Lighthouse Tours

Swallow Tail and a herring carrier seen from the north along the ferry route.

Now that Swallowtail Keepers Society has a long term lease for the complete Swallow Tail Light Station, we have begun to offer some of the programs we hope to run in the future.  This includes tours of the lighthouse.  These tours are given when our volunteer or student are available and are not offered at all times.  Each tour is personalized and you have a great opportunity to learn a little history of the lighthouse, visit all four levels including the lantern and take some amazing photographs of spectacular views.

People enjoying the view from the Swallow Tail lighthouse lantern deck.

Robyn Guptill's panoramic view from the light house, July 7th.

We will be doing some restoration work later in August and these tours will not be available at those times.  Because we are still raising money for the restoration work, the tours are not free.  A donation is required so make sure you have some cash with you.  You can check at the Welcome Centre if any tours are available on a particular day.

People enjoying both the lighthouse and the former site of the bell house before it was moved to the lighthouse.

People on the former bell house site beside the rock formation that resembles a family and their dog.

Even without access to the lighthouse, the peninsula is wonderful to visit.  Fin and minke whales, harbour and grey seals and harbour porpoises can be seen from the lookouts, as well as many species of seabirds.  Bald eagles and peregrine falcons are common visitors.  Fall migrating land birds often make first landfall at Swallow Tail.  The herring weirs are active this year and you may be lucky enough to see them seine the herring out.

Fin whale off the Intruder herring Weir below Swallow Tail lighthouse in Pettes Cove on August 5

Fin whale off the end of Swallow Tail August 5

Minke whale in Pettes Cove headed toward Swallow Tail July 1

Fancy Hat Tea - April 20, 2013

The fourth annual Swallow Tail Tea took place April 20 at the Covert Hall in North Head, Grand Manan Island.  The Inn at Whale Cove Cottages organized the food and staffed the tea.

Inn at Whale Cove Cottage owner, Laura Buckley, and her staff organized the food and  worked the tea.    Many volunteers are needed to run one of these events and their efforts are greatly appreciated.

The food, as usual was its normal high standard, wonderful, with a full buffet of sandwiches and sweets.  The weather was probably to our advantage with rain and wind in the morning which prevented many outdoor activities.  Over 70 people attended ranging in age from not quite two to 99.  As usual, takeout was also available.

Part of the Buffet Table with Swallow Tail artwork and photographs

Long view of the Buffet Table in the Covert Hall with sweets and sandwiches.

Part of the Buffet Table with Swallow Tail artwork and photographs

Many thanks to everyone who advertised the event, set up the hall, donated food, worked the tea, and helped with the cleanup.  Sandra Ingersoll won the dinner for two at Inn at Whale Cove Cottages, an annual draw that is part of the cost of the tea. We also sold our first raffle tickets on "Fog Bound" the beautiful Tidal Threads quilt that is nearing completion. These will be available all summer and through the fall.  The draw will be at the Christmas Market.

The money raised will go directly to the restoration of the Swallow Tail lighthouse, the scale of which will vary this year depending on the success or failure of grants to fund the project.  We are hopeful that we will be able to get the majority of the work done.

Many repairs are necessary in the lighthouse including repairing plaster from water damage.  Water is leaking in the tower from the lantern.

Photograph of the Swallow Tail lighthouse from 1932.  The plan is to return two windows above the door  of the tower as well as a third window on the other side.  The lower window can not be returned because of the fog equipment now located there.

Sneak Preview of Quilt

Tidal Threads, a local quilting group, has volunteered to donate a quilt to Swallowtail Keepers Society.  Each year they select a group or issue and design a quilt that can be raffled as part of a fund-raiser.  Their only requirement is that the cost of the material is covered.  These unique quilts are works of art and this year's quilt is no exception.  If you have been fortunate to see past quilts, you will be aware of the quality of the work and the attention to detail.

The quilt is taking shape and a few photos are included here to give you a sneak preview of the work in progress.  Tickets for purchase will be available soon and will be on  sale until November. The draw will take place at the Christmas Farmers Market.  We hope to raise a significant amount of money to add to the restoration fund, the focus of which will be the lighthouse, although many other small projects with the other buildings are always in the works.

Nancy Estle designed the quilt and is seen here working on it.

Close-up of the centre squares of the quilt based on the Jacob's Ladder design.

Edie Mullen, Nancy Estle, Dawn Locke and Mary Brown discussing finishing details on the corner lighthouse squares.

The quilt is temporarily pinned to show the corner detail of lighthouse, rays from the light, sailboat and whale squares and border detail.  

Edie Mullen, Martha Eaton and Nancy Estle pinning the quilt to see what the overall design will eventually look like.

What the finished quilt will eventually look like.  Pieces are pinned at this point.  The quilt will be hand quilted once everything is stitched together.

Boathouse - Then (2008) and Now (2010)

Here are the stages of progress to restore the southern side of the boat house at Swallowtail up to this point, beginning in 2008 when some thought the building couldn't be saved.  Some work still needs to be done but the building is starting to resume its tidy light station auxiliary building appearance:

Boathouse as it looked April 3, 2008.  The fasteners had rusted away and the wall was coming off in pieces.  One of the wooden doors was missing and there was no glass in any of the windows.  Part of the sill and skirting were missing and the building hadn't seen any paint in many years.

Beginning to tear apart the southern end and add some support to the under structure, September 21, 2009.  This was an emergency repair to try to save the building from blowing down during the very windy winters we experience each year.

The pile of debris accumulates as more of the structure is re-enforced on October 3, 2009. In most places disposing of construction waste is straight forward but at Swallowtail everything has to be carried along the path and up the stairs before reaching the parking area. The doors are being framed in this shot on.

Boarding in the lower portion of the boat house using rough sawn tamarack or larch to match the lumber used to originally build the boat house later in the day on October 3, 2009.

Doing last minute work on the temporary doors for the winter on October 15, 2009.  One of the doors was too short and we were not sure where it was from.  The building was left with tar paper for the winter since the top of the gable end still needed to be stripped and the entire end re-shingled.

Boat house as seen from the ferry November 16, 2009.  The wind is ever present at Swallowtail and nothing is safe from it as it boxes the compass.  Already some tar paper is missing.

Work on the southern end of the boat house began again in November 19, 2010.  However, other work had been done before this such as painting three sides,  replacing the roof shingles, reinforcing the eastern support posts, rebuilding the entrance ramp on the northern side, and updating the wiring.  

New doors were made on site patterned after a photograph taken in 1958.  The doors are uneven with one being half the side of the other.  A window has also been installed over the work bench.  This is the first glass back in the boat house in many years. This window mimics the shape of the window in the bell house that is attached to the light tower.  Returning the cedar shingling has begun November 25, 2010.

By December 9, 2010 despite snow storms and many days of wind, the cedar shingling is almost complete after the old shingles were removed on the gable end and the boards refastened since they had rusted off.  The upper window had been removed to rebuild.  It was a six over six solid window unlike the two lower windows which are six over six casements.  The lower windows need to be started anew since only a small portion remains.  The corner boards were also replaced, copying the rest of the building.  While the corner boards recently had been painted white, in old photographs they were red.  The skirting in recently years had been painted grey, although again in old photographs and under the grey paint, red paint was the choice.

By December 19, 2010 the staging was taken down revealing the new cedar shingles. Once the weather begins to warm, a final coat of red will be given to all surfaces and the cedar shingles will be painted white.  The gable end trim will also be painted red and the upper window returned.  Already there have been positive comments about the red doors.