VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

i just heard that Sherringham Point is slated for demolition ... has anyone else heard this? apparently there's a petition at French beach mini-mart and otter point store, so if your going by there stop in and sign it.... guess it wouldn't hurt to write coast gaurd/ fisheries/ environment canada etc.

it would totally suck to no longer have this lighthouse report !!!!!

I suspect that a proposed development is under discussion here. Let us hope that the automated light & weather station remain!

Hey pimp hand - that is terrible news. Hopefully JL is right and they keep the automated reports going. It's hard to believe that they would stop weather reporting due to the amount of fishing boats in the area. But who knows.

I guess we could put up an anemometer at Jack's or Martin's (we have plans to put one up at Jack's eventually), but as you know, the wind on the beach does not always reflect what is out in the Strait. If the Sheringham reports really do stop we will need to look at putting up another camera (one upwind and one pointed to the sailing site) and look at setting up our own weather station - maybe at Sheringham with a radio modem?
dave

FYI, here is an article from the Sooke News Mirror, June 23rd, re the Sheringham Lighthouse Property"
Tales of woe and joy have beamed from Shirley's Sheringham Point Lighthouse site. Now a group intent on keeping the landmark out of private hands waits for the federal government to decide the beacon's fate.
"It's a real important part of our identity," said Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society (SPLPS) president Michael Galizio. "We firmly believe we have to preserve it. It's down the street from my house. It's something that's important to me."
What the 50-member group fears is that the lighthouse property, roughly five acres, will be snatched by a developer.
Vancouver-based Guiding Owl Development is planning a 165-acre gated, oceanfront Shirley subdivision near the lighthouse.
"We don't want it to fall into private hands," said Galizio, an expatriate American.
But it has been since 1987 that the Coast Guard, the branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada in charge of the facility, has had its spotlight on the light, trying to figure out what should be done with the site.
"Its come to a head recently," Canadian Coast Guard spokesperson Terry Weber said, due to pressures from "developers."
The federal government continues to consider the fate of the fenced off property, where apparently illegal access is possible via cuts to the fence.
The "aid to navigation" is still in use, Weber said, but before any decisions are made, it has to be determined if the property will get the "surplus" designation.
"If we no longer require the property, we'll have to see if other government agencies need it," Weber said from Victoria. If the federal government backs off, then the provincial government will be contacted, and following that, the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area.
The federal government is also reviewing what's needed at the iconic site and Weber said part of the property could be "separated." If the property was divided, a lighthouse could be placed somewhere else on the seaside land, he said.
The SPLPS, which was activated about two years ago when it sent a letter to MP Keith Martin, has been in contact with the Coast Guard, shedding light on its case.
It wants the historic site to become public property and if it eventually is allowed to be the steward of the decades old beacon, the now-gone lightkeeper's home would be rebuilt along with other ambitious plans like collecting an oral history and creating a lighthouse website.
Juan de Fuca Regional Director Erik Lund gave the society $1,000 this month. He refused to comment on why he handed over the grant-in-aid, but the aforementioned plans will require some finances.
Weber couldn't predict how long it would take to decide who will control the lighthouse.
"We're going through the process. It could take awhile, or a short time," he said.
"It would be great if the society took it," Weber added, agreeing that the 1912-built lighthouse, like all others, is historic.
The SPLPS has honorary society members, such as members of the Arden family (Eustace Arden was the first lightkeeper, starting in 1912 until 1946) and the Clark family (who donated the property for the lighthouse), Galizio said.
Shirley resident and accomplished writer and seaman Gary Geddes is also a very involved SPLPS member.

I could see the lighthouse facilities going, but not the weather station. There isn't another one on the whole strait between Race Rocks and Carmanah otherwise? (And if there is, why isn't it on this page Dave?). As Dave says, there are too many small fish boats for it not to be a safety issue. Anyone know who to contact to find out details? Got to get out there now, hope its not too much for my big board!

Arrggh, stupid computer didn't log me in, and I can't edit the "guest" submission. Waterrose's clip makes all clear, I agree we have to write letters/send submissions to Coast Guard regarding necessity of weather station. I don't use the navaid light, (although if your mast breaks when you're way out during an evening sesh, it might give you something to paddle towards!) but I imagine a lot of boaters do. I remember getting running bearings from it in a Swiftsure many years ago, I suspect GPS has done away with the need for those. Seems unfair that the Fed Gov would sell land to a developer that had been donated from a family through community spirit. Make it a nice park instead!

Having worked with these individuals Environment Canada is in charge of our coastal weather stations. Ron Mclaren is the Head maintenance supervisor and works out of Environment Canada's Pacific Weather Center in Vancouver. He and his managers (I think his immediate boss is Brian Bornhold) would be the best individuals to initiate a public lobby with, in addition to David Anderson who is the MP in charge of Environment Canada (subject to change in Paul Martin's next cabinet). You need to get the attention from the top down (David Anderson who provides program funding) and from the bottom up (Ron Mclaren who looks after the West Coast weather stations). They need to know how important this site is to the local marine community users (recreational users, commercial fisherman, weather forecasters, commercial shipping traffic, weather news agencies etc.) If you raise enough noise they will listen. Hope this info helps.

TomV

David Anderson, e-mail:


Ron McLaren (Head of Environment Canada
Marine Services)
Telephone: (604) 664-9188
Fax:(604) 664-9195
no e-mail listed in government directory


Environment Canada Marine Services web site, www.marineservices.gc.ca

~ pimp hand ~ wrote:apparently there's a petition at French beach mini-mart and otter point store, so if your going by there stop in and sign it....

There is a petition at the Kemp Lake Store (store on the left, 5 mins before Gordon's and just before Otter Point). I signed it yesterday and they said they have 20 pages of signatures so far. So if you head out there don't forget to stop in,
dave

The idea of that of project going on is scary.I have used the rocks at the light house as a fishing hot spot for shore casting for salmon.I lived in the community for 2.5 years before moving to victoria.I volunteerd to take a pettion door to door along West coast rd and got 17 names that are against the project in Shirley.Here is the point were is the water going to come from for the houses and for the fire department who will need highdrents for fire surpresion,if they tap onto the well that feeds the 100 or so houses inthe french beach subdavision they will run out of water even earlyer than normal.you would be surprized how many wells run dry and the have to get there water trucked in from Sooke in the summer.lets hold hour breath and hop it does not happen

(Posted on behalf of Tom Kerr)

Hey wave/wind riders

Hope you're getting some water time. I have been helping out with the Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society who are trying to save the lighthouse from possible future development. I firmly believe the lighthouse has significant historical and cultural value and would hate to see it be consumed in the sea of development that is planned for the Sheringham point area. If you can spare a few moments and would like to help out, please print sign and send the attached letters to the society address below. Feel free to fwd this to anyone who may be interested.

Lets help save the light !
Thank you,
Thomas Kerr

Please print, sign and send the 2 letters to the:
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society
1027 Seaside Drive, Sooke, BC V0S 1N0
We will bundle and send to our MLA.

Letter 1: Letter to MLA Brian Kerr (Word doc)
Letter 2: Letter to MP Keith Martin (Word doc)

Letter 1: Letter to MLA Brian Kerr (PDF)
Letter 2: Letter to MP Keith Martin (PDF)
(Get free Adobe PDF Reader)

does anyone know if the weather station will stay operational?