Category Archives: Stories

Mise Tales Forty-Four

For an update on what a Mise Tale is then please see Mise Tales One.

As mentioned earlier on the front page of my website, any photos or cartoons, or short bits of information, when it is removed from the front page, will also be included again later in the next Misc Tales. That way you can keep track of it, search for it, or copy it.

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10294509_805559479465065_7375517851873014253_n This is a cute Infographic to help teach your children about the Water Cycle

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The Lighthouse Keepers

 

 

This book The Lighthouse Keepers by Stuart Buchanan was brought to my attention by an Australian resident. It is small, only 282 pages, but according to this Google Books report it contains a lot of information:

Illustrated personal account of work and life on a Queensland light station – most of which are now unstaffed. Includes a list of 1200 Queensland light-keepers from 1857 to 1994 and the first issue of instructions to light-keepers issued in 1917. The author joined the Commonwealth lighthouse service in 1973 and worked with his wife as light-keepers along the Queensland coast until the destaffing of all Australian lighthouses began in 1982. – Google Books

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Oldest Wooden Lighthouse in America Is (still) for Sale in Poplar Point, R.I.

lighthouse-aerial-589x411

Does anyone have a spare $6.45 million US dollars to purchase it?

[private]

By Erika Riggs

For many years, the Poplar Point lighthouse was the beacon guiding ships in Wickford Harbor, a protected inlet in Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. Built in 1831, the structure — listed as the oldest wooden lighthouse in America — is left over from the era before satellites and GPS. And now, it’s for sale for $6.45 million.

Because of the size of the harbor, Poplar Point lighthouse wasn’t in service long. In 1882, the lighthouse was darkened and later sold at auction for $3,944.67 in 1894.

Gallery: Take a Peek at Poplar Point Lighthouse
view fullscreen

When the lighthouse was first built, the caretaker’s living area was a stone cottage, measuring just 40 by 20 feet. The home was slightly expanded in 1932, again in 1966, and when the current owners took over in 1987, they undertook the task of continuing to expand and renovate the entire property.

Today, the home in North Kingstown, R.I., is more than a stone caretaker’s cottage: It’s a full estate measuring 4,563 square feet with four bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, a detached guest house and garage. Although completely updated, the home still retains much of the original feel, says listing agent Judith Chase.

“It still has tons of the old charm and nautical detail of the old lighthouse,” Chase explained.

Spanning 1.66 acres on a private peninsula, the home juts into the harbor with spectacular views of the bay.

“It’s a beautiful front-row seat to everything that happens,” Chase said.

The home’s location in the picturesque town of Wickford only adds to the property’s appeal.

Chase describes Wickford as a “darling Nantucket-type town,” and the home is within walking distance of many of the town’s charms.

According to Zillow’s mortgage calculator, a monthly payment on the lighthouse would be $23,044, assuming a 20 percent down payment on a 30-year fixed mortgage. [/private]

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lighthouse   eBay

 

Have you ever typed in the word “lighthouse” in eBay? Try it! You will get so many lighthouse related items it is amazing. Maybe there will be some you will want to buy. Great place to shop. eBay for Lighthouse Articles.

On the left is one part of 10+ pages of lighthouse related items. Great fun!

Humour – The Queen’s Riddle

QueenThe Queen’s Riddle

When the Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada met with Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of England he asked her. “Your Majesty, how do you run such an efficient government? Are there any tips you can give me?”

“Well,” said the Queen, “The most important thing is to surround yourself with intelligent people.”

The Minister frowned, and then asked, “but how do I know if the people around me are really intelligent?”

The Queen took a sip of champagne. Oh, that’s easy; you just ask them to answer an intelligent riddle. Watch.

“The Queen pushed a button on her intercom.”Please send in the Prime Minister would you?” The Minister walked into the room and said, “Yes, your Majesty?”

The Queen smiled and said, “Answer me this please. Your mother and father have a child. It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?” Without pausing for a moment, the Minister answered…”That would be me.” “Yes! Very good.” said the Queen. Continue reading Humour – The Queen’s Riddle

What Light Is That?

What light is that? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Maybe when reading a magazine, seeing an advertisement, or watching a movie – what lighthouse is that? Where is that lighthouse?

Harbour
computer screenshot

MV5BMTQ3MDA4MDIyN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwOTg0Njk4._V1_SX214_Well this happened to me while I was watching the first of the Jason Bourne movies  – The Bourne Identity (IMDb)

Eight (8) minutes into the DVD movie (see screen shot at right) the fishboat that rescued him from the ocean enters Cassis harbour (according to the book by Robert Ludlum) and we see this green light at the end of a breakwater. Unfortunately the movie does not follow the book at all (“The novel is wildly

Cassis harbour light look likes this
Cassis harbour light look likes this

wildly different from the movie.”) and I have no idea where this harbour is located. It is definitely not Cassis harbour near Marseille, France. If you look at the film you will see as they enter the harbour there is a shipyard on the left side – there is definitely no shipyard in the photo on the right. Of the fifteen places listed in the IMDb website for the film locations, none of them apply to this harbour.

So, where is it? Do you know? If so please let me know so I can inform the readers as well.

Continue reading What Light Is That?

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)

Image1A strange interlude in my brief seafaring life took place in the fall of 1941, when I signed on as assistant lighthouse keeper at Cape St. James, a light perched on top of a three-hundred-foot rock at the very southern tip of the Queen Charlotte Islands. I had quit school earlier that year, at the age of sixteen, and found a job on the CGS Alberni, a lighthouse tender operating out of Prince Rupert. But when she had to go into dry dock at the beginning of September for a new wartime grey paint job and a bit of refurbishing, I chose to take a stint out at the lighthouse rather than scrape barnacles and paint for three months. Continue reading Light at the End of the World

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!

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The Costa Concordia rests on its side on the morning of January 14, 2012.

 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 did anyone else notice the lighthouse in the photo under which the lifeboats are all clustered? See my article Lighthouses Visible in the Costa Concordia Disaster.

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Aniva RockAniva rock [private]Sakhalinskaya Oblast, Russia[/private]- A formal penal island used by the Russians, Aniva was once sought after by both the Russia and Japan. This now Russian controlled territory sits uninhabited in the seas between Japan and the eastern coast of Russia.

This photo story appeared on Distractify and was entitled The 38 Most Haunting Abandoned Places On Earth. For Some Reason, I Can’t Look Away… Continue reading Mise Tales Thirty-Four

Lighthouses of Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island Lighthouse Society

 Click on the partial map for the website.

From the Prince Edward Island Lighthouse Society comes this beautiful descriptive map of ALL the lighthouses (manned and automated) on Prince Edward Island (aka PEI), the smallest of Canada’s provinces. It consists of the main island and 231 minor islands. Altogether the entire province has a land area of 5,685.73 km2 (2,195.27 sq mi). (Wiki) Continue reading Lighthouses of Prince Edward Island

The British Colonist

The British Colonist is the forerunner of the Victoria Daily Colonist newspaper from Victoria, British Columbia (BC) Canada. It is an old newspaper and originated in 1858 in the Gold Rush period of BC history.

The British Colonist has now been digitized and made available online  by the University of Victoria in their Digital Collection.

As this site is mostly interested in BC lighthouses here is a page from May 04, 1913 that will interest you. It is entitled The Lights that Guard our Coast and is on page 25 of the full newspaper listed in PDF format here.

Daily_Colonist_May 04, 1913If you wish to download your own PDF copy of this newspaper, left click your mouse on the large italicized “i” in the upper right menu of the page above and and right click your mouse on PDF and select “Save link as…” and then save it to your computer.

Book – Facing the Sea: Lightkeepers and Their Families

Facind the SeaFacing the Sea: Lightkeepers and Their Families
By Harold Chubbs and Wade Kearley
Foreword by Lorne Humphries
Genre: History: General
Imprint: Flanker Press
Format: Hardcover, 132 pages, colour photos and illustrations
Pub Date: October 2013
Price: $34.95
ISBN-10: 1-77117-301-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-77117-301-8
Shipping Weight: 0.9 kg

About this Book
In Facing the Sea, authors Harold Chubbs and Wade Kearley have captured an important era in the maritime history of Newfoundland and Labrador. These tales of rescue and tragedy, of love lost and redeemed, describe first-hand what life was like for lightkeepers and their families in twenty-five light stations along the exposed and often inhospitable coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Most of these stories are told here for the first time in print, and each story is rich with new details and insights from the perspective of these remarkable men and women. Order Now!

 

Reprint – A Sailor’s Journal

LaurierThe Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) carries lighthouse keepers and their supplies (groceries, mail, household goods, etc) usually by ship or helicopter. This story describes the inner workings of the Canadian Coast Guard light icebreaker Sir Wilfrid Laurier as told by my friend Abe Van Oeveren. I have been on several ships and they are indeed a complicated piece of machinery run by very competent men and women.

Abe’s comments to me about the story when I asked permission to reprint:

The account is based on material gathered on several trips blended together to make a story that flows end to end. To make it readable I avoided talking about too much crappy weather which keeps everybody on board the ship unable to fly up to Van, Naden or Barry, or how the ship’s crew’s collective mood changes as the 28 day typical patrol proceeds.  Continue reading Reprint – A Sailor’s Journal