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Blogs

Refuelling a Lighthouse

British Columbia (BC) lighthouses mostly have diesel generators unless they are close enough to a large town or city to allow a power cable to run to them. So how does one refuel a lighthouse as most of them are sitting fairly high above the water line and very distant from a local gas station? Well, thanks to […]

Dreams of Being a Lighthouse Keeper

For years past, adults and children of all ages had dreams of growing up to be an adventurous lighthouse keeper. That dream is slowly dimming as the world automates its lighthouses. The following article from The Guardian  brings to our attention the dimming of the dream in the UK The lure of the lighthouse for […]

Light at the End of the World

Light at the End of the World Three Months on Cape St. James, 1941 by Hallvard Dahlie (orig from Raincoast 18, 1998) with notes from Jim Derham-Reid (last keeper on Cape St. James before automation) A strange interlude in my brief seafaring life took place in the fall of 1941, when I signed on as […]

Once Upon a Foggy Night . . .

Imagine you are a lighthouse keeper on the graveyard shift on a foggy night. All you hear are the diesel engines running, the foghorn blowing at intervals. As you stare out into the gloomy mist you hear this sound. It is a boat, but what kind of boat? What kind of motor? Many old-timers will recognize […]

Mise Tales Thirty-Five

  For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One. January 07, 2014 – People watch and photograph enormous waves as they break, on Porthcawl harbour, South Wales, Monday Jan. 6, 2014. (AP Photo/PA, Ben Birchall) . . . more [private] LONDON — What used to be Winter Storm Hercules has moved […]

Reprint – Sentinels Encased in Ice

Sentinels Encased in Ice by Elinor DeWire from WeatherWise November-December 2011      The ice was here, the ice was thereThe ice was all around;I t cracked and growled, and roared and howledLike noise in a swound…—Samuel Taylor ColeridgeThe Rime of the Ancient Mariner Caption: St. Joseph Pierhead in Michigan as it appeared on December […]

Mise Tales Thirty-Four

  For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One. Jaw-dropping animated video on overfishing… It’s time for change!  ****************************  The Costa Concordia rests on its side on the morning of January 14, 2012 (click for larger photo)  Yes, it is a photo of the Costa Concordia, aground on the rocks, but […]

What a Nice Christmas Present

What a nice surprise! Today on Facebook the lighthouse keeper, Colin Toner, who is residing at my old workplace at McInnes Island posted a fantastic video of the lighthouse. Please watch in full screen to get the full effect. Watch as the MBB105 helicopter approaches the island in the rain. You can see the rain […]

Fuels for Pharos

What fuels did/does a lighthouse (pharos – the Greek word for lighthouse) use? I became curious about this when I discovered in an Internet  article the name Colza oil. What the heck is Colza oil? Somebody’s mispelling of Coal oil? I had to find out. Well that led to this article on lighthouse illumination (more). […]