Automated in 1926, this video shows what some governments wish to do with automated lighthouses. They cannot just leave it alone as a lighthouse and a monument. No, they dream of turning it into a concession stand selling soft drinks and candy bars to the tourists! This was June 28, 2006. Luckily it was turned down by the public, but what comes next?
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Harry Heine R.S.M.A., C.S.M.A., N.W.W.S. (July 24, 1928 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – September 25, 2004 Victoria, BC, Canada) was an artist who specialized in maritime scenes. – Wikipedia
Many years ago, having found the Heine family website at Spindrift Studios, I admired the lighthouse paintings of Harry Heine and upon request I was given permission by his son Mark Heine to reprint the following three works of Harry Heine for your enjoyment, and as a lure to get you to visit the family website. Beautiful artwork. Click the photos below to go to the website.
Continue reading Spindrift Studios – the Artwork of the Heine Family
In an earlier story I wrote about how the lighthouse keepers have been doing sea water samples since the early 1930s – some of the oldest observations on the BC coast!
Now, with satellites we can get different temperatures of the sea – Sea Surface Temperatures for one – similar to what the lightkeepers do, but globally.
Sea surface temperatures have a large influence on climate and weather. For example, every 3 to 7 years a wide swath of the Pacific Ocean along the equator warms by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius. This warming is a hallmark of the climate pattern El Niño, which changes rainfall patterns around the globe, causing heavy rainfall in the southern United States and severe drought in Australia, Indonesia, and southern Asia. On a smaller scale, ocean temperatures influence the development of tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons), which draw energy from warm ocean waters to form and intensify. – NASA Earth Observatory Continue reading The Awfully Long Thermometer!
Following along with yesterday’s story about travel on a CCGS ice breaker, and with the permission of the author, Pamela Coulston, I am reprinting her article here about life on Canadian Coast Guard ice breakers servicing the north and the lighthouses. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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Surprisingly, everyone made it to dinner, they also made it to breakfast and lunch. The
Coast Guard icebreaker Sir Wilfrid Laurier was taking a whipping from the weather in the middle of the Bering Sea. But not a meal was missed.
While the two cooks dished up three squares, the seas served up a storm that included winds gusting to 90 knots and 10-metre waves that broke over the bow, drenching the bridge four storeys above.
The captain ordered all loose items secured and all outer decks off-limits – any one of these larger waves could wash a person overboard to their death in near freezing waters. Continue reading Of Ice and Men
I received the following email the other day promoting an article on a friend’s website:
The freighter Vanlene ran up on the rocks on Austin Island in the Broken Group islands on March 14, 1972. She was carrying 300 Dodge Colt automobiles while enroute to Vancouver BC from Japan. The crew was rescued and taken to Port Alberni. How she ended up on the rocks is still a matter of conjecture but it appears that the Master simply did not know where he was at the time of impact (he thought he was off of the coast of Washington) and his navigational aids were inoperable. See the article at Nauticapedia.
Risking it All – Oil on our Coast is a short film that outlines the plans for the pipeline and tanker route and what it means for our beautiful coast. It is produced by Twyla Roscovich in association with Hartley Bay & Gitga’at Nation, Oil on our Coast is meant to inspire, empower and help fuel the battle to save what sustains us. – Twyla Roscovitch
Risking it All – Oil on our Coast from Twyla Roscovich on Vimeo. Continue reading Risking it All – Oil on Our Coast
One of the duties of a lighthouse keeper on some stations, was to do a daily Sea Water sample. It was started very early on (see the story here), before the advent of Global warming, and the observed data has been beneficial in many ways as you will see at the bottom..
In the above-mentioned story from Kains Island lighthouse, the samples started in 1935, so we have seventy-seven (77) years of ocean data. Also in the story is the fact that in the early years . . .
. . . the small glass bottles of sea water with cork stoppers were stored in wooden boxes with many little squares, one for each bottle1. These boxes would be shipped out when the supply ship re-supplied the station once a year, usually in July. Continue reading Ocean Water Samples
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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phs/Clayoquot, called after a West Coast tribe of Indians. ‘Cla-o-quaht’ means people different from what they were. (See Walbran). It is situated partly on a peninsula of Vancouver Island and partly on Meares and Stubbs Islands. The white settlement is commonly known as Tofino, though it is registered at the Provincial Land Office as Clayoquot Townsite, and is situated at the Northwest extremity of the peninsula extending about 9 miles Northwest from Long Beach. The Indian village, known as Opitsat is situated on the Southwest shore of Meares I. The hotel, large store, and wharf belonging to Mr Dawley are on Stubbs I, with the Post Office and police stn shown on the Admiralty chart as Clayoquot.
The common meeting ground of all the settlements is the large sheet of water between them, full of sand banks and channels, with strong tide rips, so that all the inter-communication has to be by boat, making it a miniature Venice. There are many Norwegian seafaring settlers, many of whom form the lifeboat crew at Tofino; besides owning their own houses, they build rowing and motor boats with great success. The only motor boats and pilots to be hired for the work up the many inlets of Clayoquot and Nootka Sounds are at Tofino. The expeditions after timber, minerals, earths, cannery sites and land locating in these sounds are nearly endless, and they have been all transported by these Tofino guides and their motor boats. In fact, Clayoquot is the best place to commence any small expedition to any inlet South of Cape Cook and Quatsino Sound. Continue reading Lighthouse History – 40 (1912-04-14 to 1912-07-20)
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
Dan McMurray (March 24, 1942 – February 15, 2012)
Long time North Coast lightkeeper Dan McMurray passed away at his home in Wynndel, BC on February 15, 2012 after a gallant struggle with lung cancer.
He was pre-deceased by his wife Valerie who also succumbed to cancer in March 2010.
They retired off Pine Island Lightstation to their garden paradise in Wynndel in 2003 and spent many long and happy hours working together producing pure & natural seed stock which they traded with like minded people around the world. Check out his blog here.
Dan will be sadly missed by his family and many friends both on and off the lights.