For example keepers were told that after lighting the 'central wick, No. The Lighthouse Board outlined 131 seperate tasks keepers were to perform in order to use and maintain a Fresnel lens apparatus. In addition to general guidelines and rules regarding conduct, the publication included very specific instructions regarding the operation and maintenance Station for only two reasons, to draw pay or to attend Sunday religious services.īy 1858 the third edition of these rules had become very extensive, running to eighty-seven printed pages. Without written permission a keeper could leave his or her A keeper could be immediately dismissed if he or she were discovered intoxicated or, if for any reason, the light was extinguished. In 1852 the first written rules for keepers were promulgated. Growing lists of rules and regulations that defined the keeper's daily routine. However, as the Lighthouse Board became increasingly involved in the work of running the lights it established an ever In the early parts of the nineteenth century there was little by way of formal regulation that defined a keeper's responsibilities. After 1939 all newly employed individuals who worked with Great Lakes navigational aids were members of the Coast Guard. Coast Guard, keepers who were then working had aĬhoice of either retaining their civilian status or becoming members of the Coast Guard. In 1939, when the Lighthouse Service became a part of the U.S. In 1896 light house keepers became members of the federal civil service, removing them entirely from the process of political appointment. A three month probationary period, overseen by the Board, was also required before an appointment became permanent. To the Board, which arranged for each nominee to be interviewed. Nominations from the collectors of customs were forwarded Newly appointed keepers should be between the ages of eighteen and fifty.Ī keeper should be able to read and write, keep simple financial accounts, be able to pull and sail a boat, and possess sufficient skill to maintain the equipment and perform minor repairs. Slowly, however, various reforms were put in place that limitedīy the 1870s the Lighthouse Board, which then was responsible for the operation of all lighthouses in the U.S., had established basic characteristics that keepers must possess. Until the 1850s this system of appointment stymied all efforts to reform the service and establish a merit appointment system. Most often used keeper nominations to repay political favors. The collector of customs, also a political appointee, Generally the local collector of customs nominated an individual to the Secretary of the Treasury, who formally appointed each keeper. Told with eloquent introspection and an eye for detail, Light Years is the personal account of a lighthouse keeper in twenty-first century British Columbia-an account that details Caroline's endurance of extreme climatic, interpersonal and medical challenges, as well as the practical and psychological aspects of living a happy, healthy, useful and creative life in isolation.For most of the nineteenth century keepers were political appointees. Yet Caroline is exhilarated by the scenic coastline with its drizzle and fog, seabirds and whales, and finds time to grow a garden and, as anticipated, write. 'So far the only life I know I've saved is my own,' she says, with her trademark dry wit.

As for dangerous rescue missions or dramatic shipwrecks-that kind of excitement is rare. weather report, the days are filled with maintaining the light station buildings, sea sampling, radio communication, beach cleanup, wildlife encounters and everything in between. The reality is hard physical labour, long stretches of isolation and the constant threat of de-staffing.

When a permanent position for a lighthouse keeper became available, Caroline quit her job and joined Jeff on the lights.Ĭaroline soon learned that the lighthouse-keeping life does not consist of long, empty hours in which to write. They endured lonely months of living apart, but the way of life rejuvenated Jeff and inspired Caroline to contemplate serious shifts in order to accompany him.

Jeff was tired of piecing together low-paying part-time jobs and, with Caroline's encouragement, applied for a position as a relief lightkeeper on a remote North Pacific island. With an established career in book-selling and promotion, four books of her own and having raised a son with her husband, Jeff, she yearned for adventure and to re-ignite her passion for writing.

In 2007, Caroline Woodward was itching for a change. Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award - BC Book Prize (2016)

Life of a lighthouse keeper