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Blogs

Grocery Mishap at Kains Island (Quatsino) c.1975

 The landing under the hook (aka highline) at Kains Island was a large basin at the back side. It looked like a very large boulder had been washed out from the hole. It was a bit tricky if the swell was running to bring the station inflatable in safely but we never had a accident in […]

Sisters Island Lighthouse c. 1927-1928 – Short Stories

  Groceries at Sisters Island c. 1927  – Elizabeth Kate (Stannard) Smithman (Wife of Henry Herbert Smithman who was Senior Keeper at Sisters Island 1927 – 1929)  Light keepers have to take a four-month supply of food when they go on as there’s no way of getting anything otherwise. No stores to run to and no neighbours […]

Groceries at Green Island c.1975

The Cloo-Stung was a catamaran of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) used for delivery of personnel and supplies to Prince Rupert area lighthouses in protected waters. The groceries were delivered to the Coast Guard base in Prince Rupert from the local stores. These were then packed in slings (large canvas or net circles with ropes attached to […]

Groceries and Mail on a Lighthouse

Some of you may wonder why the number of stories about re-supplying the lighthouses exceeds the others on this site by a large margin (lots more coming!). 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, […]

Forward to “Groceries and Mail”

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 […]