Hope Island Lightstation

The Hope Island Lightstation is located at 44 45' 56.4" N 80 09' 52.9" W. The site is composed of several buildings located on Hope Island in Georgian Bay.

The Hope Island Lighthouse is built of wood, as is common of all lighthouses in Canada which were built after 1867. This was due to the cheaper price and ready availability of wood near all the construction sites. The Hope Lighthouse was built in 1884. The original light was a wooden square tower with an attached dwelling. The building is painted white, and it has red stripes on the corners. In 1908 a fog plant was installed on the site to hold a diaphone fog horn. According to Alone in the Night, Lighthouses of Georgian Bay, Manitoulin Island and the North channel by Lynx Images, the book that has been my bible for historical data for this site, the fog plant building still stands. However, I have visited this site twice, and I am pretty sure that it does not exist anymore. In 1940, the Hope Lightstation received a diesel generating plant and a radio beacon which was synchronized with the fog alarm. The radio beacon transmitted its signal via a 100 foot tall radio antenna. I don't remember seeing the antenna however, it may still be there. I think that it appeared in one of my older photographs, as there is a second metal structure in the photo, which appears near the corner of the light tower. I believe that this photo was taken in 1995. The people in the photo are good friends of mine who came along as crew. In the 1970's, with the unionization of the lightkeepers, the Coast Guard and the Government hastened the destaffing process. In 1987 Hope Island was automated and destaffed. Its last keeper was Ernie McCombe, who kept the light from 1986 to 1987. Today, the light is displayed by a metal skeleton tower that sits next to the original tower. The original tower is in a bad state of repair and it will likely last only a few more years. The dwellings on the site are still in fairly good condition, as are the old tools in the boathouse. There is a newer building with metal siding, which I think may be the fog plant (I suspect that they might have put metal siding on it).

The weather on the days prior to my trip had been bad. I was hoping for a break in the weather, and I got one. What I didn't have was crew. I usually go out with at least one other person on board to help with the sailing. I am a fairly light person, and so the extra weight helps keep things in check. However on this day, the crew I had asked to come backed out on me at the last minute. I was determined to go, so go I went. I sailed out into the channel on a good stiff breeze. A Humming Bird was handling very well, so I forged on. I dropped the hook at Sandy Bay on the South side of Hope and ate lunch. By this time, the wind had dropped to nothing, and so I fired up the motor and went around to the Lightstation via the East side of the island. Much to my dismay, with the lightstation abeam to Port, I had to abandon my plan to moor at the wharf ... it was five feet up on the beach! I ended up idling the engine in Neutral and snapping only three frames. I had forgotten to bring the film! In my annoyance at not having crew, and my rush to load the boat and shove off, I forgot to pack the film. So, I shot what I had in the camera and headed for home port. I was lucky I left when I did, as storm clouds started to come in from the West as soon as I got back around to the South side of the

According to my knowledge of the wharf at the Hope Island Lightstation, there may be some spikes sticking out of the crib on the left side of the wharf. Please exercise caution when approaching the wharf and attempting to tie up to either side of it. Also, beware the sub-marine cable in the area. No anchoring should be attempted anywhere near this location--it could be an electrifying anchorage!

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