Lobster Roll Supper - Fund Raiser

We had yet another wonderful fund raiser for the Swallow Tail light station on July 7, 2012 at the Grand Manan Curling Club. 

The list of volunteers and in-kind donations is lengthy to have such a wonderful success, including the three lobster fishermen who donated the lobster (Deane Griffin, Glenn Foster and anonymous), Laura Buckley and her crew from the Inn at Whale Cove Cottages for arranging, preparing and serving the food, Ce Bowdoin (tea biscuits), Swallowtail Lightkeeper Society volunteers for setting up, serving, working the door, and cleaning up (Ken Ingersoll, Sue Stymest, Theresa Noel, John Pattison, Linda L'Aventure, Pam Charters, Alexis Phillips, Sue McCulley, Lloyd MacFarland), musicians (Before the Mast, Dinah Romig, John McDonald, Alexandre Banks), Rick Doucet (serving), Atlantic Save Easy (rolls), Walter Wilson (salad), Strawberries, cream and other miscellaneous (Marathon Inn, Pettes Cove Arts, Peter and Marilyn Cronk, North Head Bakery McLaughlin Inn, Holly and Kirk Cheney, Deb Tremblay, Island Art workshops), , Adventure High (door prize).  We want to thank the Grand Manan Curling Club for the facility (hall rental and cash bar).  The Grand Manan Museum also provided their projector, on short notice, for the continuous slide show of the progress made at the light station since 2008.  None of this could have happened without the support of the community and visitors who joined us for this fun evening.  Thanks so much.

Great crowd enjoying the lobster rolls and the music

Inn at Whale Cove Cottage crew (Megan, Janna, Annie, Emmy) and Alexis Phillips preparing lobster rolls

Honourable Rick Doucet, MLA, helping serve

Before the Mast preforming one of the many songs during the evening.  Rolling Down is the title song from their new CD (http://www.beforethemastseashanties.com/)

July 7, Flag Raising and Bell Ringing

With spectacular weather, a group of nearly 100 people walked out to the keepers house at Swallow Tail on July 7th, the 152nd anniversary of the light house first being lit.  Two RCMP officers were present, along with the Honourable Rick Doucet, the MLA for the area and Kirk Cheney representing the Village of Grand Manan who have been very supportive of the restoration efforts at the Swallow Tail light station and are in the process of reconsolidating the light station with the acquisition of the light tower in the near future. 



RCMP officers breaking flag at annual flag raising

 After a brief welcoming, Wayne Clifford, John Peacock, MJ Edwards, Millie and Alexandre Banks played an impromptu piece on the bronze fog bell, returned to the property in November 2011.  The new deck around the bell acted as a natural stage for the event.  Members of Before the Mast (http://www.beforethemastseashanties.com/) continued with two songs before everyone was given a chance to play the bell if they wished.

The Lahey Family was represented to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of 22 years of service by George Lahey as light keeper .  The Dalzell family regrettably could not make the event which also marked the 100th anniversary of the retiring of George Dalzell as light keeper after 19 years of service.

Before the Mast helping celebrate the Swallow Tail light station anniversary

The descendants of the late light keeper, George Lahey, ringing the fog bell

Despite damage from many years of use and also being moved several times, the bell sounded wonderful and could be heard beyond the peninsula.  Listen to three different strikes of the bell here: http://www.freesound.org/people/bob.burgess/sounds/160882/

Annual Lobster Roll Supper - July 7

Annual Flag Raising - July 7

Come join us at Swallow Tail for the annual flag raising July 7. 

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of George Dalzell's nineteen years as keeper and the beginning of twenty-two years of service by keeper George Lahey.

There will also be an impromptu concert involving the fog bell and singers. You can also request to ring the bell.

Come see the improvements to the grounds if you haven't already seen them.

Titanic Tea and Diamond Jubilee

Save Canada's Lighthouses

Heritage Canada Foundation Launches Campaign to Save Canada's Lighthouses


OTTAWA, Feb. 8, 2012 /CNW/ - The Heritage Canada Foundation (HCF) is launching a campaign to encourage federal investment in the efforts of local groups and communities to save their lighthouses.

The Government of Canada owns hundreds of iconic lighthouses. Earlier this year, Canadians were shocked to learn that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) had declared more than 500 lighthouses—including the most historic ones—as "surplus."

The Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act (HLPA), which came into effect in May 2010, was intended to conserve and protect heritage lighthouses. However the Act excludes lighthouses that are declared "surplus" from being designated unless a community group or private owner commits to buy or otherwise acquire them and protect their heritage character. As a result, local groups and communities are now under pressure to assume the financial responsibility for maintenance and protection of almost all of Canada's iconic lighthouses.
The Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans stated in their March 2011 Report on the Implementation of the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act that the Act's intent was undermined by DFO's action.

"HCF agrees with the Senate Committee that federal support is essential to help communities save our country's lighthouses before they're lost to demotion and neglect," says Natalie Bull, HCF's executive director. "The Save Canada's Lighthouses campaign is designed to raise awareness, and attract federal support to these important icons."
Canadians are urged to sign the petition at http://www.savecanadaslighthouses.ca/. Time is also running out to nominate lighthouses for designation: To be considered, each lighthouse requires a nomination supported by 25 people and submitted to the Minister of the Environment by May 29, 2012.

The Heritage Canada Foundation is a national registered charity dedicated to the preservation of Canada's historic places.

Copyright 2012 PR Newswire

Fog Bell Has Landed

As part of a grant from the Legacy Fund of Heritage Canada, celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Swallowtail Lighthouse, we have been renovating the trails and preparing a tribute to the lightkeepers.  Part of this includes returning the bronze fog bell that was used for many years to alert mariners in times of restricted visibility.  With the propensity of fog in the Bay of Fundy, many months of the year, fog alarms were as important as the light.

Bell house prior to 1922 at the extreme easten end of the peninsula. 
The photo was posted to the Facebook group - Old Grand Manan Photos

Reference to the fog bell begins in 1915 when a building was built at the extreme end of the Swallow Tail peninsula, although the date on the bell is 1904.  In 1922, the bell was moved to sit beside the lighthouse to make it easier for the light keepers to keep the winding mechanism operating which in turn rang the bell.  Originally, fog bells, horns, guns were only sounded in response to a fog horn or bell from a passing vessel but with the development of an automated system, similar to what is used with spring wound clocks, the fog bell could be sounded throughout inclement weather that restricted visibility.



Close-up of bell house on northern side of lighthouse.  Elmer Wilcox photo, 1958.



Bell house and fog bell on northern side of Swallowtail light house.  Elmer Wilcox photo, 1958

Both the bell and the bell house were moved to the northern side of the lighthouse where the bell sat until 1980.  A fog horn had replaced the fog bell at an earlier time. The bell had developed a small crack where it was continuously rung and the tone of the bell had changed. The lightkeeper at the time, Grimmer Ingersoll, organized the removal of the bell from the point to the Grand Manan Museum where it sat in front of the Deep Cove School House.  Moving the bronze bell was not an easy feat.  At 900 kg (2000 lbs), it took brute force and lots of ingenuity to accomplish the task.  Unfortunately, the bell did suffer some damage when it was moved in 1980 and two chips can be found on the edge of the bell where chains were wrapped around it.

Light keeper, Grimmer Ingersoll, and friends moving bell in 1980,
eventually getting it to the Grand Manan Museum

When the Swallowtail Keepers Society was formed in 2008, the Museum agreed to donate the bell back to Swallowtail.  A large deck was built by Terry Davidson, George Best and Ken Ingersoll, over the concrete base of the old flag pole and a stand was attached to hold the bell.  Repairs had to be made to the top of the bell and modified to include an eye and shackle for lifting. Michael Brown of Waterfront Fabricating drilled through 6.5 inches of steel at the top of the bell to install two new plates and an eye.  The bell originally had two bolts that held the bell on an I-beam but these were not appropriate if the bell was to be lifted and then lowered onto the stand. The bell could have been strung in a cargo net but that complicated the moving process and recovering the cargo net afterwards, given the weight of the bell.

Terry Davidson and George Best beginning the bell deck

Finished bell deck awaiting the bell

Once the bell was ready to be moved, Randy Brownlee and the M.G. Fisheries boom truck picked up the bell and drove it to the top of the hill at Swallowtail, leaving only 300 m (1000') to move the bell but with 54 steps, a wooden foot bridge, a gravel path over undulating terrain, and a flight of stairs up to the deck, that was not an easy feat.

M.G. Fisheries boom truck that moved the bell from the Grand Manan Museum
 to the top of the stairs leading to Swallowtail.  Randy Brownlee photo.

Inquiries went out to the Canadian Coast Guard and a military base to see if they might be able to use one of their helicopters to move the bell.  No promises were made but it was suggested that if everything was in place, if a helicopter was available, it might happen.  In the middle of November, the Canadian Coast Guard needed their heavy lift helicopter to move building material to Partridge Island in Saint John, NB to construct a new helicopter pad.  Since that is only 25 minutes by helicopter, we were asked to be ready on short notice.  A call at 8:30 on November 21 set the final process in motion.  The helicopter would arrive at 1:30 to move the bell.  This in part was to take advantage of the decreasing wind in the afternoon and to allow myself to be present since I was booked to make a right whale aerial survey the next day with the Fisheries and Oceans Canada as part of the Lobster Mitigation program for Lobster Districts 36, 37 and 38.  locations of right whales are provided to lobster fishermen to help them avoid conflicts with right whales and their fishing gear.

Calls were made to a few people to pass the word about this special event.  Over a dozen people watched as the helicopter arrived to survey the pick up location and the bell deck.  Because of the weight of the bell, only the pilot and one crew member was aboard to do the lifting.  One person was at the bell to hook up the cable and two were at the bell deck to position the moving bell onto the stand.

Jamie McCavour grabbing hook from Canadian Coast Guard helicopter

Jamie McCavour, Canadian Coast Guard,  hooking up cable to bell before lifting

With great anticipation and a bit of trepidation hoping that nothing would happen and the bell wouldn't be lost into the ocean, the helicopter moved into position.  The bell slowly rose off the wooden pallet where it had been sitting.  The pilot then took a long wide circle to approach the bell stand from the south, just as the Grand Manan Adventure ferry rounded Swallowtail.  After a few false approaches, the bell finally was positioned accordingly and was quickly unhooked from the helicopter.  A cheer went up from the onlookers.

The Grand Manan ferry, Grand Manan Advenutre going around Swallowtail as bell
was being brought in a wide arc to the bell deck.  Note the bell house is attached to the lighthouse.

Bronze fog bell lifting into air.  Martha Eaton photo.

Canadian Coast Guard helicopter taking bronze fog bell to the bell deck in a wide arc.

Steve Lloyd and Bob Hebert (Canadian Coast Guard) coordinating the landing of the fog bell on the stand

Bob Hebert (Canadian Coast Guard) unhooking the cable on the fog bell once it was positioned on the stand.

Here are two videos taken of the move

(pick up of the bell from the top of the hill by the Coast Guard helicopter).

I walked down to the see the bell in position and had a great sense of accomplishment as I came over the rise and saw the bell.  While the bell is slightly off centre, that can be fixed.  I took great pleasure in ringing the bell for the first time since it had been removed from Swallowtail.  The tone echoed nicely and while I don't have perfect pitch, the tone is supposed to be an F, according to the manufacturer, Meneely Bell Company of West Troy, NY.

Canadian Coast Guard crew - Bob Hebert, Jamie McCavour, Paul Mosher (pilot) and Steve Lloyd