Signature graffiti

During renovations of the keepers house, I have uncovered two signatures on the back of trim, one in the eastern kitchen and one in the eastern bathroom.  The former is from 1996 when renovations were underway to convert the keepers house to a bed and breakfast.  It was on a piece of trim around a pass through window from the kitchen to the dining room (former living room) in a new partition. The carpenter signed his work, not to be exposed again until it was torn off to return the original floor plan.  The latter signature dates from 1958 when the keepers house was being built.  Again it is on the back of window trim in the bathroom that had to be removed to take off the tub surround.

"Larry Small July 19 1996" Signature on trim from a pass through window built in the eastern kitchen in 1996 by Larry Small during renovations for the Swallowtail Inn Bed and Breakfast.

"Swallowtail Light Joe McDowell" Signature on bathroom window trim dating from 1958 during the construction of the keepers house by Joe McDowell company. 

A stencil was discovered in the boat house from the assistant keeper, Addison Naves.  A bit difficult to see in yellow paint, it is on the wall beside the work bench.

Stencil of "A C Naves" found in the boat house.  This dates from the late 1950s.

In both coat closets in the keepers house there is what appears to be the combination for a lock or safe.  I do not know what this was for but it was obviously important to be written on the walls in both sides of the duplex for the keeper and assistant keeper.  Fortuantely neither closet had been painted so the original pencilled numbers remain.

Tour of the light tower at Swallowtail

January 20 was an ordinary day in our renovation of the keepers buildings at Swallowtail until I heard the Coast Guard helicopter.  An inspection of the tower was underway and I grabbed my camera and headed over to the tower.  It isn't often the door unlocked these days and even when it is the tower is still off limits.  However, I was privileged to be able to follow Jamie who is responsible for the light towers in this area on his inspection.  A small sign on the inside door is a reminder of when the tower was open to the public and why it isn't any longer.

Swallowtail Lighthouse with door open

Sign on inside door of the light house

Upon entering the lighthouse, the first floor has been partitioned to house the diesel generator and fog detection equipment.  Until the light house was automated, this floor was unpartitioned.  There is the cage and ladder on the other side which was used to suspend a painter for painting the outside of the tower.  There is a door to the bell house and a set of stairs leading up to the second floor.  Reflecting back on a time when light houses were staffed by keepers and their family, there is a basket ball hoop on the wall wherea pick up game or practice could be done in the comfort of the tower.  The space is now limited but must have been a great place to play for the keepers' children.  There is some indication of water damage on one of the lathe and plaster walls and under the fog detection tubes but otherwise, entering the first floor is like stepping back in time.

Equipment room on first floor with generator and automatic fog detection equipment

Desks on the first floor.  Door to the bell house is in the background

Basket ball hoop on the first floor used by the keepers' children

Ascending the stairs to the second floor, I wanted to lean to one side because the walls slope in.  The second floor is wide open with a central post and lathe and painted plaster walls.  The outlines of the two former windows can be seen in opposite walls where they have been boarded up to protect the tower from water damage.  The windows were large and had 12 panes over 9 panes.  The path to the next set of stairs is painted on the floor.  There had been mercury contamination in the tower but the Coast Guard had remediated the problem by raising the air temperature to over 26.7 C (80 F) to vapourize the mercury in the building.  When the readings dropped to insignificant on meters which sensed mercury, the temperature was dropped back to ambient.  There is still some mercury trapped between the floor boards but there is no safety hazard unless the air temperature inside the tower is above the vapourization point of mercury.  Water damage in the ceiling where the plaster is hanging or has dropped to the floor is the only damage visible.

Looking down to second floor.  Debris is from plaster falling off the ceiling from water damage.  Path to stairs is painted on the floor.

Outline in the lathe and plaster walls of where one of two windows was located on the second floor.  They were removed to protect the building from weather damage.

Swallowtail light tower in the 1950s when the windows were still in the tower and the walkways and bridge were still in place.  The walkways and bridge suffered from numerous hurricanes and gales and were not rebuilt in the 1960s.

The third floor is painted white and the actual wooden structure of the tower is visible since there is no lathe and plaster on this level.  The stairs to the lantern dominate the third floor and light pours down from above.  Another window outline is visible.

Stairs on the third floor leading up to the lantern.

The wooden construction of the tower is visible on the third floor where there is no lathe and plaster.  Some paint is peeling but this floor is in relatively good shape.

The ascent to the lantern is through the middle of the tower.  The odd outside shape to the tower (octagon at the bottom, heptagon at the top) is explained by a landing that extends into this pie shape but the real reason is apparent in the lantern room because that is where the door opens out onto the roof and gives a bit more room to step out. The lantern is not the original lantern from 1860.  That was replaced in the 1960s with a smaller lantern.  The light has four bulbs, only one of which is operational at any one time. When one burns out, another rotates into position.  The windows were frosted because of the cold air temperature but a quick scrape gave an idea of the view.  It is not obvious from above where the water is coming in but the extreme weather at Swallowtail can confound any thoughts of how water might enter.

Looking up into the lantern with the light in the middle.

Looking out the frosty windows in the lantern room down to the keepers house and boat house.

I didn't go into the bell house which is attached to the tower but it is in need of more repair.  The shingles on the roof have needed to be replaced for many years and the floor is apparently suffering from the water damage.  This little building needs work soon before extreme measures are required to save it as happened with the boat house when the southern wall collapsed.

Bell house attached to the light tower.  This small building was moved from the farthest point nearly 100 years ago.  The winding mechanism was in the bell house while the brass fog bell sat outside to the right.

At the end Jamie headed back to the waiting helicopter and I went back to painting windows.  All in all an exciting, although short visit and I thank Jamie from the Canadian Coast Guard for being so generous in letting me tour the tower, a wish I have had for many years.

Season's Greetings

Friends of the Swallowtail Society used their trip here last summer and Swallowtail as a back drop for their holiday card.  It is reproduced here.

Ben Abramson and Jan Vertefeuille, Arlington, VA, kayaking off Grand Manan.

Season's Greetings!

Have you seen this elsewhere?

A black rat appeared on the foundation of the keepers house at some point last summer.  Has anyone seen another anywhere else?

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.  

November and December Swallowtail Images

The landscape and wildlife can be spectacular at Swallowtail and along Lighthouse Road.  Here are some images captured in the last couple of months. Click on images for larger versions.

Four White Tailed Deer in neighbour's driveway

White Tailed Deer fawn off Lighthouse Road

This figure in rock is very obvious if you know where to look. 

 It is easier to see at high water.

View from the northern side of the keepers house. 

Snowy coastline of Hole-in-the-Wall wilderness camp ground.

 Snowy Swallowtail

Top of frosty light house

Path home

Sunset over Pettes Cove

Progress at Swallowtail

A lot has been happening at the keepers house and boat house since the early fall.  The buildings are being restored thanks to funding from the provincial government and local fund raising.

The boat house was badly in need of repair because of the southern wall that was largely non-existent but that has now been rebuilt with the last shingles installed. The red doors have been a topic of discussion from those who have looked up from the ferry or from further down the island. We have windows to repair or have built, including some structural work under the western window, a chimney and wood stove to install and a few other small jobs.  The boat house has been completely rewired, a new ramp and hand rail built and new support posts and skirting installed. 

Joe Ingersoll shingling boat house

The keepers house, while on the exterior has been looking much better, has actually been taking a great deal of time.  The major problem has been trying to solve the water leaks.  In a climate where water can be driven up and into buildings, finding areas where the water is entering can be daunting. 

Joe and Ken building boat house ramp >

The wall paper that was put up for the bed and breakfast has been removed, exposing original paint colours, sometimes vibrant colours that were mixed by one of the keepers, Grimmer Ingersoll.  The original footprint for the house is slowly emerging with the removal of partitions installed for the bed and breakfast.  The old windows are getting a facelift with new glazing and glass where needed.  Storm windows will be manufactured in the new year.  Only six original storm windows still exist and these will be copied.  The original front door has been returned after being stored in the boat house.  Doors that are missing from the kitchen cupboards have been built and chrome hardware purchased where it was missing.  Milk glass globes for some of the ceiling light fixtures were purchased at the Habitat ReStore.  While not the same shape, the style matches the era when the keepers house was built. Most wiring issues have been dealt with but some still exist.  It has been a real challenge to keep new shingles on the roof, despite heroic efforts.  The wind shear can be tremendous.

The wind decided that part of the railing on the deck built on the front of the keepers house was not required and the eastern section was "deconstructed", literally blown apart.  It created an entirely different feeling for the deck and with a little work now allows access to the light house rather than having to walk back off the deck and around the house.  While much larger than the original doorstep, the focus is now closer to the original intent with direct access from the keepers house to the light house.

Southern sun porch with original door re-installed.

A big thank you has to be extended to Laurel Hinsdale, daughter of Grimmer Ingersoll, for lending some photographs of the interior of the house taken in the 1960s.  Little details such as the kitchen counter top or ceiling light fixtures have been determined, including a picture of an old cook stove that was in one of the kitchens of the duplex.  A similar stove was purchased from at a local business and will be installed once the kitchen is ready for it.

Because of the long distance to carry material or tools or remove refuse, creativity has been required at times.  Whether walking out or back, seldom are hands empty.  A well stocked tool kit is also emerging so the tool that you need isn't up the 54 steps.

It has been a treat spending so much time at Swallowtail.  Weather conditions are always more extreme but the marine vista is marvellous.  Whales, seals and seabirds are often seen and sometimes land birds such as Bohemian waxwings, gyrfalcon, peregrine falcon, bald eagles and others passing through.  White-tailed deer are often seen on Lighthouse Road.  Snow in the last week or so has changed the landscape and unlike most years, the snow has lingered.

Ken carrying pine along the path from the top of the hill.