Manitoulin’s heritage lighthouses: still beaming brightly

Manitoulin’s heritage lighthouses:

still beaming brightly

Manitoulin Island is a marine history buff’s treasure trove, and the Island’s storied marine history is preserved in her surviving lighthouses that ring Manitoulin. Travel, fishing, lumbering, commerce in furs and food, even visiting relatives, all took place on the water from earliest days.

This increasing commercial water vessel traffic in the Great Lakes region brought a boom in lighthouse-building, writes the late Jean Hastings in her little book, ‘Lighthouses of Manitoulin and Surrounding Islands’ (now sadly out of print but available at some Island libraries). “More than 300 lighthouses have been built since 1808, with about 70 located around Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. Between 1866 and 1918, nine lighthouses were built on Manitoulin Island and six on surrounding islands,” most of which can be seen, and some visited, in the present day.

In the 1960s, lighthouses were automated and the need for the lightkeepers of old vanished. With solar power,wrote Ms. Hastings, energy is stored in batteries that are triggered into producing light by the diminishing brightness in the sky.

The first Island lighthouse was built in Little Current in 1866 where the downtown cenotaph now stands. It was essentially a two-story wooden box, with a “bird-cage” on top that protected the lantern. The building of the Swing Bridge in 1913 made the waterfront light obsolete and it was torn down in 1922. Today, an authentic recreation of the original bird-cage light may be seen on Little Current’s waterfront.

Other earliest examples of Island lighthouses, such as the one at Clapperton Island (1866) off Mudge Bay, and Cape Robert (1885) in Sheshegwaning First Nation, unfortunately, have been torn down by the Coast Guard and replaced with steel towers topped with solar-powered flashing lights. Not as aesthetically pleasing, nor historically resonant, but those lights still guide boaters today, and in Sheshegwaning, a visitor can hike the Nimkee Trail and have a picnic where the old lighthouse once stood.

Before the lighthouse was built on Lonely Island (1870), the location off Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory’s eastern shore presented a potential real danger to navigation. A painting by William Armstrong shows the ship, the ‘Ploughboy,’ in 1859, precariously close to Lonely Island’s formidable rocky promontory, narrowly avoiding certain disaster while carrying a prestigious passenger, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, across Georgian Bay. Today, Coast Guard helicopters land on a helipad adjacent to the original 46-foot octagonal wooden tower to maintain the sturdy building and its light that flashes every ten seconds, accessible only by boat.

Badgeley Island (1912) near Fraser Bay and close to Killarney also has a range light on steel towers, still working and picturesque. Narrow Island (1890), off Little Current, was dismantled suddenly by the Coast Guard in 1979, leaving only the stone foundation and a new steel tower that holds the old light.

Thanks to longstanding and vigorous local preservation efforts, led by historian Bill Caesar and Rick Nelson, curator of the Old Mill Heritage Centre in Kagawong, and strongly supported by The Manitoulin Expositor, Senators Pat Carney and William Rompkey and development corporations such as LAMBAC, nine historic Island lighthouses have been designated of significant heritage value. All on original sites, they remain official aids to navigation and can be enjoyed much as they were when they were built. Work is ongoing to resolve outstanding issues related to the transfer of the lighthouses from federal control to municipalities and other sponsors in order to ensure lasting protection for the important sites.

In the 1960s, lighthouses were automated and the need for the lightkeepers of old vanished. With solar power,wrote Ms. Hastings, energy is stored in batteries that are triggered into producing light by the diminishing brightness in the sky.

Under the modern siding of the Strawberry Island lighthouse off the east coast near Little Current, says Bill Caesar, is the original 1881 wooden structure, “built with no nails or screws, only wooden dowels.” The three-storey building is in the “Georgian Bay style,” looking now exactly as it did then, with a home on the second floor and the lantern light on the top floor, reached by a ladder. Burning kerosene, filling the lamps daily to keep them alight for marine traffic at night, some of the early keepers of Strawberry Island lived with their families at their post for thirty years; children were born and gardens and livestock were kept there.

Strawberry Island has “the highest heritage score” for authentic period details, and, along with Janet Head (1879) in Gore Bay and Mississagi Strait (1873) in Meldrum Bay, is an outstanding living example of the style.

Following the automation of the Strawberry Island light in 1963, the lighthouse was preserved from certain demolition by the Coast Guard through the efforts of the late Barney Turner and Dr. Jack Bailey of Little Current. Since then, the lighthouse has been privately maintained by a family that lives there in navigation season, leasing the property from the Coast Guard.

The best way to see Strawberry Island lighthouse is by boat, but those on land can spy it from the Swing Bridge in Little Current and from Highway 6 across from Great LaCloche Island.

Janet Head and Mississagi Strait lighthouses may also be seen from accessible Island roads. Janet Head guided travellers over the ice and boats through dense fog to and from the North Shore and still does so today. It is located at the end of the appropriately named Lighthouse Road which follows the shoreline from Gore Bay’s west end where Split Rail Brewery and the Harbour Centre Gallery are located.

Mississagi Strait is home to perhaps the most dramatic tales of shipwrecks, including possibly of the ‘Griffon’ in 1679, and of whisky smugglers, the hardships of the weather and the rugged, lonely life of the keepers at the western treacherous tip of the Island. From this lighthouse, on a clear day, a visitor can see the Michigan shoreline of Lake Huron. The site features a good campground with some waterside sites. It’s a great place for birding, you can swim at a gravel beach, and the rock formations are interesting to clamber around. It is leased by the Manitoulin Tourism Association from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans as a tourist attraction.

Strawberry Island has “the highest heritage score” for authentic period details, and, along with Janet Head (1879) in Gore Bay and Mississagi Strait (1873) in Meldrum Bay, is an outstanding living example of the style.

The Manitowaning Lighthouse (1885), at 133 years old, is a beautiful wooden structure covered in cedar shingles near the town’s main intersection. The ventilator ball at the top of the roof dates back to kerosene-burning days, when the open flame filled the lantern room with heat and fumes. At the nearby Assiginack Museum may be seen coal oil lamps and a reflector from the lighthouse that guided steamers from Georgian Bay to Sault Ste Marie. The electric light still directs visiting boaters, and an opaque panel keeps the light out of residents’ homes.

Kagawong’s lovely light tower across from the marina was built for $293.81 after the fire of 1892 destroyed much of the town. Shipping was brisk from the 1870s to the 1950s, with steamers taking livestock, lumber, pulp, fish and passengers to southern destinations; the steady red light still shines directly over the water. Rick Nelson keeps a display of photographs of all the lighthouses on the Island as well as the old lighthouse lamp in the museum at the Old Mill.

Kagawong’s lovely light tower across from the marina was built for $293.81 after the fire of 1892 destroyed much of the town. Shipping was brisk from the 1870s to the 1950s, with steamers taking livestock, lumber, pulp, fish and passengers to southern destinations; the steady red light still shines directly over the water.

The lighthouse of Great Duck Island, of the Georgian Bay style, originally housed William Purvis, his wife and 10 children for the first 20 years. Destroyed by fire in the early 1930s, a scourge in those days of open flames, the keeper’s home was rebuilt and razed again in 1995, although the light continues to lead the way for boaters and tankers, and for the fifth-generation Purvis family fishing operations in the waters off the south coast and the Purvis fishing station at Burnt Island. Other notable lights include the South Baymouth Range Lights (1898) that steer the Chi-Cheemaun into port, and the Michael’s Point (1870) exquisitely rebuilt lighthouse by Ron Anstice and Ron Hierons, re-dedicated in 2006.

‘Alone in the Night: Lighthouses of Georgian Bay, Manitoulin Island and the North Channel’ by Andrea Gutsche, Barbara Chisholm and Russell Floren is available in The Expositor bookstore, Print Shop Books in Little Current or from expositorsub@manitoulin.ca.

Article by

Isobel Harry

Isobel Harry

Isobel Harry is a photographer and writer who has also worked extensively in the field of human rights advocacy. Her photos have been widely exhibited and she has published articles in many magazines; as programmes director and executive director for PEN Canada for twenty years, she worked on behalf of the right to freedom of expression internationally. Now living on Manitoulin Island, Isobel works as a freelance writer and photographer and is a frequent contributor to the weekly Manitoulin Expositor newspaper and the annual This is Manitoulin magazine. Her interests lie at the intersection of arts, culture and human rights.

Trailer sailors explore North Channel waters in small vessels

Trailer sailors explore North Channel

If you are a sailboater in another part of Lake Huron or one of the other of our Great Lakes, or if you are considering the purchase of a sailboat, the organization is known as “Trailer Sailors” can help you to become acquainted with Manitoulin Island’s famous North Channel. (Trailer Sailors are boat owners whose crafts are small enough—30 feet or less—to tow on a trailer to their first harbour of their cruise, a useful option for those who don’t have the time for a lengthy sail from, say, Toronto to Manitoulin Island.

The North Channel Marine Tourism Council proudly brands the waters of the North Channel as “the best freshwater boating in the world” and the members of the Trailer/Sailors Association heartily agree.

“We are definitely ambassadors for the North Channel,” said John Clement who, along with his wife Irene, paused in the de-rigging of their 26-foot sailboat Taranui to discuss the Trailer/Sailor organization, sailing the North Channel waters and the community of fellow travellers who spend two weeks every year exploring the thousands of coves and Islands for which the region is justly famed.

John is a former president of the organization, having joined in 1990 (the organization itself was founded just five years earlier in 1985) and his wife was one of the co-organizers (along with Diana Nelson) of last year’s trailer/sailor cruise. The organization began with a half-dozen to a dozen like-minded souls who joined forces to explore North Channel waters.

“We joined in 1990 and we have been coming most years ever since,” said Mr. Clement. “I ran five of the cruises, then Mike Nelson took it on and Diana Nelson took it on after him.”

The Clements began sailing in small dinghies when they were younger, but with the advent of their children, they realized they needed something more substantial.
“With small children, you need to be able to anchor so they can go ashore, go swimming and it is good to have a boat big enough to be able to have some space below,” said Ms. Clement. “The kids need to go ashore sometimes.”

Since trailer/sailors tend to smaller boats, usually from 16 to 25-foot vessels that fit easily on trailers, they tend to have more limited space for supplies and amenities. “We plan every three days to be in a marina where we can pump out the head (toilet tanks), pick up ice, get an ice cream,” said Mr. Clement. “Oh we like the ice cream,” laughed Ms. Clement, “in fact we will probably go and get one after we are finishing de-rigging this afternoon.”

“So that is what trailer sailors did, anchor, go ashore to go blueberry picking and explore in little dingies,” agreed Mr. Clement.

Since trailer/sailors tend to smaller boats, usually from 16 to 25-foot vessels that fit easily on trailers, they tend to have more limited space for supplies and amenities. “We plan every three days to be in a marina where we can pump out the head (toilet tanks), pick up ice, get an ice cream,” said Mr. Clement. “Oh we like the ice cream,” laughed Ms. Clement, “in fact we will probably go and get one after we are finishing de-rigging this afternoon.”

It takes about three hours to set up or take down the rigging and mast on a small sailboat, and get her off or back on her trailer.

The amenities onboard a trailer sailor’s vessel can vary widely, largely dependant on the character of the boat and its owners. The Clement’s Taranui is at the large end of the trailered sailboats in the association, and their vessel even sports a wood burning stove. “That’s pretty unusual,” said Ms. Clement. “This was a boat-builder’s boat. Not all boats have refrigeration, some people choose to do without, but we like cheese and milk.”

The key element that attracts trailer sailors to the lifestyle, however, is the deep sense of community they enjoy, whether newcomers or long-time veterans. “Whether it is their first time or 20 years, there is a friendship link,” said Mr. Clement. “The mood has always been the same—an extended family.”

The sailors tend to keep together while sailing the waters of the North Channel, providing mutual support and camaraderie and engaging in group social events. “We might select a flat rock and say that is where we will hold a potluck at 6 o’clock,” said Ms. Clement. The sailors will return to their boats to create a dish and meet together at the appointed time on the selected ‘flat rock.’ “We had a pancake breakfast one morning,” noted Ms. Clement.

The group will hold a layday, a two-night stay in one location to provide for better opportunities to socialize and build the sense of community that holds them together.
Most of the trailer sailors have a wide and eclectic skill set. “If someone has an issue with their boat or some piece of equipment, someone will know how to jury-rig a solution and someone else will have the parts,” said Mr. Clement.

There are some things the trailer sailor group insists upon, the first being safety. “We always make sure that people are okay,” said Mr. Clement. “If someone is having trouble, we make sure that somebody stays with them to make sure they are okay.”

The Trailer/Sailor Association logo is a stylized combination of a boat in the water and on a trailer. “Half in the water and half out,” said Mr. Clement.

The boundaries of the trailer sailor cruise usually extend from Killarney and Thomas to the east and Long Point and Spragge to the west, visiting the Island ports of Little Current, Kagawong, Gore Bay and Meldrum Bay and the North Shore ports of Spanish and Blind River along the way.

There are some things the trailer sailor group insists upon, the first being safety. “We always make sure that people are okay,” said Mr. Clement. “If someone is having trouble, we make sure that somebody stays with them to make sure they are okay.”

Another thing they insist on is knowing how to sail your boat. “We are not going to teach you how to sail,” said Mr. Clement. “We also suggest that you at least take the power squadron course.”

The group also insists on a high set of environmental standards. “We insist on environmental care,” said Ms. Clement. “We travel together and we feel we are obliged to set our standards higher than most.”

The Island marinas have most of what trailer sailors need to make their stay enjoyable, particularly enough room to set up their boats when they arrive. “A good ramp with the right angle and enough depth to get into the water is important,” said Mr. Clement. “The ramp at Little Current’s Spider Bay Marina is excellent and Gore Bay’s is very good too.”

Some of the safety items the group insists on are mast lights that help show where a boat is located in the pitch dark of a moonless North Channel night. If a boater’s anchor drags and you have to anchor, it helps a lot to know where the other boats are located. The light located at the top of the mast takes the guesswork out of the process. “It has to be visible for 360 degrees,” said Mr. Clement.

The sailors are also encouraged to have their VHF licence. “I think Roy does an excellent job of reminding people what each of the channels are used for,” said Ms. Clement. Roy Eaton voluntarily runs a daily ship-to-shore radio broadcast for two hours every day during July and August and connects the North Channel boater community in a very tangible way.

The Island marinas have most of what trailer sailors need to make their stay enjoyable, particularly enough room to set up their boats when they arrive. “A good ramp with the right angle and enough depth to get into the water is important,” said Mr. Clement. “The ramp at Little Current’s Spider Bay Marina is excellent and Gore Bay’s is very good too.”

WIFI is also very important for the sailors as well, and in that regard, the marinas are also very well set up.

To learn more about the Trailer/Sailor Association and to join the organization check out their website at trailersailor.info.

Article by

Michael Erskine

Michael Erskine

Michael Erskine BA (Hons) is a staff writer at The Manitoulin Expositor. He received his honours BA from Laurentian University in 1987. His former lives include underground miner, oil rig roughneck, early childhood educator, elementary school teacher, college professor and community legal worker. Michael has written several college course manuals and has won numerous Ontario Community Newspaper Awards in the rural, business and finance and editorial categories.

Get reel! Make fishing your Manitoulin mission

Get Reel:

Make fishing your Manitoulin mission

It’s 7 am at the Providence Bay Marina and a warmly-smiling bearded fellow walks towards a charter fishing first-timer, one hand clutching a coffee, the other extended in greeting. Neil Debassige is the owner of Island Sunrise Cottages and Fishing Charters, (he’s also the principal of Lakeview School in M’Chigeeng), and this morning we’re headed out on to the big water of Lake Huron on the south coast of Manitoulin to do some big fishing. Regular guest Glen McCosham, who goes out with Neil four or five times a year, is the other passenger; he hails from Lively, near Sudbury, and he is psyched. “I was up at 5:30,” says Glen, “I can’t sleep if I’m going out on a charter!”

We climb into Neil’s spotless craft, moored along thirty-odd others in the slips, and slowly move out of the bay into the open water. Neil sets up four downrigger rods off the stern, explaining how they work to catch the Atlantic, pink, coho and Chinook salmon, and the lake and rainbow trout this area is known for. “We’re fishing down and back,” he explains as he attaches the large shiny lures, “so the line goes straight down 30 feet to a release clip attached to a weighted ball. From there the line with the lure at the end goes back 125 feet. When a fish pulls on the lure, that line is released from the clip and goes slack, causing the rod to pop up, not down, which makes sense when you understand the mechanics of the system.”

With the mechanics taken care of, we settle in. “Today is perfect,” sighs Glen. It’s nippy and overcast, we’re all bundled in several layers; the waves are choppy, giving for a wilder ride than, say, fishing on an inland lake. With the insider knowledge of a long-time charter enthusiast, Glen adds, “What you don’t want is a calm day.” (You don’t?) “I call those ‘bluebird days’ when it’s sunny and the water is like glass out here.” Pressing for what possibly could be wrong with such days, when all is unruffled, even your butterflies, Glen replies, “then you’re swatting at deer flies and mosquitoes.” Fine, bring on the shifting seas! We’re looking for an authentic experience here, not some onboard picnic, after all.

More boats are zipping by now, heading into deeper waters. Out of consideration for this guest’s lingering butterflies, Neil stays closer in the bay, watching the sonar screen. He explains that fish feed in a ‘thermocline’ in the 50-degree range.

“Today is perfect,” sighs Glen. It’s nippy and overcast, we’re all bundled in several layers; the waves are choppy, giving for a wilder ride than, say, fishing on an inland lake.

“It all has to do with the water temperature. When it’s cold, fish won’t expend their energy to eat. We fish at the temperature where they’re feeding.” While the guests chat companionably, Neil quietly keeps an eye on the screens and rods the whole time. Suddenly he jumps up, seizes a rod and starts reeling like a man possessed. Glen grabs the net, and we land a beautiful pink salmon, small by their standards, about 2 pounds, but big by mine; it goes into a well filled with lake water. Off we motor, setting the rods for the Big One that Neil feels is out there.

Neil is a born teacher, and his wife Dianne is a teacher too; they fish in summer and hunt in fall. He taught in the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve, and in Kashechewan First Nation in James Bay with Dianne before becoming principal of Lakeview School. “All kids, in all schools, are awesome,” he says, seeing his job as “unleashing potential.” He and Dianne have designed a program called “National Archery in the Schools” to teach this “very levelling sport that is not based on strength. It’s great for learning the ‘humility’ lesson of the Ojibwe Seven Teachings of the Grandfathers.” Neil also runs Fuel the Fire TV with another passionate outdoorsman, Rob Seifried, of Kagawong; their motto ‘Get Outdoors’ is on Neil’s t-shirt. Their first outdoor sports episode secured a deal with Wild TV on the Bell network, who intend to produce 13 more starting in January. The series’ pilot can be viewed at www.fuelthefiretv.ca.

The men are working like mad, bringing in the 11.5 pound Chinook salmon in what seems like seconds. They high-five each other, grinning like kids with their first catch. “It’s all about the charter captain,” enthuses Glen, “he has to know where the fish are, and stay on them!”

This reporter’s job so far has been to take notes–ok, just try this while on a bobbing boat!–and photos. That’s when I remember to unpack my camera. Just in time, too, as Neil races back to the stern while Glen assumes his position, lifting a rod with both hands and reeling furiously. “See?” shouts Glen, “Neil has that sixth sense!” as he manoeuvres the rod, the fish fighting him every inch of the way. The men are working like mad, bringing in the 11.5 pound Chinook salmon in what seems like seconds. They high-five each other, grinning like kids with their first catch.
“It’s all about the charter captain,” enthuses Glen, “he has to know where the fish are, and stay on them!”

It’s been about three hours, during which Neil reflects on how time on the water is just as important as catching fish: “Time spent outdoors is our most valuable time, it teaches us to respect each other and our environment.” He asks if I’d like to go out deeper. “The waves will be higher out there,” he says, compounding the butterfly issue. “Better to have enjoyed yourself than swear off fishing because you pushed yourself too far your first time out.”

As the two men stroll back to continue their quest, their relaxed forms seem to embody a phrase of the poet and naturalist, Henry David Thoreau: “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”

Back at the marina, we’re greeted by the harbour master, Ken Niles, who rings a bell to announce a catch over ten pounds. People flock to the weighing station to take a look. Ken takes two photos of the crew, one for the marina’s Facebook page and many albums, and one “to pick up when you come back.” Four years ago, Ken came from McKerrow, just off the Island, and started taking people out fishing. He’s since been hired by the Algoma Manitoulin Harbour Commission to run the marina, and now he’s “got no time to fish.” He loves promoting the fishing in Providence Bay, calling out in French and English to visitors from Timmins, Québec, London, “everywhere”, by name, overseeing the launchings and landings, answering the phone (“How’s the fishing? Fantastic!”) and manning the marine radio. His dog Lila follows him around as he keeps the coffee pot on and cleans the common areas; he also organizes an annual derby, fundraising for various local causes, offers the loan of a box of lures and awards a filet knife to “fish of the month” winners. Ken Niles is a prize himself.

At the immaculate fish cleaning station, kids crowd around to watch Neil rinse and clean the fish, filleting the red-orange flesh and vacuum-packing it. As the two men stroll back to continue their quest, their relaxed forms seem to embody a phrase of the poet and naturalist, Henry David Thoreau: “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”
Fishing licences are required for all fishing, available at several licence issuers on Manitoulin.

Article by

Isobel Harry

Isobel Harry

Isobel Harry is a photographer and writer who has also worked extensively in the field of human rights advocacy. Her photos have been widely exhibited and she has published articles in many magazines; as programmes director and executive director for PEN Canada for twenty years, she worked on behalf of the right to freedom of expression internationally. Now living on Manitoulin Island, Isobel works as a freelance writer and photographer and is a frequent contributor to the weekly Manitoulin Expositor newspaper and the annual This is Manitoulin magazine. Her interests lie at the intersection of arts, culture and human rights.