Lightkeeping on the St. Lawrence outlines the history of lightkeeping in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf from its emergence in 1803 until automation replaced the last lightkeeper in 1988. Fog, hidden reefs, rocks, and sandbars have made the waters of the river and gulf among the most treacherous in the world. In the earliest days of lightkeeping in this region, the safety of the mariners had to be weighed against the problem of giving aid to enemy ships. With peace between French and English, safety became the overriding factor and the number of lighthouses, then light pillars and lightships, increased dramatically. This is a tale of shipwrecks and storms, of the lonely existence of the keeper who endured harsh working conditions, often alone or with but one or two assistants. While some lighthouses offered accommodation for the keeper's family, the occupation of lightkeeping was always one of stark isolation. Based on extensive archival material and interviews with surviving lighkeepers, the book describes the onerous working day of the men of the lights, whose duties ranged from painstakingly cleaning reflectors to repeatedly sounding the fog signal on an endless night watch. It was a difficult life with scant reward, but the diligence of the keeper kept the country open to commerce in times of peace, and safe from enemy attack in times of war. Published with the assistance of Parks Canada in both English and Fench editions, the book includes thirty-five illustrations (many in full colour), maps, and tables.

This is edition 45 for 2015. An interactive pdf is free with this book. The pdf gives real time links to port authorities, marinas, USCG, AIS, updates, Code of Regulations, warnings, wind charts, Wikipedia, weather and useful information.-- . The Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Above St. Regis Lake Ontario . Lake Erie . Detroit River . Lake St. Clair . St. Clair River . Lake Huron . Lake Michigan St. Marys River Lake Superior Hudson River, New York Canals, and Lake Champlain. The United States Coast Pilot consists of a series of nautical books that cover a variety of information important to navigators of coastal and intracoastal waters and the Great Lakes. Issued in nine volumes, they contain supplemental information that is difficult to portray on a nautical chart. Topics in the Coast Pilot include channel descriptions, anchorages, bridge and cable clearances, currents, tide and water levels, prominent features, pilotage, towage, weather, ice conditions, wharf descriptions, dangers, routes, traffic separation schemes, small-craft facilities, and Federal regulations applicable to navigation. Coast Pilot 1 covers the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, and part of Massachusetts, from West Quoddy Head in Maine to Provincetown in Massachusetts. Major ports are at Portsmouth, NH and Boston, MA. Coast Pilot 2 covers the Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to Sandy Hook, embracing part of the Massachusetts coast and all of the coasts of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York. Coast Pilot 3 covers the Atlantic coast from Sandy Hook to Cape Henry, including the New Jersey Coast, Delaware Bay, Philadelphia, the Delaware - Maryland - Virginia coast, and the Chesapeake Bay. Coast Pilot 4 covers the Atlantic coast of the United States from Cape Henry to Key West. Coast Pilot 5 covers the Gulf of Mexico from Key West, FL to the Rio Grande. Also covers Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Coast Pilot 6 covers the Great Lakes system, including Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior, their connecting waters, and the St. Lawrence River. Coast Pilot 7 covers the rugged United States coast of California, Oregon and Washington, between Mexico on the south and Canadas British Columbia on the north. Coast Pilot 7 also includes Hawaii and other United States territories in the South Pacific. Coast Pilot 8 covers the panhandle section of Alaska between the south boundary and Cape Spencer. In this volume, general ocean coastline is only 250 nautical miles, but tidal shoreline totals 11,085 miles. Coast Pilot 9 deals with the Pacific and Arctic coasts of Alaska from Cape Spencer to the Beaufort Sea. General ocean coastline totals 5,520 nautical miles, and tidal shoreline totals 18,377 miles. Coast Pilot 10 consists of excerpts taken from other coast pilots with reference to the Intercoastal Waterway