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1. A Near Miss at Sisters Island c. 1928 One evening while I was taking the night watch till 2:30 a.m. I was sitting writing a letter and all at once I heard a lot of noise like a big engine and lots of music playing. I jumped up and went outside and I was struck nearly speechless for there was a big Alaska liner so close to the lighthouse, just over the highest reef in the rocks that was there. The music and singing sounded so close. I stood there waiting every second to hear it crash. I thought of the Titanic instantly and I was afraid to even move. My first thought was of course was that the light had gone out but just then I saw a flash go over the liner and I knew the light was OK. It gave me such a scare, I was shaking all over and I went and called Bert to look at the big liner that had just gone right over the top of the reef. He said "My God"! If those people had only known just how close they had come to disaster they wouldn't be singing like that - of course they would have sung "Nearer My God to Thee" like the people on the Titanic did. (Strange he should think of that disaster too). It was really a pretty sight. (The liner itself I mean) for it was all lit up and it looked like a big long tall Christmas tree. Bert and I just could not figure how it was so much off course. The only thing we could pin it down to was "They must have all been drinking". - Elizabeth Kate (Stannard) Smithman (Wife of Henry Herbert Smithman who was Senior Keeper at Sisters Island 1927 - 1929) **********************************
If you wish to read more about her life on the lighthouses in her own words, please go to: Life on a Lighthouse |
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2. Lots of Firewood at Ballenas c. 1922 Another morning as I came downstairs at Ballenas after just getting up I saw big logs all over the rocks. The first thing I thought was that Bert had dropped off to sleep and the light has stopped or had gone out. When I asked him what happened he said "The tide had carried them [the tugboat] off course and the boom of logs had stuck the rocks and it broke". The logs went all over the rocks and they had to hurry to disconnect the boom from the tug as it was hugging pretty close to the rocks too. There were generally three tugs with booms that used to travel down the inside passage together but the tide was so strong that one tug was just below the lighthouse rocks and it had struck the rocks and the other was above the lighthouse rocks. Bert said he had been watching them for hours and they kept drifting closer and closer to the lighthouse all the time. He was sure one of them could not help crashing over the rocks which it finally did. The next big windstorm washed them all off again and I guess they would be salvaged off of some beach somewhere sometime. Strange part about this thing was when we moved to the mainland. Teddie and the rest of the boys started school there. Teddie was chummy with a boy whose Grandad was a captain of a tug and he started to tell Teddie about a boom of logs his Grandad lost off the lighthouse station and Teddie laughed and said, "Yes we were there and saw it". - Elizabeth Kate (Stannard) Smithman (Wife of Henry Herbert Smithman who was Senior Keeper at Sisters Island 1927 - 1929) **********************************
If you wish to read more about her life on the lighthouses in her own words, please go to: Life on a Lighthouse |
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3. Boat Aground at Sisters c. 1922 Another night I was taking hot coffee out to Bert at the fog alarm building (as he had been running it for hours) and as I walked along with my lantern and the coffee what should loom right up near me but the mast of a ship. I thought I had seen a ghost at first and I hurried the rest of the way to the engine room and Bert looked at me and said "Whatever is the matter with you dear? Have you seen a ghost?" I said "Yes, I have! Come and look!" When he saw it he did not know what to think about it and there was nothing we could do. The front of the boat was wedged into the rocks. It was too foggy, but when daylight came and the fog lifted it was gone. - Elizabeth Kate (Stannard) Smithman (Wife of Henry Herbert Smithman who was Senior Keeper at Sisters Island 1927 - 1929) div align="center">********************************** If you wish to read more about her life on the lighthouses in her own words, please go to: Life on a Lighthouse |
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4. Disaster of the "Grier Starrett" off Green Island 1929 The story of the tragedy of the "Grier Starr" with the loss of the skipper Harold Dahl. Copy of lightkeeper Moran's report typed on April 24, 1929. Page 1 Page 2 - Copy courtesy of <"Chris Mills (Relief Keeper on many BC lights 1994 - 1997) |
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5. Minnie Patterson and the "Coloma" off Cape Beale 1906 Cape Beale, . . . a lighthouse which later came to notice in a gallant and romantic rescue resulting from the actions of Mr. and Mrs. Paterson who kept the light from 1895 to 1908. In December 1906, the United States barque Coloma left the Puget Sound with a cargo of lumber for Australia. There was a gale from the southeast and, cracking on to take advantage of this fair wind to clear the Straits of Juan de Fuca, the old wooden vessel sprang a leak when she encountered a heavy sea off Cape Flattery. With her decks awash, and the gear aloft carrying away as she pitched in an enormous swell, the Coloma was soon unmanageable and hoisted her ensign upside down in token of distress as she drifted down to leeward and the outlying reefs of Cape Beale. In this position, and doubtless having let go her anchors to the bitter end, the barque was sighted from the lighthouse. The only chance of help lay in alerting the Quadra, then under the command of Captain Charles Hackett, which Paterson knew was lying at anchor in Bamfield Inlet, six miles away. The lifeboat, it will be recalled, was not on station at Bamfield until the following year. Telephone lines were down and the light keeper was unable to leave his foghorn which required constant attention. Although the trail was blocked by fallen trees and lay for much of the distance along a rocky shore. Mrs. Paterson at once insisted on making the journey herself. It was then night, and in darkness and dreadful weather she set off with a lantern and her dog, hoping against hope to be in time. The plan was to get the news to James Mackay at Bamfield who would row off to the Quadra and raise the alarm. Arriving at the house physically exhausted, drenched to the skin and with her shoes and clothing ripped to pieces, it was found that Mackay was away from home repairing the telephone wires. Nothing daunted, Minnie Paterson and Mrs. Mackay themselves launched the boat and came alongside the Quadra as daylight came. Captain Hackett weighed anchor at once and the Quadra punched her way out of the Inlet against a heavy swell rolling in from the Pacific. Off Cape Beale the wreck was sighted, a boat was lowered under the command of the second officer Mr. James E. McDonald, and the distressed crew were recovered. No sooner had the boat returned to the Quadra than the derelict parted her cables and drove ashore to destruction. Mr. McDonald was promoted to chief officer shortly afterwards. Immediately after her courageous action, and before the return of the Quadra with the shipwrecked men, Mrs. Paterson walked all the way back to the lighthouse. She had five children to look after and her husband was constantly at work in a period of rain and bad visibility. It was another week before communications were restored, and only then did the Paterson's learn of the triumphal rescue which had resulted. Unfortunately, the results of Mrs. Paterson's tremendous exertion soon made themselves apparent and she never entirely recovered, dying five years later. - Copy courtesy of The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada |
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 BC Ferries  BC Ferries |
6. "MV Queen of Prince Rupert" Aground in Gunboat Pass August 25, 1982 Before you read the story below, 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 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. - John Coldwell (Senior Keeper McInnes Island 1977 - 2001) Now the story of someone who was on board 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. The "MV Queen of Prince Rupert" was making a special stop in Bella Bella for some reason so there were a number of people from Bella Bella waiting. We all boarded in the afternoon, around 3 or 4 pm. The ferry was way behind schedule and still had to make a stop in Ocean Falls, a small ghost town 25 to 30 miles NE of Bella Bella. This trip to Ocean Falls would put the ferry even further behind schedule. There is a small narrow channel that cuts the time in more than half that the local natives use to go between Ocean Falls and Bella Coola. While sitting in one of the lounge rooms on the ferry I looked outside with my friend and we both noticed that we were very close to shore - closer than normal. We went outside and saw that we were heading towards Gunboat Passage, this short cut I had mentioned. Right away we went to the Purser's Office to mention that we were going the wrong way. By the time we had reached the Purser's Office there were already a handful of the local fisherman standing there. They were trying to tell the Purser that the Captain was going the wrong way and the Purser told them that the Captain was quite capable of handling the vessel and that we should let him do his job. Minutes later there was a loud rumbling and the ship started to shake and bounce violently. We all, my buddy, the fishermen and I ran to the upper decks. There were people all in a panic. Sure enough there we were on one of the rocks marked hazardous in Gunboat Passage. Immediately after hitting the rocks you could hear and feel the engines running in full reverse to remove the ship off the rocks. With not too much effort the ship pulled itself off of the rock but amazingly the Captain ordered the engines forward and we ended back up on the rock in worse shape. This time the ship could not pull herself off. Meantime the tide has just completed the high water slack and started its 6 hour pull to low tide. Within minutes of the first impact people from Bella Bella came out in their speedboats and fishing boats to see if they could offer any assistance. Unfortunately there was nothing anyone could do until the tide came back up which would take 12 hours at least - 6 hours down, 6 hours up. At least that’s what I was told. Anyway there we sat, waiting for the tide to come back up, when I noticed that the ferry started to list. As time went on and the tide lowered, the more the tide fell the more the ferry would list. It was actually kind of funny to see everyone walking. We were all walking on a 30’ degree angle by the time the ferry started to level back off again. The crew was pretty cool. All the food was free and the novelty store was lending out crib boards and playing cards. As well they were giving out these huge chocolate chip cookies. To entertain ourselves, my friend and I poked fun at all the people walking on an angle. It totally changed the environment when the listing was taking place and it was like everyone had some sort of ankle problem that made them walk with a serious lean. The next day when the sun broke there were the media and local fishing boats, a Coast Guard vessel and a tugboat or two. They all had big ropes attached to strong points on the ferry to pull it off the rock. When the word was given all the boats pulled and the ferry was pulled free from her 12 hour ordeal. When we arrived back in Bella Bella under tow of the vessels that pulled us off the rocks, the "MV Queen of the North" was moored to the dock awaiting to transfer the passengers from the "Queen of Prince Rupert". At this time we had already used up our time to get to Port Hardy so my mother decided that we would end the trip there and headed back home. A lot of questions were asked. Not too many answered. Like why did the Captain not listen to the locals in the first place, and why did he put himself back up on the rock after pulling himself free the first time? For me it was a different kind of an adventure, watching the events unfold, seeing the expression on the faces of all the passengers who kept calm throughout all these events. I guess you could say the moral of this story is, it really isn’t worth taking a shortcut. - Harvey Humchitt (present Senior Keeper at Cape Scott Lighthouse - 2006) **********************************
For more photos of the BC ferries fleet see here or here or here. Flash!!! In the early hours of March March 22, 2006 the BC ferry "Queen of the North" sunk off the north tip of Gil Island 
(Lat. 53°19'46.69"N, Long. 129°16'24.47"W) on its trip from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy! P.S. If you have Google Earth running, just click on the the Google Earth icon to find the locations.
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 Pulteney Point |
Aiding and Abetting at Pulteney Point c. 1970 One of our responsibilities as a lighthouse keeper was to assist mariners in distress. This was not a written rule. The written rule was to maintain the light and foghorn. There was one stipulation that we could assist a mariner who ran out of gas or diesel by supplying them with enough, free of charge, to get them to the next port of call where they could purchase their own. One evening Walt Tansky was interrupted by a knock at the door and saw a young man there who informed him that he had run out of gas and could he get enough to get him to Port Hardy. Walt said he remarked that Port McNeil or Sointula was closer, but the man said he had just come from Alert Bay and was heading north. Walt nodded and gave him a tankful for his outboard and oil for the mix. The man waved and left. Next morning the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) from Alert Bay were on the beach in their boat asking if we had seen such and such a boat and a man matching this description. I didn't know anything so took them up to Walt's house where they stayed awhile. After they left Walt told me that the boat was stolen and the police were still looking for it. It never occurred to Walt until later that he should have asked the man why he hadn't filled up before he left Alert Bay. - John Coldwell (Assistant Keeper at Pulteney Point - 1969 - 1972) |
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| John Coldwell (retired BC lighthouse keeper) Galvanistrasse 8 A-4040 Linz, Austria Tel: +43 (732) 750515  |