Category Archives: Old Website

What You Take for Granted

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       Kerosene to Electricity

In the early days of lighthouses all lighthing was by kerosene lamps with wicks. When electricity first came to the lights, it was only for running the main light and occassionally for operation of the foghorn solenoids. Sometimes a knowledgeable principal keeper would wire in a light to his house – a single cable hanging from the ceiling with a small wattage bulb – usually in the kitchen. 

Later came large generators and a bit more power. I say a ‘bit’ more. My first station at Pulteney Point  had a 5 KW Kato generator run by a two-cylinder Lister diesel engine which supplied power to the main light, radio, and foghorn controls. The rest of the available current was left to be split between the three keeper’s houses. In 1969 our house was only one year old but had one electrical outlet per room and only two circuits per house. To have boiled eggs and toast for breakfast we had to wait until the principal keeper had finished cooking his breakfast – or cook before he got up – remember, we were on shifts. We would plug the hotplate in one outlet

Savoy oil stove

in the kitchen to boil the eggs (oil stove was so-o-o-o-o slow for boiling water) and the toaster in an outlet in the back bedroom (different circuit). That way both would be ready at same time! I remember the wives comparing times when they would be doing ironing. If you overloaded the circuits the engine would shut down and the main light would go out. This was a no-no! 

Later the Coast Guard increased the size of the generators so that we had forty (40) amps (amperes) per house for electrical current but compared to a modern house in town running 100 amps minimum we still had to be careful. We generated 220 volts at 60 cycles but depending on the length of run of cable to the house, this could drop to 210 volts and 57 cycles. We could never run an electric clock on any lighthouse as the cycles were so erratic. You could lose 5 minutes or more in a day! By the time I left in 2001 the maximum we had was 60 amp breaker boxes in each house but if you didn’t watch it you could still overload the engines and shut them down. 

 

Lister diesels C. 1990s

Unfortunately overloading was not the only problem. In the early days we had two 5KW (kilowatt) engines coupled to two-cylinder diesel engines. We would run one for a week, shut it down, do an oil and filter change and start it up again. If it had too many hours on it we waited for a replacement and ran the standby, praying for a ship to deliver the new engine. This worked very well. We checked them hourly for oil leaks and opened and closed windows for ventilation depending on room temeprature and weather. 

Later, when the government got it into its head to try automating everything, they attached all kinds of sensors to our trusty diesels. Well the engines worked great but the sensors were always malfunctioning and shutting down the engines. We had oil temperature and pressure sensors, high and low voltage sensors, air temperature sensors and battery voltage sensors plus . . . I’ve forgotten all the reasons that a sensor could shut down an engine, but they did. We had an alarm in the house which sensed when the power went off (usually at night when we were sleeping) and rang a loud bell. Up we got from bed, dressed and headed up to the engine room. Hopefully the standby engine had started but usually it did not. If the sensor shut down the engine it usually shut down the control panel. Once we reset the panel, fired up the standby engine (just in case it was the poor main engine’s fault), checked out the problem engine, switched engines and wrote our log books and notified Coast Guard Radio that our light had been off it was usually time to start getting ready for our first weather of the morning at 3 AM (0300).  Continue reading What You Take for Granted →

Unwatched Lights – All Automated

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In the early twentieth century there were many navigational lights on the British Columbia coast maintained by individuals under contract. These were not lighthouses but pylons, piles, posts, rafts, or dolphins of wood or cement, or metal tanks made from disused military mooring buoys.

Upon these moorings was placed a kerosene (coal oil) lamp which would have to be tended. Some of the lights in accessible locations were lit before sunset and extinguished after sunrise, daily, weekly, for years, and with little pay.

Other lights were supplied with a two day lamp that remained lit for two days (the extent of the fuel reservoir) and then were changed over with a full, clean lamp. A later invention was a low maintenance, thirty-one day coal oil lamp. This also proved useless as it carboned up and was not very bright.

For example, before the real Capilano lighthouse (aka First Narrows) was established 1913 at the mouth of the Capilano river – List of Lights #394 – near the entrance to Vancouver Harbour, a black cylindrical tank was installed on a dolphin or piling, and a man was hired to row over and maintain the light and also wind the fog bell when it was installed at a later date. This was not an easy job because tides and fog competed with the Capilano river outflow to hamper any but the strongest of men.

 

First Narrows light 2006

When the Capilano lighthouse was automated in 1969, the lighthouse, complete with the engine room and residence on its wood pilings was burnt to the water and again a light beacon was established on a concrete pillar. This was later replaced with another beacon on a wood dolphin which stands today. 

 

 

 Another local light that was unwatched was Garry Point – List of Lights #333 – off the mouth of the Fraser River. Because of its location, this could be easily be reached by land and so did not require a manned station. It was probably maintained by a man from Steveston. Continue reading Unwatched Lights – All Automated →

‘Automation’ Comes to Triple Island c. 1950s

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– from Jeannie (Hartt) Nielsen (daughter of Ed Hartt, Senior Keeper on Triple Island 1954 – 1957) 

Triple Island at Dusk*

Ed and Eileen Hartt were lightkeepers for a number of years, on Lawyer Island, Triple Island, and Langara Island. The following is an excerpt from one of my mother’s manuscripts about life on Triple Island in the 1950s. 

It shows how lightkeeper’s wives often had to pitch in and help out – and how lightkeepers had to come up with some innovative solutions at times! 

My father was an extremely resourceful man, and devised one of the first power devices used on the light stations for rotating the light within the tower. His ingenuity came in useful in many ways on other occasions as well. What follows is just one example . . . 

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– from Eileen Hartt (Wife of Ed Hartt, Senior Keeper on Triple 1954 – 1957) 

The combination washing machine/spin dryer we had purchased, turned out to be a real comedian in disguise. Its well worn casters (in fact, they were flat on one side) didn’t prevent it from charging all over the kitchen, like a dog on a leash. Its long cord plugged into the light socket hanging on the usual wire strung from the ceiling. It lurched and charged around the room with me in pursuit, trying to load it. Ed and the children thought it as hilarious when I missed the tub and my load of clothes scattered across the floor. 

One night as we sat at the table, Don (our assistant keeper) told us that the clock drive for the tower wasn’t working properly. It had stopped half a dozen times the night before and had to be constantly watched. Ed and Don went to inspect it and I followed along. It didn’t take long to find the problem. The pulleys through which the cable passed were so worn from the long years of use that they were binding. The gears also were well worn. Ed and Don put their heads together and came up with an alarm that would ring if the light stopped turning . 

It wasn’t very long after we put the light on that night when we found out how well the alarm worked. The sudden loud jangle of the bell brought us all to our feet and the three of us ran for the tower. Reaching the lamp room panting, Ed paused long enough to push the turn table and count to make the light revolve as it must. The men disappeared through the open trap door, and I was left to count and push, count and push. At first it was easy, but then my arm lost feeling, so I changed arms; then back again. It became agony, but I didn’t dare stop. I wondered if they would ever come back! 

At last I heard feet on the cement steps. Ed told me to leave the light and get on the radio. I was to inform Digby and the Department of Transport that the light was inoperable. My arms and back ached as the blood returned, and I hurried down to the radio room. 

“Prince Rupert Radio, Prince Rupert Radio, Prince Rupert Radio: Triple Island calling!” 

“Triple Island, Prince Rupert back. We have a message for you. Copy? Your light is burning steady. Do you copy?” 

I glanced out the window and saw the lights of the ship that had just reported our light, passing in the night. 

“Prince Rupert Radio, have copied. I want to send one to the main office and your station; light inoperable, worn gears. Signed Ed Hartt, Triple Island. Do you copy?” 

I looked out at the passing ship lights and made a face at them then went back to the tower room to tell the men we had been reported. 

“Wouldn’t you know it?” Ed complained. “You don’t see a ship or boat all day, and the second things go wrong there’s one right there!” 

“That’s the way things go,” Don agreed. 

That night turned into a nightmare for the two men as they tried to keep the light turning. The weight would only drop about ten feet then stop and have to be wound up again. 

As I walked bleary eyed through the kitchen the next morning I found my rambling washing machine was not in its usual place. It had given its life to become part of the electric drive Ed had devised to keep the light revolving. I found its remains in the engine room, but it was in a good cause, as our light never burned steady again. 

* photo – Triple Island at Dusk – Mike Mitchell

I Remember c. 1927

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Sisters Island c. 1927

– Lloyd Smithman (Son of Henry Herbert Smithman who was Senior Keeper at Sisters Island 1927 – 1929) 

I remember . . . 

  • going to the waters edge at night and seeing the dog fish so numerous in the light from a lantern that you thought you could walk on them.
  • the time that Dad and Ted caught an octopus that measured 8 feet across.
  • still how the suction cups felt on my hand.
  • the time that a little octopus came up to Stan’s foot while he was wading one day.
  • the day a seagull was eating a star fish and got it part way down. The gulls throat was bulged out and it appeared he was going to choke to death. Dad got his rifle to put it out of its misery but it slowly went down and the gull flew away.
  • cleaning lamp chimneys for the coal oil lamps.
  • eating eggs preserved with waterglass!
  • canned milk Continue reading I Remember c. 1927 →

Forward to “Groceries and Mail”

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Loading groceries onto the helicopter at the CG base

On my old website I wrote the “forward” below for a serious of stories about our groceries and mail – especially the mail! I’ll reprint it here to emphasize the importance of mail again, even in this day and age of computers. Right now I am staying in a small northern BC town. You should see the people going in and out of the Post Office after the mail plane arrives; but they can do it every day that the Post Office is open – on the lighthouse we could not.

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Groceries stuffed into the helicopter

“Some may wonder why the number of stories about re-supplying the lighthouses exceeds the others on this site by a large margin. Next to the family and job, the arrival of the mail and groceries was the most important event in the life of the lightkeeping family.

Imagine no telephone, no television, no two-way radio, possibly no AM radio, no computer, and no contact with the outside world except what you saw going by your window. The post was and still is the most important contact to the real world. 

Unloading the helicopter . . .

Next think of no refridgerators, no freezers, and on some stations, no room for a garden, probably no hunting, and fishing only if the weather is good and the tide not too strong. 

In the early days (1920s – 1950s) food sometimes had to last for six months or more and could arrive damaged. In the early days the ships did not have freezers, so your fresh side of beef could now be many weeks old and growing green as the ship could not deliver the goods because of bad weather, malfunctions, or search and rescue. Even in my years on the lights (1969 – 2001) when we had monthly delivery, supplies would not arrive because the store did not have the item in stock and never thought to substitute another, or they would get soaked in the rain, or seawater.  Continue reading Forward to “Groceries and Mail” →

VIDEO-The Lighthouse and the Aircraft Carrier

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This is based on an actual radio conversation between a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier (U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln) and Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995. (The radio conversation was released by the Chief of Naval Operations on 10/10/95 authorized by the Freedom of Information Act.) 

Canadians: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid collision. 

Americans: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision. 

Canadians: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision. 

Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again,divert YOUR course. 

Canadians: No, I say again, you divert YOUR course. 

Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES’ ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH–I SAY AGAIN, THAT’S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH–OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP. 

Canadians: This is a Canadian lighthouse. Your call. 

– Author Unknown 

Now this is quite funny, but what is even better is that it is not true and has been around from at least the 1960s according to some websites. Check out the US Navy website where they contradict the “facts”! 

Click the screen below to see a video version of the same joke.

A funny video with a United States warship against a lighthouse, somewhere in the Irish Sea. . .

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It looks like this joke has world-wide acclaim. Here’s a Scottish version . . . 

In the middle of foggy night in the North-west Atlantic…..two lights are heading directly for one another… and on the radio an American voice is heard saying “We suggest you alter course by 10 degrees to port”.

Back comes the reply “We suggest YOU alter course by 10 degrees to port!”

Then the American voice says “This is the battleship USS Missouri leading the American Atlantic battle fleet. You had better alter course by 10 degrees to port.”

Back comes the reply “This is the Outer Hebrides lighthouse, but it’s your call, Jimmy”. 

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and before the days of TV . . . … a 1939 book shows:

The fog was very thick, and the Chief Officer of the tramp steamer was peering over the side of the bridge. Suddenly, to his intense surprise, he saw a man leaning over a rail, only a few yards away.

“You confounded fool!” he roared. “Where the devil do you think your ship’s going? Don’t you know I’ve got the right of way?”

Out of the gloom came a sardonic voice: “This ain’t no blinkin’ ship, guv’nor. This ‘ere’s a light’ouse!”

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And not to be left out, here is a German language version:

 While we are in the German section, might as well add this one too! 🙂

Beachcombing on Langara Island

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

Glass ball on the beach
Glass ball on a beach

I lived on Langara between the ages of about 10 – 16. We had many adventures while we were there. My favorite thing to do was beachcombing. In those days you could find “dollar bottles”. Ocean Station Papa sent out these bottles with a message stating that if the paper inside was returned, you would receive a dollar. (They did it for the purpose of tracking ocean currents.) A dollar was a lot of money to a child in those days (late fifties, early sixties), so finding one was a source of great excitement.

Japanese glass fishing balls were another treasure, although in those days, they were pretty common. They ranged in size from Ping-Pong ball size, to sizes larger than a basketball. Their colours were mostly green, although we did find them in brown. Sometimes they still had remnants of their net on. I have since heard that any that are purple are highly coveted, as they belong to nets belonging to ancient royalty. We never found any.

Dead sea animals were always a source of great interest to our dogs and myself. They expressed their delight by rolling in the remains, no matter how long dead and stinky! One carcass I found was a mystery we never solved. It was a bedraggled bald eagle, missing its talons from the mid point of his legs down, and missing the one portion of it’s beak. We wondered if he had hooked onto a fish far too big for him to drag to shore. Often there were remnants of a boat or wharf, pieces of bamboo, and other mysterious planks. One could only wonder where they originated from, and how long they had drifted. My child’s mind imagined pirates and wild shipwrecks and lost souls . . .

– photo credit – Ray Morgan at BC Marina.com

Bear! Attack!

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’Bear between houses
’Bear between houses

After all the recent newspaper articles about bear attacks in British Columbia [2011], I thought it fitting to air this article. This happened on Addenbroke Island lighthouse April 2006 and below is the story as told to me by the lighthouse keeper in his own words:

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– from Dennis Rose (present Principal Keeper on Addenbroke Island) 

This was the first bear I have ever run into that didn’t know what a gun was. He did start to come up the steps to the house one time and that’s when I started trying to chase him off. I tried to scare him off with a few rounds from my shotgun but that just made him curious.

 

I was busy building crates and getting ready to move and couldn’t stay indoors like Coast Guard wanted me to do. He would come over every time I would start up a Skill saw or a drill. Continue reading Bear! Attack! →

‘The Watchers’ Poster

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The Watchers Poster

Here is a very nice poster printed back in the 1980s during another period when the government was attempting to automate Canadian lighthouses.

Titled “The Watchers”, the text is particularly appropriate now:

“For more than a century they have kept watch. At first, for sailing ships on the BC coast. Today, mammoth cruise ships and container vessels pass their light; small kayaks are towed ashore; hikers drop by for warm tea. They are the 30 remaining lightkeepers on our coast. For now, they still watch.”

Following the above text is a list of the thirty lighthouse keepers, and the stations they manned then. Unfortunately, some of the keepers are no longer with us.

They started in early 1970s and even today they mention automation – if the government has its way the lighthouses will also no longer be with us.

Triple Island 3rd Order Lens

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Triple Island lens © C. Mills

 

This light was first made available to mariners on January 1st, 1921 to travel to the bustling port of Prince Rupert from the north. It was originally fired by a pressurized gas vapour lamp which would have been visible for over 12 miles (19 kilometers).

Electric generators installed in the late 1960s  replaced this vapour lamp with an incandescent lamp and later with a mercury vapour lamp as seen in some of the photos below.

The lamp, reflector and base all floated on a large bowl of mercury. Even though the light weighed hundreds of pounds, it could be turned easily with one finger.

The Canadian government declared mercury a hazardous substance (like asbestos) in the 1990s and removed it from all work places. Reluctantly, the lamp was no longer usable.

Also, because of the planned automation of the lights which has gone on since the early 1970s, there was no reason to replace or modify the light and its housing – the Coast Guard abandoned it as a an Aid to Navigation.

The photos below show what replaced it. An APRB 252 12 volt battery-operated “flashlight”.