One of the arguments for destaffing the lighthouses in British Columbia (BC), Canada is that they are no longer needed because all vessels have the Global Positioning System (GPS). Canadian mariners must move into the 21st Century they say!
Have you ever looked at British Columbia? The size of British Columbia?
Note the three roads to Vancouver, Bella Bella, and Prince Rupert
British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, bordered by the Pacific Ocean. With an area of 944,735 square kilometers (364,764 sq mi) it is Canada’s third-largest province. The province itself is eleven times the size of Austria, where I live; nearly four times the size of Great Britain, two and one-half times larger than Japan and larger than every U.S. state except Alaska. 1 Continue reading Why We Need MORE Lighthouses in British Columbia→
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.
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Clayoquot, Jan 19 – When interviewed today, one of the crew of King David said: “We left Salinas Cruz, Mexico, in ballast on Oct 1 and went along fairly well until we got off the Vancouver Island coast, and then we struck a series of southerly and southwesterly hail and snow squalls. We finally drifted into Nootka on Dec 10, and in trying to beat out again struck Bajo Point. All the crew got ashore safely. The sailmaker, Donald McLeod, who is over 60 years of age, went insane when the vessel struck. After getting on the beach 2 men were despatched to find signs of habitation. Returning after 2 days search, they reported meeting a man, who informed them there would be no steamers up the coast till Mar 1. On hearing Continue reading Lighthouse History – 24 (1906-01-20)→
The article below was written in 2003 by Sherrill Kitson, wife of the lightkeeper Rene Kitson, and herself a qualified lightkeeper at the time.
This story will illustrate why lightkeepers, and not electronic sensors, are better weather observers. We can smell the fog, and many a mariner will back us up on that statement.
Now, all we can do is smell the fog, and hope that nobody gets hurt because there are no more foghorns.
(The text below is in a picture. If it is too hard too read, hold down the CTRL key (STRG in Deutsch) and rotate the wheel on your mouse forward or back to increase the photo size – it works on most computers and operating systems.)
The story is reprinted here with permission of Fisheries and Oceans Canada from their publication Shorelines 2003 (which does not appear to be available online – if anyone knows a link, please let me know).
Since April 2000 Canadian Senator Pat Carney has been working hard to get a bill through Parliament to protect Canadian Heritage Lighthouses. It passed during the week of May 7, 2008.
This bill will include buildings and equipment, including the main light on many of these stations – some being very old first-order Fresnel lenses imported from England in the early 1900s.
Images and Voices of Lighthouse Country – A pict/oral history of Deep Bay, Bowser, Qualicum Bay, Horne Lake by Rita Levitz and Leah Willott
Local authors Rita Levitz and Leah Willot have captured the heart of Lighthouse Country. Packed with interviews, news clippings and over 150 black and white photographs, the unforgettable stories of life on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia in the early to mid-1900’s, come to life.
See never before published photos of Mike, Bowser’ s remarkable bartending dog. Read accounts of the Wild Man of Horne Lake and the Cadborosaurus of Qualicum Bay. Listen to the compelling fist-reminiscences of people who lived through the Cannery Fire of 1937, the earthquake of 1946, and the boom and bust cycle of the fishing and logging industries. They are all woven together in the in this fascinating local history which traces the development of the unique communities of Vancouver Island’ s Lighthouse Country. Continue reading Book – Images and Voices of Lighthouse Country→
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.
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Some of the lighthouses have no foghorns and when the mariners are creeping through befogged channels they know this. But the lightkeepers do their best. There is one lightkeeper in a certain pass, not 100 miles from the city, who makes a fog horn of coal-oil tins. He beats these as the Steamer nears the pass he guards as a Chinese villager clangs a gong when brigands are descending on the village. When the Steamer has successfully voyaged through the channel, creeping in the fog, the lightkeeper starts a gramophone which plays: ‘Keep a-moving’; keep a-movin’; Keep a-moving’ right along, Cross de ribber o’ Jordan – keep a-movin’ right along.” –er-r-r-r-bang! Continue reading Lighthouse History – 23 (1905-04-01 to 1905-12-13)→
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.
As I was collecting this information from the newspaper archive website, I noticed that many articles were in consecutive order and applied to Lennard Island, so I collected them all together here. It is a bit long, but interesting, as it describes the building of a lighthouse from the ground up as they say. Take note of the dates at the end of each article. it surely was not done overnight. More extensive information can be obtained from the actual scanned copies of the newspapers themselves on the above website.
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Five new lighthouses are to be established in British Columbia waters. Colonel W P Anderson, chief Engineer of the Department of Marine & Fisheries, who has just completed his tour of inspection of the aids to navigation and lighthouses in these waters has located the sites of several newlighthouses… The 5th light to be established by the Marine and Fisheries Department will be placed on Lennard I at the Southeast entrance of the East channel to Clayoquot Sound. The site for this light was selected by Colonel Anderson on his recent visit to Clayoquot on Dominion Government Steamer Continue reading Lighthouse History – 22 – Lennard Island (1902-09-13 to 1909-10-12)→
McInnes Island (marker with "A" - left) & Shearwater (far lower right)
McInnes Island had a light since 1921. There still are the remains of a wood post and a cement footing high on the SW corner of the island. But then in the early 1950s the Canadian government let a contract to build a lighthouse on the island. This was awarded to Stewart & Slade Construction who worked through 1953 and 1954 to complete the construction.
Ken Stewart 1953
In August of 1953,1 a young man, aged 19 years old at the time, was in the work crew hired by Stewart and Slade Construction. He was actually a relative of the boss as his Dad owned the company! His name was Ken Stewart and he worked with a group of other young men to build the lighthouse. Continue reading Building a Lighthouse – McInnes Island c. 1953→
Following along on the Lighthouse Lapel Pins collections, how many of you knew there were two Canadian lighthouse coins issued?
2004 Sambro Island lighthouse $20 coin
The first Canadian lighthouse coin was issued in 2004 and is from the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) lighthouse series depicting the Sambro Island Lighthouse which was built in 1758 and remains North America’s oldest operating lighthouse. It is located at the mouth of Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia.
The quantity minted was limited to 25,000 but only 17,515 were actually struck. Because of this this coin will be the lowest mintage coin in this series. It is now worth approximately $60 CDN (2011).
2005 Gibralter Point lighthouse $20 coin
The second Canadian lighthouse coin was issued in 2005, also by the Royal Canadian Mint with a limited mintage of 14,006. It depicts the Gibraltar Island lighthouse on Toronto Island, Ontario, Canada. A special feature of this coin is the high-tech minting technique which accentuates the beam of light from the lighthouse. It is also worth around $60 CDN (2011). If you want it with all the original RCM packaging, then it can be purchased for $109.88 (2011) from Colonial Acres Coins.
That’s it! There doesn’t seem to be anymore. Is there word of any more being issued? I do not know. Keep your eye out for the next one at the RCM website or sign up for the email newsletter.
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2003 Maine quarter (25 cent piece)
The US issued on June 02, 2003 a Maine State quarter depicting the Pemaquod lighthouse and is the 23rd quarter to be released in the U.S. Mint’s 50 State Quarters program. The Maine State quarter was the first U.S. coin to depict a lighthouse and it was only issued in a mintage of 448,800,000.
Launched in 1999, the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program was a 10-year initiative that honored each of the nation’s states in the order that they ratified the Constitution or were admitted into the Union. Each quarter was produced for about 10 weeks and will never be produced again.
The 50 State Quarters were released by the United States Mint every ten weeks, or five each year. Each quarter’s reverse commemorated one of the 50 states with a design emblematic of its unique history, traditions and symbols.
A new Lighthouse Quarter from the US is to feature Acadia lighthouse. It is to be released in the Summer of 2012 – US Mint to Feature Acadia Lighthouse
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Early Roman coin showing a grain ship and the lighthouse at Alexandria (left)
The only other coin I can find with a lighthouse is one issued in AD 190 – 182 by the Romans. It depicts the famous lighthouse of Alexandria which fell down in 1323.
Are there any other coins in the world depicting lighthouses? Please drop me a comment or place a message in my Guestbook.
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2011-10-18
I was planning a holiday to Turkey, and for some reason one of my searches turned up an eBay page offering Turkish silver coins for sale. They are very beautifully engraved coins with lighthouses on them. Only two have been issued.
The first issued in 2008 depicts the Kizilada lighthouse in Fethiya, Turkey. The second issued in 2010 depicts the Ahikari lighthouse in Istanbul, Turkey.
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June 13, 2012 – Acadia National Park Quarter Products On Sale The United States Mint has started accepting orders for a number of numismatic products featuring the Acadia National Park Quarter. This coin represents the thirteenth release of the ongoing America the Beautiful Quarters
Program.
The reverse design of the quarter includes a view of the Bass Harbor Head Light House, which incorporates representative elements of the park including the lighthouse, the coastline, pine trees, and the ocean. Inscriptions surrounding the design include “Acadia”, “Maine”, “2012”, and “E Pluribus Unum”.
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.”
