domingo, maio 30, 2010

SANDS HEADS LIGHTHOUSE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

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The Fraser River, the longest river in British Columbia, empties into the Strait of Georgia just south of Vancouver, after flowing over 1,300 km (870 miles) from the Canadian Rockies. The river is named after Simon Fraser, who in 1808 led an expedition on behalf of the Montreal-based North West Company from the site of present-day Prince George to the mouth of the river.
A small quantity of gold sent to the San Francisco mint in early 1858 by James Douglas, governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island, triggered a stampede of 30,000 prospectors to Victoria, which then had a population of just 500, and from there up the Fraser River to the site of the discovery on the Thompson River. Fearing this influx of Americans might challenge British sovereignty in the region, the Colony of British Columbia was hastily formed on August 2, 1858, with New Westminster, situated on the Fraser River, as its capital. The Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands merged with British Columbia in 1863, and Vancouver Island followed suit three years later, in 1866.

In the spring of 1859, petitioners demanded a lightship to mark the Fraser River’s mouth, whose position was ever changing due to the roughly twenty million tons of sediment that emptied into the Strait of Georgia each year. A vessel was finally built in New Minster in 1865, named South Sand Heads, and anchored at the southern side of the entrance to the Fraser River in 1866. A heavy westerly gale in November 1871 severely damaged the vessel, and during the ensuing repairs, its fog bell was removed from the forepart of the ship, to make room for a new windlass, and suspended near the crew cabin. As a result, the keepers were less vigilant in ringing the fog bell, as being so close to the habitable part of the vessel it rendered existence almost insufferable. According to an 1872 report, the lightship was equipped with eight Argand lamps, and its hull was painted red.



Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

sábado, maio 29, 2010

PULTENEY POINT LIGHTHOUSE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

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Located on the southwest end of Malcolm Island.
Latitude: 50.630514
Longitude: -127.155257


Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

sexta-feira, maio 28, 2010

NRP JOÃO BELO

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A Classe João Belo foi um modelo de fragatas ao serviço da Marinha Portuguesa entre 1967 e 2008.[1] O seu nome é uma homenagem ao militar e político colonial português, o Comandante João Belo.[2]

A classe era a versão portuguesa da Classe Comandant Rivière, de origem francesa. Os navios da Classe Commandant Rivière tinham sido projetados na década de 1950, como escoltadores oceânicos com caraterísticas de habitabilidade adequadas para climas tropicais, sendo classificados, pela Marine nationale, como avisos-escoltadores.

Em 1964, a Marinha Portuguesa encomendou quatro navios desta classe, a ser construídos num estaleiro de Nantes, a primeira das quais entrou ao serviço em 1967 e a última em 1969. A Marinha Portuguesa classificou os navios como fragatas, apesar de uma das suas missões previstas ser a da presença naval no Ultramar Português, função típica dos antigos avisos.

Os navios da Classe João Belo substituiram, entre 1967 e 1970, as fragatas das classes Diogo Gomes e Álvares Cabral (River e Bay britânicas).

Em Abril de 2008, as duas últimas fragatas desta classe em serviço na Marinha Portuguesa (João Belo e Sacadura Cabral) foram transferidas para a Armada Nacional do Uruguai, que já operava navios semelhantes da Classe Commandant Rivière.

Na Marinha Portuguesa, as duas últimas fragatas João Belo foram substituídas por dois navios da Classe M, adquiridos em 2006, que entrarão em serviço a partir de 2008.


Data de encomenda 1964
Construção AC Nantes (França)
Lançamento 1967
Unidade inicial NRP Comandante João Belo (1967)
Unidade final NRP Comandante Sacadura Cabral (1969)
Período de serviço 1967 - atualidade


Deslocamento 1 750 t
Comprimento 98 m
Boca 11,5 m
Calado 4,3 m
Propulsão Dois motores diesel com 16 000 cv e duas hélices
Velocidade 25 nós
Autonomia 7 500 nm a 16 nós
Armamento Três peças de 100 mm, duas peças AA de 40 mm e seis (2x3) tubos lança-torpedos de 550 mm
Sensores Radar de vigilância DRBV22A, radar de navegação Decca 1226, radar de controlo de tiro DRBC32C, sonalr DUBA3 e sonar SQS17
Aeronaves Pista de pouso para um helicóptero ligeiro
Tripulação 169



Photo Text & Copyright Wikipédia

quinta-feira, maio 27, 2010

NRP SÁO TOMÉ E NRP SÃO VICENTE

A Classe Príncipe foi a versão portuguesa de uma classe de navios-patrulha construídos nos Estados Unidos da América entre 1942 e 1944, em plena Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Em 1949, ao abrigo do programa MDAP (Mutual Defense and Assistence Program), a Marinha Portuguesa comprou à Marinha dos Estados Unidos seis navios desta classe, de deslocamento máximo de 357 toneladas para fiscalização dos mares dos Açores, tarefa exercida com as limitações que o mar alteroso do Atlântico Norte impõe.

Mais tarde, encontraram nos mares de Angola, mais especificamente atè à latitude de Moçâmedes, o mar adequado para as suas dimensões e características. Com a construção do estaleiro de Sorefame em Angola, todas as unidades foram enviadas para aquele território. Até aí, a inexistência de um estaleiro capaz obrigava ao seu retorno a Portugal para manutenção.

Seriam abatidas entre 1967 e 1970 com mais de 25 anos de serviço.

Além dos navios fabricados nos EUA a Marinha Portuguesa recebeu três navios do mesmo tipo fabricados em França aos quais chamou Classe Maio. Foram ainda recebidos mais cinco navios dos mesmo tipo, construídos em Portugal nos Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo e do Mondego e no Arsenal do Alfeite, os quais também foram integrados na Classe Maio.

Todos os navios das classes Príncipe e Maio receberam os nomes de ilhas portuguesas dos arquipélagos da Madeira, de Cabo Verde e de S. Tomé e Príncipe.


Construção Vários estaleiros
Lançamento 1942
Unidade inicial NRP Príncipe
Unidade final NRP Santa Luzia
Período de serviço 1944 - 1970
Tipo Navio-patrulha

Deslocamento 357 t
Comprimento 52,9 m
Boca 7,04 m
Calado 3,1 m
Propulsão 2 motores Pielstick em linha para cada veiodiesel com 3500 hp e 2 veios
Velocidade 19 nós
Armamento 1 peça de 40 mm
3 peças de 40 mm
1 ouriço antisubmarino
2 calhas para cargas de profundidade
4 morteiros
Tripulação 62


Text & Copyright Wikipédia

quarta-feira, maio 26, 2010

PORT ALBERNI LIGHTHOUSE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

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The Port Alberni Lighthouse is part new, part old. The square, pyramidal tower is new, constructed in the 1990s by the Port Alberni Maritime Heritage Society using generic plans. The lantern, however, is over 100 years old and came from Chrome Island on the East Coast of Vancouver Island when the Coast Guard modernized the light there. The Port Alberni Lighthouse is equipped with a beacon, which is turned on during the summer season, though it can't be left on at night because it disturbs the neighbors.

Chrome Island Lighthouse was established in 1891 at the eastern entrance to Baynes Sound, just off the southern tip of Denman Island. The first light there was situated atop the keeper’s dwelling, but a skeletal tower with an enclosed lantern room replaced it in 1922. The present concrete tower on Chrome Island was erected in 2001, and the lantern from the decommissioned skeletal tower was donated to the Port Alberni Maritime Heritage

The Port Alberni Lighthouse contains displays on the lighthouses of British Columbia and their keepers along with a variety of other material relating to the local maritime history.


Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

terça-feira, maio 25, 2010

NOOTKA LIGHTHOUSE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

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Located on the summit of San Rafael Island, at the southeast tip of Nootka Island.
Latitude: 49.592639
Longitude: -126.615389


Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

segunda-feira, maio 24, 2010

LUCY ISLANDS LIGHTHOUSE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

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Located on the northeastern side of the easternmost island making up Lucy Islands, about 15 km (10 miles) west of Prince Rupert.
Latitude: 54.295722
Longitude: -130.608778


Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

domingo, maio 23, 2010

NRP AFONSO DE ALBUQUERQUE

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Deslocamento standard: 1780 Ton
Deslocamento máx. : 2440 Ton.
Tipo de propulsão: Turbina a vapor
Comprimento: 99.6 M
Largura: 13.49M
Calado: 3.81 M.
2 x Caldeiras (oleo) Yarrow (0)
2 x Turbinas acopladas Parsons (8000cv/hp)

Tripulação / Guarnição: 189
Autonomia: 18000Km a 10 nós
Nr. Eixos: 2
Velocidade Máxima: 20 nós


Os dois navios da classe Afonso de Albuquerque, classificados como «Avisos de 1ª classe» foram pensados para operações nas águas ultramarinas, onde era necessário manter uma presença ainda que simbólica nas vastas possessões portuguesas não só em África como também na Ásia. A classificação foi posteriormente alterada para fragata.

Na verdade a designação «Aviso» pode ser enganadora pois quando entraram ao serviço, no inicio dos anos 30, eram os dois navios mais significativos da marinha, embora não tivessem nem de longe a velocidade superior a 36 nós dos contra torpedeiros da classe Vouga.

Inicialmente encomendados a estaleiros italianos eles acabaram por ser encomendados ao Reino Unido. São navios armados com o mesmo tipo de canhões dos contra-torpedeiros da classe Vouga e a sua principal diferença é a motorização. Os dois navios tinham capacidade para transportar um hidroavião mas essa funcionalidade não foi implementada.
Os avisos ou canhoneiras não foram pensados para atingir grandes velocidades mas sim para garantir a soberania nas proximidades da costa, pelo que a velocidade era menos importante que a autonomia dos navios.

Eles estiveram ao serviço durante a II Guerra Mundial, onde foram a principal presença militar portuguesa nos mares do Indico e também em Macau. A seguir ao final da guerra, foram-lhes removidos os quatro canhões anti-aéreos de 40mm que foram subsituidos por oito canhões de 20mm. Além deste equipamento e do armamento principal (quatro peças de 120mm) estavam ainda equipados com duas peças de 76mm.

O Afonso de Albuquerque foi destruido em combate em Dezembro de 1961 por uma força da União Indiana. O seu irmão Bartolomeu Dias foi rebaptizado São Cristovão em 1967 e transformado em navio depósito até ser abatido.

O afundamento do Afonso de Albuquerque :

O navio NRP Afonso de Albuquerque era praticamente a única unidade militar com condições mínimas para oferecer qualquer tipo de resistência perante a invasão do Estado de Goa efectuada por tropas da União Indiana em Dezembro de 1961.

O navio, preparado apenas para combates contra forças em terra, defrontou seis navios de guerra da marinha da União Indiana, conforme os planos previamente estabelecidos.
As ordens determinavam que em caso de clara superioridade das forças indianas o navio deveria ser encalhado num lugar conhecido como «Praia de Dona Paula» com o objectivo de utilizar a sua artilharia.

O desenrolar das operações:

04:00 da manhã do dia 18 o oficial de serviço tomou conhecimento da invasão
06:40 Informação oficial de que a invasão havia começado
06:55 O pessoal ocupa os postos de combate
07:00 Aeronaves indianas bombardeiam o aeroporto de Dabolim e a estação radio-naval de Bambolim que ficou inoperacional.
07:30 O navio consegue comunicação com Lisboa, mantendo essa comunicação aberta durante três horas até às 10:30. Até esse momento o Afonso de Albuquerque é o principal meio de informação em Lisboa sobre o desenrolar das operações
08:30 É reestabelecida a comunicação com o Comando Naval de Goa

09:00 Surgem ao largo, três fragatas indianas a uma distância entre 6 e 14 milhas. São guarnecidos os canhões, mas não há pessoal suficiente para guarnecer simultaneamente as metralhadoras antiaéreas.
11:00 Bombardeiros a jacto indianos bombardeiam o porto de Mormugão a grande altitude e também o aeroporto.
12:00 A toda a velocidade as fragatas indianas aproam em direcção ao porto e começa a disparar com toda a sua artilharia[1]
Ao mesmo tempo, o comandante do Afonso de Albuquerque manda «picar a amarra» e sair do porto para enfrentar os navios indianos [2] transmitindo por rádio para Lisboa a mensagem: « Estamos a ser atacados, Respondemos »
Por entre os disparos os indianos enviam em morse sinais para que o navio se renda.
O comandante dá ordem para que o navio continue a disparar.

12:10 - O Afonso de Albuquerque, atinge uma das fragatas indianas que se retira. O navio é de imediato substituida por um dos contra-torpedeiros indianos.

12:15 - O Afonso de Albuquerque foi atingido e os estilhaços atingem o director de tiro. As armas principais não podem ser apontadas eficientemente.

12:20 O comandante, que na posição em que o navio se encontrava, apenas podia utilizar os dois canhões à proa não tendo ângulo de tiro para utilizar os canhões à ré manda posicionar o navio para poder utilizar todos os quatro canhões.

12:25 - Ao efectuar essa operação, oferece um maior alvo aos navios indianos e o navio é novamente atingido, desta vez no próprio director de tiro tendo a explosão resultado num morto e num ferido grave, o próprio comandante do navio. Manda que o iomediato assuma o comando e dá ordens para que o navio não se renda.

O imediato dá ordem para encalhar o navio. Uma vez que as caldeiras e as máquinas tinham sido atingidas, não seria possível encalha-lo no local previamente previsto.

12:35 O Afonso de Albuquerque é encalhado frente à praia de Bambolim ficando a 150 metros da margem direita do rio Zuari.

Entretanto o Sargento de sinais terá dado ordem para que fosse içada uma bandeira branca, o que foi feito. Mas como na realidade ninguém tinha dado ordem de rendição, a bandeira voltou a ser arriada. A bandeira não foi de qualquer das formas avistada pelos indianos por causa das condições de vento e fumo.

O navio disparou entre 350 e 400 tiros, segundo os cálculos feitos na altura. Ocorreram cinco mortes e treze homens ficaram feridos.

12:50 - É dada ordem ao pessoal fogueiro para abandonar o navio, o que é feito em baleeiras ou a nado.

13:10 - A maioria do pessoal cumpre a ordem de abandonar o navio, enquanto o fogo dos navios indianos continua, a atingir o navio e a área circundante, no claro propósito de atingir os homens que já se encontravam na margem.

O navio foi rebaptizado Saravastri pelos indianos e posteriormente rebocado para Bombaim. Foi mais tarde vendido para sucata e algumas das suas armas encontram-se hoje em exposição em Bombaim, actual Mumbai.

[1] A cadência de tiro dos navios indianos era bastante superior à do navio português, que no máximo poderia atingir uma cadência de 5 disparos por minuto.
[2] Além das duas fragatas referidas, estavam na zona mais dois contratorpedeiros e o cruzador Mysore, um navio da classe Fiji, construido durante a II guerra mundial.



Text & Copyright Área Militar

sábado, maio 22, 2010

NRP AFONSO CERQUEIRA

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NRP "Afonso Cerqueira" (F488) é uma corveta, classe "Baptista de Andrade", da Marinha Portuguesa.

Com base em Lisboa, tem como função desempenhar missões de vigilância e de salvamento nos Açores, Madeira e na Zona Económica Exclusiva. Tal como tem desempenhado exercícios de treino nacionais tal como internacionais com outras forças navais.

1 peça de 100mm Creusot-Loire
2 peças Boffors de 40mm/70
1 radar de navegação KH5000 Nucleus
1 radar de navegação Racal Decca RM 316P

Construtor Estaleiros Navais de Cartagena
Lançamento 16 de Março de 1973
Patrono Afonso Júlio de Cerqueira
Período de serviço 28 de Junho de 1975

Deslocamento 1380t
Comprimento 85m
Calado 22m
Propulsão 12.000hp
2 Motores OEW Pielstick 12 Pc2.2 V 400 Diesel
Velocidade 22 nós
Tripulação 7 oficiais, 14 sargentos, 51 praças



Photo Text & Copyright Wikipédia

sexta-feira, maio 21, 2010

ESTEVAN POINT LIGHTHOUSE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

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Located on Estevan Point, roughly 24km (15 miles) south of Nootka.
Latitude: 49.382972
Longitude: -126.544028


Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

quinta-feira, maio 20, 2010

EAST POINT LIGHTHOUSE (SATURNA ISLAND) BRITISH COLUMBIA

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Large ships bound from the Pacific to Vancouver, travel east through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, then turn north and follow Haro Strait, passing San Juan Island on their starboard side, before turning east again at Turn Point on Stuart Island and passing through Boundary Pass, which follows the U.S./Canadian border for 23 kilometers (14 miles). From Boundary Pass, vessels then turn north into the Strait of Georgia to reach Vancouver.


Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

quarta-feira, maio 19, 2010

CHROME ISLANDS LIGHTHOUSE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

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Located just off Boyle Point, the southern point of Denman Island.
Latitude: 49.472194
Longitude: -124.685194



Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

terça-feira, maio 18, 2010

PEQUENO CARDUME

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Os Grandes Feitos dos Portugueses

Ouvi, que não vereis com vãs façanhas,
Fantásticas, fingidas, mentirosas,
Louvar os vossos, como nas estranhas
Musas, de engrandecer-se desejosas:
As verdadeiras vossas são tamanhas,
Que excedem as sonhadas, fabulosas;
Que excedem Rodamonte, e o vão Rugeiro,
E Orlando, inda que fora verdadeiro,



Photo & Copyright Todd
Poema Luis de Camoes, Os Lusiadas, Canto I, 11

segunda-feira, maio 17, 2010

NRP JOÃO ROBY

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A NRP "João Roby" (F487) é uma corveta da classe "Baptista de Andrade", a serviço da Armada Portuguesa exercendo actualmente a missão de escoltador oceânico ligeiro. O seu nome foi atribuido em honra de João Roby, um dos Irmãos Roby.

2 Motores OEW Pielstick 12 Pc2.2 V 400 Diesel
1 radar de navegação KH5000 Nucleus
1 radar de navegação Racal Decca RM 316P


1 peça de 100mm Creusot-Loire
2 peças de 40mm Bofors 40mm Bofors 40mm/70


Construtor Estaleiros da Factoria de Cartagena
Patrono João Roby
Período de serviço 18 de Março de 1975


Deslocamento 1400t
Comprimento 84,59m
Boca 10,3m
Calado 3,58m
Propulsão 12.000hp
Velocidade 22 nós
Tripulação 7 oficiais, 14 sargentos e 51 praças



Photo Text & Copyright Wikipédia

domingo, maio 16, 2010

BROCKTON POINT LIGHTHOUSE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

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On any bright weekend afternoon in spring, Brockton Point Lighthouse is center stage for a display of sun-starved locals and tourists soaking in the warm, crystal clear air. Starry-eyed couples are being photographed, hotshots whiz by on rollerblades, families line up in a caravan of bicycles like ducklings on a pond, and older folks slowly stroll the promenade.
A Stanley Park showpiece, the present Brockton Point Lighthouse was built in 1914, but the story of the light on the point begins in 1890, just a year after the dedication of the park.

Francis Brockton, the engineer aboard the HMS Plumper, which, between 1857 and 1860 was used to survey the British Columbia coast, discovered a vein of coal near Vancouver. The right to bestow names on landmarks was a captain’s prerogative, and Captain George Henry Richards of the Plumber chose to call the site of the find Coal Harbour, while naming a nearby point, Brockton Point, in honor of his engineer.



Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

sábado, maio 15, 2010

BALLENAS ISLANDS LIGHTHOUSE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

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Located on the northern end of North Ballenas Island.
Latitude: 49.350556
Longitude: -124.160222



Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

sexta-feira, maio 14, 2010

CABOS AMARELOS

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Amor da Pátria

Vereis amor da pátria, não movido
De prêmio vil, mas alto e quase eterno:
Que não é prêmio vil ser conhecido
Por um pregão do ninho meu paterno.
Ouvi: vereis o nome engrandecido
Daqueles de quem sois senhor superno,
E julgareis qual é mais excelente,
Se ser do mundo Rei, se de til gente.



Photo & Copyright Kelly
Poema Luis de Camoes, Os Lusiadas, Canto I, 10

quinta-feira, maio 13, 2010

NRP BAPTISTA DE ANDRADE

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NRP "Baptista de Andrade" (F486) é uma corveta, classe "Baptista de Andrade", da Marinha Portuguesa.

Estas corvetas de concepção portuguesa e construídas nos estaleiros Bazan (Espanha) apresentam um melhoramento em armamento e equipamento de navegação em relação à classe "João Coutinho", sendo utilizadas em missões de escolta, detecção submarina, de superfície e aérea. Actualmente executam missões de vigilância e escolta no alto mar.

Em Agosto de 2004 o NRP "Baptista de Andrade" bloqueou sob ordens do Ministro da Defesa Paulo Portas a entrada da embarcação Borndiep, pertencente à organização Women on Waves.


1 peça de 100mm Creusot-Loire
2 peças Boffors de 40mm/70
1 radar de navegação KH5000 Nucleus
1 radar de navegação Racal Decca RM 316P


Construtor Estaleiros navais Bazan
Lançamento 16 de Março de 1973
Patrono Baptista de Andrade
Período de serviço 19 de Novembro de 1974


Deslocamento 1380t
Comprimento 85m
Boca 10.3m
Calado 3.3m
Propulsão 12.000hp
2 Motores OEW Pielstick 12 Pc2.2 V 400 Diesel
Velocidade 22 nós
Tripulação 7 oficiais, 14 sargentos, 51 praças



Photo Text & Copyright Wikipédia

quarta-feira, maio 12, 2010

ACTIVE PASS LIGHTHOUSE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

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The sighting of the Active Pass Lighthouse from the deck of a BC Ferry bound for the Swartz Bay terminal on Vancouver Island from Tsawwassen on the mainland marks the beginning of a magical journey of timelessness along a waterway labyrinth lined with dark evergreen forests and rocky shorelines.
Here, in the gap between Mayne Island and Galiano Island, is a shortcut through the wall of the Gulf Islands, clipping ten miles off the journey between Southern Vancouver Island and the mouth of the Fraser River.

Before the arrival of steam-powered vessels, a journey through the pass required careful consideration of current and tide to avoid the rush of the water or lurking rocks. WIth its peaceful hidden coves anchoring a silent sailboat it isn’t hard to imagine First Nation canoes or European oared boats that once plied the waters.

The name Active Pass seems quite fitting given the amount of marine traffic traversing it, but it was actually named for the United States Revenue and Survey Vessel Active, which, in 1855 while en route to Nanaimo to procure coal for her engines, was the first steamship to transit the pass. Originally a schooner-rigged vessel christened Goldhunter that brought fortune seekers around Cape Horn to San Francisco, the Active worked alongside the HMS Plumper in 1857 to survey the U.S./Canadian border, but her link to gold was not quite over.

While in Semiahmoo Bay, the officers of the Plumper arrested a white whiskey trader named Macaulay for attempting to sell alcohol to the survey crews and First Nations. The Active agreed to take the inmate to the Esquimalt Royal Navy base on her way back to San Francisco. Macaulay was dutifully dumped off at Esquimalt, but not before he flashed a large quantity of gold dust, which he had received in trade from the First Nations up the Fraser River. When the Active ported in San Francisco, the news quickly spread among disgruntled gold seekers, and in the spring of 1858 the Fraser Gold rush was on.

The mass influx of fortune hungry prospectors changed British Columbia almost overnight from a sleepy company territory of 900 residents to over 30,000. With Mayne Island being the halfway point between Victoria and the Fraser River, Active Pass became very busy indeed.

Among those seeking riches was Henry (Scotty) Georgeson, who at age fourteen, left his native Shetland Islands and ran away to sea. After traveling all over the world, he jumped ship in San Francisco and, contracting gold fever, made his way north to Victoria in 1858.

Scotty and his partner, George Buchanan, operated a stopping house at Beaver Pass on the pack trail to Barkerville until 1863, when Scotty sold his half interest for $2,500, and along with his First Nation wife, Elizabeth Sophia, settled on 146 acres on the southern end of Galiano Island. Five years later, he landed a position as assistant keeper at Sands Head Lightship at the mouth of the Fraser River.

By the early 1880s, increased shipping traffic along with a couple shipwrecks prompted the construction of a lighthouse at Active Pass, and nobody was better qualified to serve as its lightkeeper than Scotty Georgeson. He lit the light for the first time on June 10, 1885.

Georgina Point, the northern tip of Mayne Island where the lighthouse stands, forms the eastern point of the northern entrance to Active Pass. The original lighthouse, as described in a report by deputy minister William Smith, was “a building of wood painted white, and consisted of a square tower forty-two feet high from the ground to the vane of the lantern, with keepers’ dwelling attached.”

Within two months of operation, Scotty requested a fog horn. A bell was eventually installed in a tower beside the light, followed by a fog alarm building in 1892.

Scotty, who initiated a light keeping dynasty in his family, served until his retirement on December 31, 1920 at age eighty-five. His brother, James, served at East Point (Saturna Island) from 1889 - 1921, and his son George, and nephews Peter and Henry also went on to become keepers. Scotty lived the last years of his life in a replica of the Active Pass Lighthouse, which his son Peter built on the family homestead on Galiano Island. He died February 2, 1927 and is buried on the land he donated for the Galiano Island cemetery.

Known as one of the best fireman on the coast, Scotty could get steam up in a boiler for the foghorn faster than anyone else. Errant ship captains occasionally complained that the foghorn had not sounded, but his carefully kept logs proved his diligence in minding the signal.

On the afternoon of October 13, 1918, Scotty’s grandson Archie was working in the fog alarm building with a neighbor. Noticing the time, he bid the neighbor, “run out and see if you can hear the Princess Adelaide coming.” As the friend rounded the corner of the building, the Adelaide blew her whistle, and he cried, “She’s right here on the beach.” Archie looked out the door and saw the steamship “stuck up right in front of the lighthouse like a great big city” just before she ran aground.

Archie recalled, “Of course, they naturally said that the foghorn wasn’t going, but they were way off base on that because the foghorn was going about ten hours before he came in there.” At the time of the grounding, the captain wasn’t on the bridge. The first mate had figured he still had a minute before he needed to call the captain up to steer through the pass, but the vessel was a minute and a half farther along than he figured.

When Scotty Georgeson retired, the position went to Captain Arthur Broughton Gurney, a crusty fellow who had been working on British Columbia lights since 1907. Gureny’s comportment at Ballenas Island had prompted complaints from his neighbors, and his actions at Active Pass led to a Provincial Police report in 1938 that was “in no way favourable.” Gurney retired from Active Pass in 1945 at the age of sixty-seven due to his wife’s medical condition, which required she be closer to a hospital.

Keeper Gurney spent thirty-seven years in the light keeping service and felt that his son, Tom, deserved his position since Gureny’s job had prevented him from giving his “family the education they should have had.” A bit of a conflict arose because C. E. Carver, who had served for eleven years at Nootka, wished to be at an “in station” due to his failing health. The department ruled in favor of Carver, much to the delight of Mrs. Carver.

The original 1885 lighthouse was replaced in 1940 by a square keeper’s dwelling surmounted by a lantern room. In 1969, a cylindrical concrete structure topped by a lantern and galley was constructed to serve as the lighthouse, but the square dwelling was retained to house the keeper. The modern tower has a focal plane of 17.5 metres (57 feet), and flashes a white light every ten seconds.

Active Pass Light Station fell victim to the de-staffing movement of the 1990s when its last keeper, Jean Beaudet, left the station in 1997. Ownership of the property was transferred to the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve in 2006, while the Canadian Coast Guard still has responsibility for the navigational aids.

Hopefully, the well maintained light station, with its bright white and red structures set against a dark evergreen background, will continue to delight BC ferry passengers as they thread their way through the breathtaking Gulf Islands for years to come.

Keepers: Henry Georgeson (1885 – 1920), Arthur Broughton Gurney (1921 – 1945), Clarence Edgar Carver (1944 – 1948), John Egerton Ruck (1968 – 1983), Don DeRousie (1983 – 1993), Jean Beaudet (1993 – 1997).



Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

terça-feira, maio 11, 2010

JANELA PARA O MAR

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Inclinai por um pouco a majestade,
Que nesse tenro gesto vos contemplo,
Que já se mostra qual na inteira idade,
Quando subindo ireis ao eterno templo;
Os olhos da real benignidade
Ponde no chão: vereis um novo exemplo
De amor dos pátrios feitos valerosos,
Em versos divulgado numerosos.



Photo & Copyright Aaron
Poema Luis de Camoes, Os Lusiadas, Canto I, 9

segunda-feira, maio 10, 2010

DESCOBERTA A MAIS PROFUNDA CORRENTE MARITIMA

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Um estudo publicado esta semana pela revista Nature revelou que existe uma corrente de água fria por baixo da plataforma marítima da Antártida, situada a mais de 3 mil metros de profundidade e com uma temperatura abaixo dos zero graus centígrados.


A descoberta foi protagonizada por um grupo de pesquisadores da Universidade de Hokkaido, no Japão, liderados pelo investigador Yasushi Fukamachi, que estudaram durante dois anos a dita corrente que circula em direcção ao norte.

De acordo com a publicação, os investigadores acreditam que a corrente transporta oito milhões de metros cúbicos por segundo a uma temperatura inferior aos zero graus centígrados.

O grupo de pesquisadores concluiu que a corrente agora descoberta é a mais profunda e a mais densa de todas as conhecidas até ao momento.



Photo & Copyright Anonymus
Text & Copyright Correio da Manha, P.M.C.

domingo, maio 09, 2010

CABO DE BORDO

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Vós, poderoso Rei, cujo alto Império
O Sol, logo em nascendo, vê primeiro;
Vê-o também no meio do Hemisfério,
E quando desce o deixa derradeiro;
Vós, que esperamos jugo e vitupério
Do torpe Ismaelita cavaleiro,
Do Turco oriental, e do Gentio,
Que inda bebe o licor do santo rio;



Photo & Copyright Zdenko
Poema Luis de Camoes, Os Lusiadas, Canto I, 8

sábado, maio 08, 2010

BOIA DA SALVAÇÃO

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Vós, tenro e novo ramo florescente
De uma árvore de Cristo mais amada
Que nenhuma nascida no Ocidente,
Cesárea ou Cristianíssima chamada;
(Vede-o no vosso escudo, que presente
Vos amostra a vitória já passada,
Na qual vos deu por armas, e deixou
As que Ele para si na Cruz tomou)



Photo & Copyright Balogh
Poema Luis de Camoes, Os Lusiadas, Canto I, 7

sexta-feira, maio 07, 2010

POINT SHERMAN LIGHTHOUSE, ALASKA, USA

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The Point Sherman Light Station was constructed during the summer of 1904 and was first lit on October 18 of that year. The light was similar to one constructed on Fairway Island and was displayed from a black hexagonal lantern room situated atop a white, hexagonal tower, six feet in height. A one-and-one-half story keeper's dwelling and a boathouse were located just east of the light.
The original light was disestablished and reduced to a minor light shortly before 1917. In 1932, the station was transferred to the Forest Service and replaced by a nearby buoy. A dayboard and a light were placed on the site of the original light in 1981.



Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

quinta-feira, maio 06, 2010

MARY ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE, ALASKA, USA

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Gone is the boathouse. Gone are the oil houses. Gone is the cart house. Gone are the lampposts. Gone are the keeper’s dwellings. In fact, all that remains of the structures once associated with the Mary Island Lighthouse is the lighthouse itself, and it is basically a concrete shell with a solar panel, battery pack, and light mounted at its apex. Each year, the trees and undergrowth creep a couple of feet closer to the lighthouse, further erasing the signs of human habitation on the island.

Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

quarta-feira, maio 05, 2010

FIVE FINGERS ISLANDS LIGHTHOUSE, ALASKA, USA

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Five Finger Islands are a collection of rocky islets located in the northern extreme of Frederick Sound some forty miles from Petersburg, the closest community of any significance. These five islands, some of which are only visible at low tide, resemble a set of bony fingers reaching up from the icy waters to snare inattentive mariners. Situated along the Inside Passage, this cluster of natural navigational hazards was recognized early on as a prime site for a lighthouse.

Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

terça-feira, maio 04, 2010

CAPE SPENCER LIGHTHOUSE, ALASKA, USA

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Oh the stories that can be told of life at lonely Cape Spencer Lighthouse. According to Coast Guard lore, no one ever reported sober to begin his year-long tour of duty on the rock, and that single year of service for some seemed more like a life sentence. At this remote outpost, it was said that the Coast Guard motto had been changed from “Semper Partus” (Always Prepared) to “Simply Forgotus.” The work crew present on the island when the pictures shown here were taken (note the excess material being burned) might have felt forgotten too. Their stay at the lighthouse had to be extended as inclement weather prevented a helicopter from reaching them.


Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

segunda-feira, maio 03, 2010

TREE POINT LIGHTHOUSE, ALASKA, USA

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Tree Point seems a fitting name for almost any protuberance along the coast of Southeast Alaska, as most of this area is part of Tongass National Forest, a temperate rain forest. There are, however, several gnarled, dead trees clearly evident in photographs taken of Tree Point throughout the twentieth century, which makes one wonder if perhaps these white, weathered giants were once used as a navigational reference and gave rise to the point's name. Although this theory on the origin of the point's name makes a good story, more likely than not the dead trees are simply byproducts of logging.
A couple of reasons convinced coastal surveyors that Tree Point was a prime spot for navigational aids. First, there is a straight route from Tree Point to the open Pacific Ocean via Dixon Entrance, and Tree Point, situated just seven miles north of the Canadian border, is located along the Inside Passage roughly midway between the two largest cities in the area: Ketchikan, Alaska and Prince Rupert, British Columbia. 1,208 acres on the point were accordingly set aside as a lighthouse reservation by Executive Order dated January 4, 1902.



Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

domingo, maio 02, 2010

POINT RETREAT LIGHTHOUSE, ALASKA, USA

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Point Retreat Lighthouse is situated at the northern tip of ninety-mile-long Admiralty Island, which is bordered by Stephens Passage on the east and Chatham Strait on the west. Thousands of tourists view the lighthouse each year from the comfort of cruise ships that call at nearby ports during the temperate summer months but few visitors actually set foot on expansive Admiralty Island as it is home to only one permanent settlement, the tiny Tlingit village of Angoon. The natives call their island Kootznahoo, meaning “Bear Fortress”, and the Alaskan brown bears do seemingly rule the island, outnumbering humans by a ratio of 2:1.


Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com

sábado, maio 01, 2010

LIGHTSHIP UMATILLA WLV-196 LIGHTHOUSE, ALASKA, USA

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Umatilla means “water rippling over sand,” which sounds like a right good name for a shoal or reef, but surprisingly, this name was not given to Umatilla Reef directly. In February 1884 the steamer Umatilla was sailing along the Washington coast in high seas and blinding snow, when it ran aground on a reef four miles off Cape Avala. Although the Umatilla was worked free and towed away following the storm, its name has remained attached to the reef ever since.
Cape Avala is located fifteen miles south of Cape Flattery, the northwestern point of the Olympic Peninsula, and actually beats out Cape Flattery as the westernmost point of the contiguous forty-eight states. Several sea stacks and islets are located in the waters just off Cape Avala, with Umatilla Reef being the westernmost of these navigational hazards.

Fourteen years after the Umatilla grounded, the first Lightship Umatilla (LV 67) was anchored near the reef to prevent other vessels from experiencing the same misfortune as the Umatilla. The original lightship was propelled by a steam engine, and alerted nearby mariners with a steam-powered whistle and oil lamps. LV 67 served at the reef until 1930, when it was retired and replaced by LV 93. The second Umatilla Reef Lightship marked the area until it was relocated to the Columbia River in 1939.

LV 88 lowered its anchor near Umatilla Reef for the first time in 1939, and was associated with the station until 1959. During World War II, LV 88 was commandeered for the war effort, outfitted with guns and radar, and used as an examination vessel near Seattle until returning to Umatilla Reef in 1945 at the conclusion of the war. During LV 88’s absence, a lighted buoy marked the reef.

The final lightship to mark Umatilla Reef was LV 196, which in 1961 replaced a lighted buoy that had been positioned near the reef since 1959. LV 196, which was built in Bay City, Michigan in 1946, is the only Umatilla Lightship whose current whereabouts is known. When work on LV 196 was completed at Bay City, the ship sailed through Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence Seaway on its way to its first assignment at Pollack Rip, MA.

LV 196 served at Pollack Rip from 1947 to 1958, before moving to nearby Nantucket Shoals, where it served two years as a relief ship for LV 112. LV 196 was then overhauled in Curtis Bay, MD, before embarking to its new assignment at Umatilla Reef. En route the lightship stopped at Miami and Kingston (Jamaica) before transiting the Panama Canal, and then called at Acapulco (Mexico) and San Francisco while sailing north to Seattle.

LV 196 served at Umatilla Reef from 1961 to 1971, when it was decommissioned. The vessel was reportedly near Seattle in 1980, but then it disappeared from the lightship community until it was spotted in Ketchikan, Alaska in 2000. The ship no longer bears the name Umatilla, but rather Marine Bio Researcher. How and where it was actually used as a research vessel remains a mystery. The ship is currently owned by Jim Faro, owner of Southeast Stevedoring, and has reportedly been used as barracks for crews working in the logging industry.

Lightship Specifications

Builder: Devoe Shipbuilding, Bay City, MI (1946)
Length: 128' 0"
Beam: 30' 0"
Draft: 11' 0"
Displacement: 630 Tons
Illumination Apparatus: Duplex 500mm electric lens lantern on foremast only; 15,000cp each light, 57 feet above water
Propulsion: Diesel Engine - GM 6-278A 6 cylinder
Fog Signal: Twin F2T diaphones aft of pilot house; hand operated bell


Station Assignments

1947-1958: Pollack Rip (MA)
1958-1960: Nantucket Shoals (MA) (Relief for LV-112)
1961-1971: Umatilla Reef (WA)



Photo Text & Copyright www.Lighthousefriends.com