A trip by helicopter up the west coast of Vancouver island to Carmanah Point
October 25, 2006
To see what part of the west coast of Vancouver island is like from the air, check out Mike Shepherd’s article Coast Guard Bell 212 Helicopter Trip.
There are some really nice shots of the Pacific Ocean and familiar lighthouses.
– Mike Shepherd is a Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) bofficer at Tofino MCTS, which is located on Amphitrite Point, near Ucluelet, British Columbia, Canada.
April 05, 2014 – As of today this property has not been sold. See the table below of Pricing History from Zillow. It seems it is overpriced, by a lot!
4 Bedroom
4.1 Bath(s)
4 Full Bath(s)
1 Half Bath(s)
$6,450,000
MLS#: 1002327America’s oldest wooden lighthouse! Built in 1831 and set on breathtaking Wickford Harbor,this iconic RI landmark is now one of it’s most admired waterfront estates. Casually elegant 4 bedroom main house,3 bedroom guest house,pool,new dock. Magical. – Residential Properties Ltd. Continue reading Lighthouse For Sale – Rhode Island, USA
– as told to me by Jean (Bartle) Konkle (daughter of relief keeper Albert Bartle)
I remember going to Scarlett Point one Easter Weekend, the first time we (my husband Rodger and I) had been there. We traveled ten long dusty hours up mostly gravel road to Port Hardy . There we planned to catch a fish boat out to the island. But although the harbour at Port Hardy was glass, nobody would take us out.
Although we couldn’t afford it, we had only the long weekend, so we attempted to charter a helicopter, but they wouldn’t go out in this weather.
We went back to the fish docks, where we found a 32 foot fish boat to take us out. It leaked diesel, and I lost my breakfast.
When we got to Scarlett, Ralph and Brian came out to meet us in the station boat. The waves were so high, we had to wait until the gunwhales of the fish boat were even with the 14 footer to transfer across. Continue reading A Trip to Scarlett Point c. 1973
The full content of this pictograph is available here on Franke James website. Please read it, send a letter, even if you live outside Canada, to let the Canadian Prime Minister know that what he is doing is WRONG!
I lived thirty-two years on the lighthouses bordering on the Pacific Ocean. As a lighthouse keeper, I was also aware of the ocean as a living habitat that should be protected. We voluntarily reported oil spills, garbage, etc. For me it was a beautiful place, but I saw what man could do to the oceans in just a short period.
One prime example which I will never forget was back in the 1970s when I was at Quatsino lighthouse (aka Kains Island) where a mining firm near Port Alice was given government permission to dump mine tailings five (5) kilometers off the coast.
If the weather was bad, they only went as far as the entrance to the sound, maybe one (1) kilometer, and dumped their barge-load of rock garbage.
My crystal clear fishing water around the lighthouse turned from 40 foot visibility to a murky brown colour with a visibility of about one (1) foot because of the tailings.
The oceans are not a garbage dump! Please watch Chris Jordan’s trailer video below and then read the news articles.
We humans are ruining the oceans of the world!
The complete video can be found on the Midway website
Many more similar videos can be found here on Youtube.
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October 03, 2012 – Expedition Embarks To Study Effects Of The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The Robert C. Seamans, a tall ship owned and operated by Sea Education Association (SEA) will leave port October 3, 2012, on a research expedition. The journey is dedicated to examining the effects of plastic marine debris in the ocean ecosystem, including debris generated by the 2011 Japanese tsunami.
http://www.repost.us/article-preview/#!hash=25493d1f370b96693e04011b50db7bd
October 02, 2012 – Plastics at sea – North Pacific Expedition
An area of plastic debris was first observed in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early 1970s, but in recent years, a similar area of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean has received the most media attention. Sea Education Association (SEA) has been studying both debris fields – in the North Atlantic for the past 25 years, and in the North Pacific the past eight. Click here…
August 12, 2012 –Ocean plastic an ugly threat
Yet the biggest contamination problem in the Pacific Ocean existed long before the 2011 tsunami. It’s summed up in that word from The Graduate: “Plastics.”
Mary Crowley, founder of the Ocean Voyages Institute, a U.S.-based environmental group, says the tsunami debris poses a significant risk to the ocean, but it pales in comparison with the vast amount of debris already floating in the ocean. Most of that debris is plastic and most of it comes from this side of the Pacific.
August 07, 2012 – Ship Tracking Tsunami Debris, Ocean Trash Makes Stop in BC
Marine litter a growing problem, but cleanup plans are in the works
The tall ship Kaisei, seen here docked in Richmond after several weeks of tracking debris and gathering research on the Great Pacific Patch and the Japanese tsunami. The findings will be presented at the Richmond Maritime Festival Aug. 10-12. (Courtesy of City of Richmond)
July 24, 2012 – Litter From City Streets Ends up on Beaches
Trash falls out of a full garbage bin on Seventh Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, July 24, 2012. According to New York City environmental protection commissioner, there is a chance that trash laying in the city’s streets could end up on New York’s beaches. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)
June 12, 2012 – Five Global Companies Pledge Cooperation on Bioplastic
June 12, 2012 – Kaisei sets sail for Steveston’s Ships to Shore festival Kaisei, a Japanese name roughly interpreted as “Ocean Planet,” has served as the iconic vessel behind research expeditions of Project Kaisei, a group that formed in 2008 to stem the flow of plastic and marine debris into the Pacific Ocean.
June 09, 2012 – Great Pacific Garbage Patch Is A Bigger Threat Than Tsunami Debris
June 05, 2012 – If the Sea Was a Child: In Honor of World Oceans Day
May 28, 2012 – Canada’s mass firing of ocean scientists brings ‘silent summer’
May 23, 2012 – UVic PhD student shocked by fisheries job cuts in North Saanich
May 23, 2012 – Help with first wave of tsunami debris
May 22, 2012 – Research Finds World’s Oceans ‘Plasticized’
May 17, 2012 – Microplastics endanger ocean health
– Big rise in North Pacific plastic waste
May 28, 2012 – Canada’s mass firing of ocean scientists brings ‘silent summer’
Canada is dismantling the nation’s entire ocean contaminants program as part of massive layoffs at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Many scientists say the purpose of the move by the Canadian government is not just cost-cutting but to eliminate environmental rules and protect the oil and gas industry.
May 23, 2012 – UVic PhD student shocked by fisheries job cuts in North Saanich
The 29-year-old student is still in shock that her mentor, Canada’s only marine mammal toxicologist at the Institute of Ocean Sciences on Vancouver Island, is losing his job as the federal government cuts almost all employees who monitor ocean pollution across Canada.
May 23, 2012 – Help with first wave of tsunami debris
Although the Japan Tsunami has created unprecedented amounts of ocean trash, marine debris from foreign and domestic sources has been washing up on the Alaskan coast for a long time. Most of this debris is caused by human choices. The solution to the global problem of marine debris is changing our habits and the way we dispose of our waste, and the first step towards that solution is creating an awareness of the problem.
May 22, 2012 – Research Finds World’s Oceans ‘Plasticized’
A marine expedition of environmentalists has confirmed the bad news it feared — the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” extends even further than previously known.
May 17, 2012 – Microplastics endanger ocean health
Tiny pieces of plastic contaminate almost every sea in the world. Now scientists have found that marine creatures like fish and birds are eating this microscopic waste, which may be harming their health.
May 09, 2012 – Big rise in North Pacific plastic waste
The quantity of small plastic fragments floating in the north-east Pacific Ocean has increased a hundred fold over the past 40 years.
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Related Websites (in no particular order):
“MV Queen of Prince Rupert” Aground in Gunboat Pass August 25, 1982
Before you read the story, I must fill in a few details. My wife Karen and I were on McInnes Island lighthouse at the time of the incident. A week before the incident below we picked up the voice of the lightkeeper Henry Bergen at Dryad Point on our scanner in the house. In a loud and agitated voice he was calling “Queen of Prince Rupert! Queen of Prince Rupert! This is Dryad Point! Dryad Point! You are going the wrong way!” The reply came back that they were on a navigational exercise and they had everything in hand.
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Now the story from Harvey Humchitt1 who was on board the ship a week later . . .
It was a typical Friday in Bella Bella. My mother and brother and I had been preparing for a day trip to Port Hardy before the start of school. The trip to Port Hardy was on the “MV Queen of Prince Rupert” which took 6 or 7 hours from Bella Bella to Port Hardy. For me back then it was a holiday in itself. Continue reading “MV Queen of Prince Rupert” Aground in Gunboat Pass 1982
If you do not know what Mise Tales are then please see Mise Tales One.
Lovely Desktop Lighthouse Wallpapers. Lots of photos.
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The Lighthouse by Mathew Welch
Submitted: Saturday, November 25, 2006
Edited: Saturday, November 27, 2010
from the Poem Hunter
Into the night like a cold staring eye
It lights the way for the crew
Up on the cliff it sits so high
Creating safe passage and view
All through the night
Into the harbour the ship lays at rest
Unscratched and afloat
The work of the house was at its best
To give guidance to the tiny boat
In the dark, it was the light
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The author of this book, Annie Potts, wrote me when I first started this new format of my website. She was enquiring if I had any source for large kerosene mantles for the three remaining Bahamas lighthouses. Unfortunately I did not know of any sources. Continue reading Book – Last Lights: The Hand-Wound Lighthouses of the Bahamian Islands
Let’s face it, nobody likes moving. All the packing, loading, carrying, lifting, unpacking. There’s probably nothing more unpleasant to go through, even when you’re moving to a better place and looking forward to moving in.
But try compounding that with the almost insurmountable obstacle of living on an island. Not just any island, but a remote island with no ship docking facilities, and no aircraft facilities beyond a helicopter pad. That’s
exactly what a
friend of mine was doing here. Glenn is a member of the Canadian Coast Guard, and was at the time the principal lighthouse keeper at McInnes Island Lightstation, but had received orders for a change of station. Check out these aerial views of the island he lived on. (photos #1 & #2)
Yeah, you just thought moving was a pain. Glenn provided me with a little photo-essay to show us what he went through, and I decided to share it with you. The thoughts and sentiments are his, and the photos illustrate the story well. Continue reading You Just Thought Moving Was a Pain!
The story and photos below are from the blog of a friend of mine in the Philippines, Cebu Experience, by Rusty Ferguson. I met Rusty in Bogo, Philippines on my six week trip there as a tourist in 2010. From the balcony of my room in the Nailon Beach Resort (marked with the red A in the map below) where I was staying I could see the lighthouse in the distance that Rusty mentions in the story below, but unfortunately I never did get to visit it.
There are five lighthouses in the Philippines right now, and they are repairing them to make them attractive for the tourists. Most of them were built in the days of Spanish colonization, so if you ever get over this way, plan a visit. It’s high on my list of things to do here too.
One thing you may notice, besides lighthouses, Rusty likes babes in bikinis!
On the map, if you move to the NE across the ocean, you will come upon the Capitancillo Islet where the lighthouse is located.
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