Category Archives: Helicopters

Travel – Australian Lighthouses

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Shine a Light on Australia's lighthouses.

 

I came across this article that shows the life on an Australian lighthouse starting in 1971. A wee bit different than Canada I must say.

 

 

What got my attention were the requirements for a lighthouse keeper:

The job requirements of a lighthouse keeper were a car licence, an ability to climb to heights and an ability to get along with the other lighthouse keeper . . .

 The article is worth reading to illustrate the differences between Canadian and Australian lights (wildlife, for one), plus, on the page is a reference and a link to an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) website which is exploring some of Australia’s iconic lighthouses.

This new site is called Shining a Light and is an excellent documentary on some of Australia’s lighthouses. The map above shows the lighthouses mentioned.

There you go – two stories for one price. Enjoy!

Did You Gain Weight Over Christmas?

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Washington State Ferry - photo Steven J. Brown

 

The following story from the Victoria Times-Colonist caught my attention yesterday:

Heavier Riders Force Capacity Cut on Washington State Ferries

 

A takeout from the page reads:

British Columbia had the fast ferries.

Now, Washington state has the fat ferries.

 

On Dec. 1, U.S. Coast Guard vessel stability rules raised the estimated weight of the average adult passenger to 185 pounds from 160 pounds. This was based in part on population information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a coast guard report on the changes.

 

To comply with the new rules, the state-run ferry system has reduced the number of passengers on a number of routes, Marta Coursey, director of communications for Washington State Ferries, said Thursday. Continue reading Did You Gain Weight Over Christmas? →

The Love of My Life – Ms. Enterprise!

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When my wife Karen and I started on Pulteney Point  in 1969 the house was supplied with a beautiful white porcelain enamel Enterprise oil cook stove. Ms. Enterprise had a “polished cast iron cook top, roomy storage drawer, even heat porcelain oven, no-fog oven window” 1 and a high shelf above the cooking surface. As the lighthouse generators ran on diesel, the stove (and oil-burning furnace) had been modified for burning this fuel.

Never having used one of these stoves before we did not not have very good luck cooking on it at first. This talent improved over the years and later we had great success with our cooking and we fell in love with our oil stove.  Continue reading The Love of My Life – Ms. Enterprise! →

Why We Need MORE Lighthouses in British Columbia

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One of the arguments for destaffing the lighthouses in British Columbia (BC), Canada is that they are no longer needed because all vessels have the Global Positioning System (GPS). Canadian mariners must move into the 21st Century they say!

Have you ever looked at British Columbia? The size of British Columbia?

Note the three roads to Vancouver, Bella Bella, and Prince Rupert

British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, bordered by the Pacific Ocean. With an area of 944,735 square kilometers (364,764 sq mi) it is Canada’s third-largest province. The province itself is eleven times the size of Austria, where I live; nearly four times the size of Great Britain, two and one-half times larger than Japan and larger than every U.S. state except Alaska. 1 Continue reading Why We Need MORE Lighthouses in British Columbia →

Photos – McInnes Island Lighthouse 2008

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Click the thumbnail photos below to see a full-sized picture at the Picasa Web Album of Paul Kurbis. He is a sports fishing guide in British Columbia, Canada. These were taken on a visit to McInnes Island lighthouse in 2008.

   Continue reading Photos – McInnes Island Lighthouse 2008 →

Lighthouse Collections – Lapel Pins

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CCG crest as lapel pin

One of the benefits of having a “glamorous” job like a policeman, pilot, or lighthouse keeper is the collection of memorabilia such as models, photos, key-chain hangers, and lapel pins. This post is dedicated to lapel pins.

In the photos below you can see some of the pins that were collected by myself and my son over many years. From the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) we have helicopters and ships (CCGS) and hovercraft as well as crests. We also worked in close co-ordination with Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) and Coast Guard Radio. Continue reading Lighthouse Collections – Lapel Pins →

Lighthouse Libraries and Their Book Boxes

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Thomas Crosby V

After writing about the Bookboats and how the Thomas Crosby V used to bring us books to read from their onboard library, I was reminded of the libraries on each lighthouse I worked on. Each keeper that worked the island would leave a few books behind, mostly pocketbooks, and they would take with them new ones from our library.

Library on McInnes Island - photo Paul Kurbis

On McInnes Island lighthouse we had a library of a few hundred pocket books of all sorts. Sometimes, when we got desperate for new reading material we boxed up a bunch of books and sent them off to another lighthouse in return for a box of theirs. We also traded off magazines and newspapers whenever a helicopter came by. Continue reading Lighthouse Libraries and Their Book Boxes →

What happened to our Helicopter – CG 253?

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CG 253I heard late last year that the  Sikorsky S-61N retired from the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG). Yes, it did disappear from the Coast Guard Base in Prince Rupert but where did it go? There were rumours that it went to the US military and was sent off to Afghanistan but there is not a word in the news. There is an article here  about selling and then sending some S-61s to Iraq, but these were Danish S-61 Sea King helicopters.

Finally, after a lot of research I found the following article. The Canadian Coast Guard sold it as surplus. Surplus to what? There was only one S-61N in the CCG. Continue reading What happened to our Helicopter – CG 253? →