Lighthouses

Travel along this coast is marked by a series of lighthouses, standing on the capes, islands or headlands that are important points of navigation. There are more than a twenty manned light house stations in British Columbia (there are no longer any in all of the United States). There is some uniformity in the stations - the buildings are always painted white, and have bright red roofs. But the arrangement of buildings and the settings are dramatically different. Each light station is unique in its own dramatic, wild, and exposed position.
The names of the lighthouses become embedded in our brains, because the conditions at each lighthouse are reported on every weather broadcast on the VHF radio. So when our passages take us past a light for the first time, we feel a sense of satisfaction, knowing that in the future we will be able to picture just what it is like when the wind is blowing a gale at Pine Island or when the seas are rippled with a low westerly swell at Scarlett Point.
To celebrate the parade of lighthouses, I've been working on this small book, making a sketch or painting for each station we pass. Fourteen entries since mid-June.