Digest>Archives> February 2001

The Graveyard of the Gulf

By Duane Traver

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Northeast St. Paul Lighthouse with author’s ham ...
Photo by: Duane Traver

Many have died there. A very few have been born there. Most visitors have stepped foot on her shores most reluctantly, only after ships they were aboard were ripped apart on her rocks.

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The old boathouse at Atlantic Cove. It once ...
Photo by: Duane Traver

This place is St. Paul Island, named such in 1497 by the explorer Cabot. The island lies in The Cabot Strait, at the entrance of The Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is about 14 miles from the Northern tip of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, and 44 miles from Cape Race, Newfoundland.

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A close up view of the Southwest St. Paul ...
Photo by: William Budge

Over the years the island has destroyed hundreds of ships and taken thousands of lives, earning it the nickname “The Graveyard of the Gulf”. Divers have confirmed that the name is fitting. They have reported finding debris from shipwrecks common all around the island, with shipwrecks practically piled on top of one another in certain spots. Despite the possibility of finding virgin wrecks in her waters, very few have ever dived there due to the remote location and difficulty of arranging an expedition. The only visitors in modern times are the occasional divers, Amateur Radio operators, and the fishermen who trap lobsters among her rocks.

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View of the Northeast St. Paul Light from the old ...
Photo by: Duane Traver

The Shipwrecks

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Getting on and off St. Paul is tricky and ...

One of the worst catastrophes to occur on St. Paul Island was the wreck of the British troop ship, The Sovereign. The Sovereign was bringing reinforcements to Quebec in 1814. Most of the people on board perished when the ship, and its payroll chest of Mexican silver dollars, sank after striking the cliffs in the area known today as Sovereign Cove. The bodies of more than 800 victims were buried in mass graves in the fields near Atlantic Cove.

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At the grave site of the Lang twins who died in ...

The incident, which was said to have spurred the interest in building a lighthouse on the island was the wreck of The Jessie. On January 1, 1825 The Jessie, out of Prince Edward Island, came up on the rocks on the Southwest point of the island in a blinding snowstorm. Of the 27 people on board the barque, 23 managed to get ashore and climb the cliffs to safety. They managed to build some type of shelter, possibly from pieces of the shipwreck. They built large bonfires, hoping for rescue by those seeing the fires on distant Cape Breton Island. Unfortunately, the ice floes moved in a few days later making any rescue impossible. The survivors were left to the mercy of the island, and exposure and starvation took its toll. The last journal entry was dated March 17, documenting the unsuccessful struggle to survive. A sealing vessel from Cheticamp, Nova Scotia discovered the bodies in the spring. A boat returned the bodies of the captain and a few others to

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The old wireless buildings at Atlantic Cove.
Photo by: Duane Traver

Prince Edward Island; the rest were buried where they were found.

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Aerial view of the island. The building directly ...
Photo by: William Budge

In 1863 the ship Norwegian struck St. Paul’s cliffs with all the speed its steam engine and sails could provide. Miraculously all 414 on board were saved, and one pregnant passenger gave birth on the island. One of the few to be born on an island which has brought so much death and destruction over the years.

In the years before the lifesaving stations were constructed, becoming marooned on the island meant almost certain death. Due to the lack of animal life on the island starvation was just a matter of time, and the extreme weather encountered out in The Cabot Strait only hastened the process.

But, the existence of St. Paul Island wasn’t bad for all ships. In 1948 the 114 foot sealing ship Teazer was crushed when 60 mph winds caused large blocks of ice to pulverize her, destroying the ship along with its cargo of 5000 seal pelts. The crew of 20 men managed to climb ice hills and navigate drifting floes to travel the 20 miles to St. Paul Island. The trip took 18 hours with the crew traveling in pairs to distribute their weight on the ice. Traveling in pairs also insured there would be someone to help should someone fall into a fissure. They managed to stay out of the fast tide areas and reach the safety of the wireless station on St. Paul.

The Lighthouses

In 1838 work was started on two lighthouses and humane stations for St. Paul Island. Mr. John Campbell was appointed governor of the island. The Governor had authority for all the affairs of the island including the two lighthouses, the lifesaving station at Atlantic Cove, and a smaller lifesaving station at Trinity Cove.

The lighthouse on the Northeast was completed in 1839. This light is located on a small 2 acre island separated from the main island by a 100 foot wide channel of water known as “The Tickle”. The octagonal timber tower structure was replaced with a concrete tower in 1962. In recent years several of the buildings have been burned down, leaving the light, a building housing weather equipment, and the former keepers house last used in 1991.

On the Southwest point of the island a solar-powered beacon can now be seen blinking its warning to mariners in the area. The original wooden lighthouse structure built on the Southeast in 1840 burned down in 1916. It was replaced with a cylindrical steel lighthouse, which is now on display at the Canadian Coast Guard facility in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The lighthouse keepers house is still standing, but not for many more years. The floor of the first story is now collapsing, and when it does the rest of the building will soon follow.

The old wireless operator’s house at Atlantic Cove appears on the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society’s Doomsday list. This is a list of Canadian light-station buildings in danger of being lost forever. This building is rapidly deteriorating, and the old boathouse, which used to house the rescue boats will likely not be standing at all by next year.

Some other historic features of the island are now gone. At one time there was a lobster cannery that employed 50 people in the summers, and some type of radar installation was visible on the top of the island. Now this island, which is only three miles long and one mile wide at the widest point, is returning to the wild state experienced by those shipwreck victims of times past, before the lifesaving stations were established. Even the old tractor trail running between the Southeast light and the landing at Atlantic Cove is now impassible, covered with deadfalls and blocked by the growth of the stunted fir trees of the island. Even getting to the two lakes at the top of the island, which incidentally have no fish, is a full day expedition. Not too many years in the future it will be difficult to discern the presence of man on this remote island.

My trips to the Island

Visiting St. Paul Island has been a privilege I have enjoyed three times. I have camped at Atlantic Cove twice, and on the small Northeast island once for Amateur Radio operations. I gained a sense of the isolation experienced by light-station personnel in September of 1998 when I camped on the Northeast by myself for several days. Stepping outside at night to see the lighthouse flashing its beam out to sea, and the Milky Way stretching out from horizon to horizon is a feeling that cannot be described. On one occasion, as I turned the direction of my ham radio antenna, some type of a small Nighthawk began diving at me. At first it was unnerving, but I soon realized that the bird was simply catching the mosquitoes that were gathering around me. Each morning various types of Sea Ducks and other birds were gathered on the rocky outcroppings and cliffs, or floating on the water. Experiencing the changes in the weather and the sea, and seeing the island covered in thick fog in a matter of minutes made it easy to imagine what it must have been like for those shipwreck victims of times past, as well as those stationed on the island to care for the lights and the lifesaving functions.

In July, 2000 I had the pleasure of being joined on an expedition to the island by William Budge of Ingonish Beach, Nova Scotia. Bill’s father was keeper of the Southeast light for a number of years in the 1950s, and Bill grew up on this isolated island. He shared many stories of the island and showed us things we wouldn’t have known about otherwise, like the old sundial base, and the grave of the Laing Twins.

The Laing Twins were children of a wireless operator. They died in 1936 at 5 1/2 months of age. Theirs is the only identifiable grave on the island, despite the fact that many, perhaps thousands, of shipwreck victims are buried on the island. It is said the twins caught some terrible disease from a passing ship, but some say it is more likely they were sick when taken to the island, or became sick after arrival due to the harsh conditions.

Bill pointed out some pipes protruding from the cliff at Atlantic Cove. They were the sewage pipes running from the old wireless station. He told us about how the workmen had to dig among human bones to lay the pipes. He told us how an assistant keeper died when the cable for the boatswains’ chair used to cross the Tickle snapped, plunging him into the frigid winter water. Other keepers rowed out to save victims never to return. Bill has written a fascinating book manuscript of his life as the son of a lighthouse keeper on this remote and desolate island, and is currently looking for a publisher.

Visiting the Island

Anyone wishing to travel out to the island to view the lighthouses or wireless station can make arrangements with either one of the whale watch operators, or a local fisherman operating from Bay St. Lawrence or Dingwall, Nova Scotia. Visitors should note that landing on St. Paul Island is not permitted except by special permit issued by the Canadian Coast Guard. Divers should be aware that removal of anything from a shipwreck is allowed only with a valid research permit. The trip is about 2 hours each way by boat, but certainly worth the trip. A visit to ‘The Graveyard of the Gulf” is an experience not soon forgotten.

This story appeared in the February 2001 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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