Category Archives: Lighthouses

Descriptions of different BC lighthouses.

Langara Island 1943 – 1945

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– Norma (Kinnear) Money and Willa (Kinnear) Studiner (daughters of William Norman Kinnear, Senior Keeper on Langara 1943 – 1945)

Original interview from the Pine Tree Line1 website which is now hosted on this site.

The duplex – light tower barely visible on right side

Comments by Ren L’Ecuyer 2 – The Kinnear family lived at the lighthouse complex on Langara Island in the 1943-1945 time period. I was fortunate to communicate with Norma Kinnear in February 2004. I had requested her assistance in trying to recreate what once existed at Langara Island. The following detail is a series of questions and answers – all of which provide additional information on what occurred at Langara Island during this period of time. 

Q#1 – Can you please provide the names of your parents, your sister and yourself? I assume there were just two children when you went to Langara Island. 

A#1 – Father: William Norman Kinnear. Mother: Doris May Kinnear. Sisters: Willa Margaret Kinnear and Norma Kathleen Kinnear. 

Q#2 – How old were you and your sister when you arrived at Langara Island? 

A#2 – My sister (Willa) was seven and I was eight. 

Q#3 – Was Langara Island the first location for your father as a light keeper? 

A#3 – Yes.  Continue reading Langara Island 1943 – 1945 →

Can You Draw a Lighthouse?

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Can you draw a lighthouse? I cannot, but the people at Turbo Squid seem to be able to.

3D lighthouse drawing

 

You have never heard of Turbo Squid? Neither had I until I came across the picture at the left. This is a 3D drawing of a lighthouse. 

 

 

3D lighthouse showing makeup

 

The actual drawing is made up of 346 polygons and 631 triangles according to the website and the photos. These polygons and triangles can be seen in the photo on the left.

 

Continue reading Can You Draw a Lighthouse? →

Art – Ghislain Bonneau Paintings

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 March 15, 2014 – I was notified by Ghislain Bonneau today that he is no longer interested in maintaining his website so I have removed all links to his webpage which now no longer exists.

Ghislain  Bonneau found my website while looking for photos of BC lighthouses. He is a Canadian painter using oil on canvas as his medium. I love his rendition of the west coast seas. Because of the oil medium, the water looks wet – almost like you could get your hand wet by touching it.

October 03, 2012 – A new painting by Ghislain showing Cox Bay near Tofino, British columbia. In the background left is the Lennard Island lighthouse, a common topic for Ghislain as he lives in the area.

#101 Lennard Island, 30″ x 48″ oil on canvas, 2011

 

On the left is a painting of Lennard Island lighthouse which is very well done – I think even the lighthouse keeper on Lennard Island would like this one. The viewpoint is a common one in many photos of Lennard Island as it is easily accessible for making photos.

Below is one of many videos that Ghislain has made while on the west coast. This one shows the view towards Lennard Island lighthouse, and a quick view of the lighthouse at the end.

 More west coast videos can be seen on his webpage here.

#88 Trial Island, 18″ x 24″, 2007

 

Another lighthouse painting he has done is of Trial Island, off Victoria, BC. It shows the lighthouse with a heavy bank of cloud behind, early morning sunrise – painted from a photo taken from the golf course.

 

#90, Trial island, 18″ x 24″, 2007

 

Another painting of Trial Island. Trial island is right on Ghislain’s doorstep. I like the former painting of Trial a lot better. I find the house in this painting looks like a round Dutch windmill house, rather than the stark, straight-sided, Canadian lighthouse buildings.

 

#96, Ocean West, Ucluelet, BC

 

On his website, Ghislain has many other art works besides paintings. Myself, I like the oil paintings best, but you decide. My last contribution to this artist is a painting that I really like. This is where the oil paint makes the water look wet. Love it!

If you see something you like, contact Ghislain Bonneau. He says he is not selling anything right now, but it never hurts to ask.

Amphitrite Point – photo Ghislain Bonneau

 

The newest painting (2012) from Ghislain is this one of Amphitrite Point lighthouse (automated). I love the lighthouse lantern, the way it is lit from inside without showing the lamp. Well done!

 

To make the paintings Ghislain takes many photos. A collection of his photos are available here. Please respect his wishes and use them for personal use only. They make lovely screensaver photos.

Song – Lighthouse by Runrig (with videos)

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A friend found this for me, and sent me the links. It is nice song, and the photos are so beautiful that I just had to share it. There are two versions with different photos. I have inserted the lyrics in between the two videos so they are available for both.

The first video has the lyrics embedded over the photos, while the second video has no lyrics visible. Enjoy!

Lighthouse

This world’s not my home
I’m a stranger to the storm
Save me, save me
Where the race is quickest
The tide runs strong Continue reading Song – Lighthouse by Runrig (with videos) →

Lighthouse History – 30 – Estevan Point (1907-06-15 to 1912-04-14)

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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 Estevan Point, 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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 B H Fraser, Engineer of the Marine Department at Ottawa, is in the city, having arrived on Thurs night, to look into the construction work to be carried on in this province. He said he was now looking over the local situation, and it was possible that other work than that scheduled will be carried out on this coast. Among other works planned is the construction of a first-class coast lighthouse and fog alarm station, which will be perhaps the best on the Vancouver Island coast, to be established at Estevan Point, near Hesquiat. A site for this has been cleared. The light will be of the order of the Pachena Point lighthouse, but the tower will be higher. It is likely that this work will not be carried out until next summer. [Colonist, 1907-06-15] Continue reading Lighthouse History – 30 – Estevan Point (1907-06-15 to 1912-04-14) →

Radiotelephone Frustration – McInnes Island c. 1970s – 2000

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What a convenience! What an expense! What a frustration!

Radio telephone

Anyone who has used a radio-telephone on the BC coast will agree with me. It was great to have semi-private communications rather than using the government-installed ALAN (Automated Lightstation Alarm Network) phone which was not private, and also broke down. It was expensive to have a privately owned radio-telephone but so nice to be in contact with the rest of the world. 

But sometimes this convenience just added a few more gray hairs to my head. Here’s one example of a conversation! (there are probably many more if anyone wants to add one) 

**********************************

[heard over the radio-telephone speaker, a ringing sound of a telephone as I keyed the microphone (pressed the press-to-talk (PTT) button to get contact with an operator)] 

Operator: Swindle Island [our normal Telus stand-by channel to receive/place phone calls] 

Myself: Hello operator, this is McInnes Island  . May I have privacy please. 

[“privacy” allowed us to have some modicum of secrecy on the radio-telephone line as it blanked out our side of the conversation to other listeners so they could not hear our registration number or other personal details e.g. bank account numbers, etc.]  Continue reading Radiotelephone Frustration – McInnes Island c. 1970s – 2000 →

Do You Have a Photo of Me Mid-1978?

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– Rand Grant (relief keeper on Triple Island June – July 1978)

Melville Island - looking NW from Triple - photo Rand Grant (Flickr)

The story is in reference to the photo at right, Rand writes: 

The large Island is Melville. Prince Rupert lies just beyond this. The tanker is on it’s way into Prince Rupert Port. One of the deepest and busiest on the west coast of British Columbia. 

One evening back in ’78 [while stationed on Triple Island], I noticed an Alaskan Cruise ship on it’s way by. I walked up to the roof; it was a beautiful summer evening; I was curious, so started waving my arms over my head, back and forth. I actually witnessed that ship light-up with so many flash-bulbs that it made me laugh.  Continue reading Do You Have a Photo of Me Mid-1978? →

Careers In The Federal Public Service – Big Oops!

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If you are looking for a job in the Canadian Government Public Service, the government has a most helpful webpage called Careers in the Federal Public Service (click photo link below for a larger size):

In the middle of the page above you can Search to see if a specific job is open – a job where you might know the name. On the left-hand side is another link called Job Alert. Continue reading Careers In The Federal Public Service – Big Oops! →

Cape Scott Before the Lighthouse 1942 – 1943

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In July 1942, seventeen (17) years before the present lighthouse at Cape Scott was lit, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) established a radio detection finding (RDF) transmitter and receiver at the point. Work was started in July 1942 and the station was online in December 1942. It continued in operation until September 1945. (please see reference notes below). 

Ernest J. Ferguson

Late in 2005 the lighthouse keeper at Cape Scott, Harvey Humchitt, received an inquiry from Ernest J. Ferguson who was reminiscing about his earlier life and wanted to visit Cape Scott, his old haunt from 1942. He was a well-retired RCAF Pilot Officer who started on Cape Scott in July 1942 as a Leading Aircraftman (LAC). 

In his email he wished to visit the area once more but Coast Guard would not permit it because of his age (he was 85 years old this year [2006]). Since then he has written Harvey and myself and given us a few black and white photos and stories of his time setting up No. 10 Radio Detachment on Cape Scott.  Continue reading Cape Scott Before the Lighthouse 1942 – 1943 →

Porlier Pass Lighthouse 1949 – 1965

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– Denice Goudie (grandaughter of Henry Edward Brown, Senior Keeper on Porlier Pass 1949 – 1965) 

Please go to the Porlier Pass lighthouse website, a project of Dennice Goudie, and read the rest of her account and recollections of life at Porlier Pass and a history of her grandfather. 

Building on Race Point demolished in 1996 - photo - Chris Mills

Grandfather of this researcher Denice Goudie, Henry Edward Brown (November 29, 1899 – September 27, 1974) served as lighthouse keeper at Porlier Pass between 1949 and 1965 which was established 15 November 1902; automated April 1996. 

Every summer and most school holidays of my memory were spent at the north end of Galiano Island. At first in the house which stood further up the hill; lit by coal oil lamps, outhouse, water by bucket from the cistern and after that house burned down a 3 bedroom house that can be viewed from Virago Point Light, looking toward Race Point.  Continue reading Porlier Pass Lighthouse 1949 – 1965 →