Category Archives: Groceries & Mail

Travel – Australian Lighthouses

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Shine a Light on Australia's lighthouses.

 

I came across this article that shows the life on an Australian lighthouse starting in 1971. A wee bit different than Canada I must say.

 

 

What got my attention were the requirements for a lighthouse keeper:

The job requirements of a lighthouse keeper were a car licence, an ability to climb to heights and an ability to get along with the other lighthouse keeper . . .

 The article is worth reading to illustrate the differences between Canadian and Australian lights (wildlife, for one), plus, on the page is a reference and a link to an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) website which is exploring some of Australia’s iconic lighthouses.

This new site is called Shining a Light and is an excellent documentary on some of Australia’s lighthouses. The map above shows the lighthouses mentioned.

There you go – two stories for one price. Enjoy!

Did You Gain Weight Over Christmas?

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Washington State Ferry - photo Steven J. Brown

 

The following story from the Victoria Times-Colonist caught my attention yesterday:

Heavier Riders Force Capacity Cut on Washington State Ferries

 

A takeout from the page reads:

British Columbia had the fast ferries.

Now, Washington state has the fat ferries.

 

On Dec. 1, U.S. Coast Guard vessel stability rules raised the estimated weight of the average adult passenger to 185 pounds from 160 pounds. This was based in part on population information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a coast guard report on the changes.

 

To comply with the new rules, the state-run ferry system has reduced the number of passengers on a number of routes, Marta Coursey, director of communications for Washington State Ferries, said Thursday. Continue reading Did You Gain Weight Over Christmas? →

A Posting to Isolation – Pachena Pt. 1949 – 1955

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– Betty Healey (Wife of Arthur Healey – Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Pachena Point Radio station (VAD) 1949 – 1955)
– forward by editor Tom Racine (from his website History of Spectrum Management in Canada) 

D.O.T.’er Arthur Healey was officer-in-charge at Pachena Point  Marine Radio Station from 1949 to 1955. With his wife Betty and three children, Ann, John and Michael who were then 12, 8 and 7 years of age respec­tively, he spent six years at this isolated post. He went from there to Alert Bay and last summer took over as officer-in-charge at Victoria Marine Radio. 

Access to Pachena Radio, which was closed down in 1958 after 45 years of operation, was by lighthouse tender, or Bamfield lifeboat, and then by workboat through the surf to the bonnet-sling; then highline up the cliff. If one was a good hiker, it was possible to trek the nine miles from Bamfield to Pachena, and that was how the Healey’s first got there. 

Today, living once again in a large urban community, Mrs. Healey recalls the rewarding experiences shared by the family during that six year period. The children are now young adults: Ann is married and the mother of four children; John received a Bachelor of Education degree last year and is now teaching at Burns Lake, B.C., and Michael, working towards a Master’s degree in zoology at UBC, plans to go to Europe for Ph.D. studies.  Continue reading A Posting to Isolation – Pachena Pt. 1949 – 1955 →

Life on Kains Island 1933 – 1944

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– 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 →

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men . . .

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With credit to Robbie Burns for the title quote I will tell a tale of woe that  I heard  many years ago about the Green Island lightkeepers and how they had run out of tobacco (a common occurence on the lighthouses) and the keepers had pooled their money to charter a float plane from Prince Rupert, 25 miles (15.5 kms) away, to bring some more cigarettes and tobacco out to the lighthouse. 

It should be easy, eh? - photo Ray McKenzie

The small float plane arrived with the cargo on board and circled the island a few times, tipping his wings as he spotted the keepers standing outside waving. But alas, he radioed the keepers that because of the outflow northeast winds from Portland Canal he could not land on the ocean as requested, but, if the keepers wanted to take the risk, he could could fly over the island and drop the package from the cockpit window.  Continue reading The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men . . . →

Chrome Island c. 1930s

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Chrome island - photo Leslie Williamson

I received the email below from a Ms. C. Burke in October 2010, and she passed on the information to me that her mother had related about the early days at Chrome Island lighthouse. I am sorry I did not get it published earlier, but I was working on getting this site in operation before I added a lot of new writings.

I can vouch that 100% of the manned stations on the BC coast are still maintained in pristine condition as mentioned in the story below – the keepers are proud of their work and their stations. – JC

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My mother has dictated some memoirs to me of her summers at Hornby Island Lodge 1, which was built by her parents, R.L. (Bob) and Mary (Molly) Hunt. They purchased all of Tribune Bay in 1925 and created the resort.2 I will be publishing Mom’s memoirs to a blog. Continue reading Chrome Island c. 1930s →

A Trip by Workboat from Carmanah Point c. 1970s – Part 1

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Workboat over the side CCGS Camsell - photo John Coldwell

– by Reg Gunn (First Mate on the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Sir James Douglas)

To see what life was like in the workboats that delivered our groceries and took us off for holidays, check out Reg Gunn’s article Life in the Canadian Coast Guard below.

I was talking with Reg Gunn and he told me “I remember when it was first published I received favourable comments from other Coast Guarders who also had enjoyed working the workboats on the west coast.” 

His story follows.

Life in the Canadian Coast Guard

This story was originally three pages long (sorry Reg, I had to split it into two parts – WordPress restrictions) – JC). Continue reading A Trip by Workboat from Carmanah Point c. 1970s – Part 1 →

Life on a Lighthouse by Grandma Stannard c. 1927

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– 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)

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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) →

Lighthouse Libraries and Their Book Boxes

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Thomas Crosby V

After writing about the Bookboats and how the Thomas Crosby V used to bring us books to read from their onboard library, I was reminded of the libraries on each lighthouse I worked on. Each keeper that worked the island would leave a few books behind, mostly pocketbooks, and they would take with them new ones from our library.

Library on McInnes Island - photo Paul Kurbis

On McInnes Island lighthouse we had a library of a few hundred pocket books of all sorts. Sometimes, when we got desperate for new reading material we boxed up a bunch of books and sent them off to another lighthouse in return for a box of theirs. We also traded off magazines and newspapers whenever a helicopter came by. Continue reading Lighthouse Libraries and Their Book Boxes →