

And Roy definitely did live in an out of the way place with his parents, and later his sister. His father was Clarence Edgar Carver who was the principal lightkeeper, fog alarm operator and radio beacon operator on Quatsino Lighthouse (aka Kains Island) during the period 1933 to 1944. Kains Island is located far up the western side of Vancouver Island on Quatsino sound. Nearest neighbours were six (6) miles (9.7 kilometers) away at the small fishing village of Winter Harbour.  Continue reading Life on Kains Island 1933 – 1944 →

Glass Balls – The Dream of Every Beachcomber

Adult Memories, Beachcombing, Equipment, Fishing, Foreign, Glass Balls, Lighthouses, Old Website, , , , , , , , ,
Various sizes - photo BeachComberBum

In my years on the lights there was always talk of finding a glass ball. The inside lights such as my first one at Pulteney Point did not have too much chance of stopping a floating glass ball because of the strong tides.

My first outside light [not sheltered by land] was Quatsino but with only one beach at the back of the island and all the rest rocky it was nigh on impossible. Pachena  wasn’t much better and we weren’t there long enough to hit the beaches around the area. Green Island was like Pulteney but we did find one or two there sitting in the pools. 

So a real outside light was needed, and one was waiting! 

Our 14 ft. Zodiac with stowable sail - photo John Coldwell

We moved to McInnes Island  in 1977 and in the next couple of years we outfitted a fourteen (14) foot (4.27 m) Zodiac with a 25 HP Evinrude outboard with which we could go beachcombing. The children were still young then (see photo left) so a lot of the beachcombing was done alone with not much luck. Oh, I found a couple but nothing big. Then a friend came up and he found a larger one – about 12 inches (30.5 cms) in diameter along with a couple of small ones.  Continue reading Glass Balls – The Dream of Every Beachcomber →

What Ship Is That?

Advertisement, Coast Guard, Communication, Database, Equipment, Fishing, Government, Information, Lighthouses, Maps, Ships & Shipping, Worldwide, , , , , ,

Have you ever sat on a lighthouse, or a wharf, or a high hill and seen a ship in the distance? No radio, too far for binoculars, bad eyesight – “What ship is that?” you wonder.

Wonder no more! The Internet is full of ship tracking programs. Select one to suit your needs. You can find any ship that is required to report, anywhere in the world. I doubt you will find drug smugglers, or such like that. Let me know if you do!

The programs are listed in the order I found them – not in best to worst, etc. You take your pick. Try them all. Let the readers know in the comments section which program you found the best.

For information on how this works and was developed, see this ESRI website.

1. sailwx.info This online program is very interesting. It has information on:

Ship Tracking – All ships, Oceanographic research vessels, Tall ships, Cruising yachts
Marine data – Tides, Wind, Water Temperature, Barometer, Hurricanes 

Today - November 20, 2011 - 09:00 CET

  Continue reading What Ship Is That? →

My Rowboat On Langara Island

Adult Memories, Beachcombing, Boats, Childhood Memories, Equipment, Fishing, Incidents, Keepers, Old Website, Women, , , , , ,

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

painting - Phyllis Ray

My dad built me a 8 foot plywood rowboat on Langara. It was my pride and joy. I often rowed it in the “cut”. This was a sheltered cove where the supply workboat brought our groceries and fuel, and hooked slings onto the skyhook to bring the goods onshore. 

Often the cut would become choked with kelp, fouling the workboats prop. I would take a machete, throw my boat in, and spend the warm summer days leaning over the side of the boat and chopping the heads off the kelp. They would then sink to the bottom, leaving the area clean.  Continue reading My Rowboat On Langara Island →

I Saw a Sunfish

Adult Memories, British Columbia, Fishing, Keepers, Lighthouses, On The Job, Recreation, Weather, , , , , ,
One of 19 photos from the NDR website - three short videos are also there

Last night I saw a documentary on the German TV channel NDR about searching for Sunfish (Mola mola) – Mondfische in the German language which means Moonfish – off the California Coast and off the Italian island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea.

Now, this is a website about lighthouses – why would I be writing about Sunfish?

 

Small sunfish in the water - photo Paul Howells

Well one year warm California currents moved north – as far north as Prince Rupert, BC. I am not too sure of the exact year but judging from the years with warmest sea surface temperatures 1 I would guess it to be about 1984 as I remember an assistant 2 named Roger Mogg on station at the time. Continue reading I Saw a Sunfish →

Don’t You Get Bored?

Adult Memories, Boats, Children, Fishing, Lighthouses, Medical, Medical Emergency, On The Job, Recreation, , , ,

 You know those email jokes that go around saying things like:
“How Old is Grandpa?“
And Grandpa replies, “I was born before television, penicillin, polio shots,
frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees, and the pill. There were no credit cards, laser beams, or ball-point pens.
Man had not invented pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwashers, or clothes dryers, and man hadn’t yet walked on the moon, etc. . . .”

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Now let’s switch to an isolated lighthouse in the 1970s, 1980s, etc. . . . and a different question:

Don’t you get bored? Continue reading Don’t You Get Bored? →

Fishing in the Fog – Pulteney Point c. 1970s

Adult Memories, British Columbia, Equipment, Fishing, Foghorns, Lighthouses, On The Job, Recreation, Ships, , , , , , ,

The following story came to mind when a friend of mine from Victoria made a comment on this website.

The water on the Inside Passage called Queen Charlotte Strait is know for its enveloping fogs which cover all land and sea, sometimes for days at a a time.

Pulteney Point (top middle) and Kluxewe river (bottom middle)

In the early 1970s I was stationed at Pulteney Point Lighthouse – my first appointment to the lightstation service. What a delightful place it was, and the keepers, Walt and Joyce Tansky were the best  to have for a person starting on the lights.

One summer’s day my friend Rich was visiting for a few days salmon fishing. I had a fifteen (16) foot (5 meter) canoe. I was very familiar with it, but Rich still had to learn. Continue reading Fishing in the Fog – Pulteney Point c. 1970s →

Life on a Lighthouse by Grandma Stannard c. 1927

Adult Memories, British Columbia, Childhood Memories, Children, Equipment, Fishing, Foghorns, Groceries & Mail, Keepers, Lighthouses, Medical, Medical Emergency, Old Website, On The Job, Recreation, Ships, Stories, Travel, Women, , , , , , ,

– Elizabeth Kate (Stannard) Smithman (Wife of Henry Herbert Smithman who was Senior Keeper at Sisters Island 1927 – 1929) 

Ballenas  and Sisters  Islands 

I thought you might be interested to hear about “Life On a Lighthouse”. 

We lived on them for about 5 ½ to 6 years and I guess we would have stayed and made a lifetime job of it but Bert [my husband] got very sick and had to be taken off to hospital where after a lingering illness he passed away. 

Well some folks think it must be very lonesome life but there’s too much to do to get lonesome and besides, it’s a wonderful, interesting life. 

We were on two different lights. The first one was the best as it was a bigger island and we could have a garden and there was lots of room for the children to play, however I took sick and as we thought lighthouse life did not suit me, Bert asked to be replaced by another light keeper. 

We moved to Parksville, [Vancouver island, BC, Canada] where we had been getting our mail, etc. 

Anyway I was no better (for awhile anyway) but after some time I improved but we had learned that it wasn’t being on a lighthouse that caused my sickness so we put in for another.  Continue reading Life on a Lighthouse by Grandma Stannard c. 1927 →

In Memorium – Evelyn Bruton (1930 – 2011)

Adult Memories, Automation, British Columbia, Children, Fishing, Groceries & Mail, In Memorium, Keepers, Lighthouses, On The Job, Recreation, Women, , , ,

A friend of mine passed on to me the obituary notice of Evelyn Bruton, wife of retired Sheringham Point lighthouse keeper Jim Bruton – left, and directly below

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BRUTON, Evelyn [August 10, 1930 – September 17, 2011] Passed away on September 17 at Cowichan District Hospital. Born August 10th, 1930 in Ellerslie, Alberta to Michael and Adeline. At the age of 18 Evelyn moved to Vancouver and worked as a stenographer for a local paper. She met Jim Bruton in Vernon and a year later they were married on December 22, 1951, shortly after they moved to Bella Coola where Jim worked in the logging industry. Five years later they moved to lighthouses where Evelyn learned to help with lighthouse work, to run a boat, fishing for extra income for the family. She also became teacher to her four children, instructing them in their schooling for many years. After working on various lighthouses for 30 years Jim and Evelyn retired to enjoy traveling, gardening and visiting with family. After Jim passed away Evelyn moved to Duncan where she became active in the community, especially enjoying the many crib tournaments she participated in and her garden. She will be missed by her family and friends, 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren and 2 more on the way. A memorial service to be held on Sunday, September 25, 2011 at 2 pm at First Memorial Funeral Chapel 4725 Falaise Drive Victoria, BC. In lieu of flowers please make a donation in Evelyn’s name to a charity of your choice. 637755

– Published in the Victoria Times-Colonist on 9/20/2011

To include your memories in Evelyn’s memorial please click this link.

******************************* Continue reading In Memorium – Evelyn Bruton (1930 – 2011) →

Triple Island Lighthouse is a Great Place to Fish!

British Columbia, Canada, Fishing, Lighthouses, Photos, Recreation, Travel, , ,
Triple Island lighthouse marked by the "A"

The gallery of photos below are from a friend of mine in Smithers, BC who chartered a boat with his friends in August (2011) from Prince Rupert and went fishing off Triple Island lighthouse.

If you look real closely at one of the photos of the lighthouse, you can see a man standing on the helicopter pad to the left of the lighthouse. It could be my friend from Vancouver who works there on a rotational basis of 28 days on and 28 days off. Continue reading Triple Island Lighthouse is a Great Place to Fish! →