Covehead Harbour Lighthouse

This series of 4 photos features the Covehead Harbour Lighthouse in the Prince Edward Island National Park. All photos were taken at sunset on June 16, 2022 by mrb.

 

About the Covehead Harbour Lighthouse:

This heritage wooden lighthouse was built in 1975. It is the replacement for the original tower, which was built in 1967. The site was granted heritage status on May 29, 2015 under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act (S.C. 2008, c 16).

The tower stands 8.2 m or 26.9 ft tall and hosts a 100-year old bulls-eye lens. The lighthouse is located along the Gulf Shore Parkway in the Prince Edward Island National Park.

A plaque on the lighthouse describes the Yankee Gale, a major storm in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence which began on the night of October 3, 1851 and lasted two days. The storm claimed the lives of over 150 people and destroyed at least 74 ships.

The plaque has the following about the gale:

The Gale of 1851

The forenoon had been particularly balmy. Schooners had sailed into the shallow waters in search of Mackerel and Cod, but darkness found the vessels trapped in the stillness close to land. There was no breeze to carry them offshore. That evening a strong wind blew from the northeast. By midnight it had raged into a powerful gale.

For several days the wind and waves gathered strength. On the morning of the fourth day, the sea subsided. Battered ships were strewn along the north shore. Bodies of sailors and fishermen were entangled amongst the wreckage.

Many men were buried here in Prince Edward Island. Their graves are a silent reminder of the changing moods of the sea.