The Signature Table - lighthouses.lighting

How to read a signature

Four words of code, one light

Every light on a chart carries a short code: what the light does, in what colour, over how many seconds, and how far it reaches. Read it left to right, as the Canadian Coast Guard prints it in its List of Lights.

Fl(3)CharacterFlashing, in groups of three. The light is shorter than the darkness.

WColourW white, R red, G green. No letter can mean white on some charts.

7.5sPeriodThe time for the whole pattern to repeat, flashes and darkness together.

19MRangeNominal range in nautical miles, when the List of Lights gives it.

W · white R · red G · green The examples above illustrate each character; the nine lights of this coast are all white.

The table

Nine lights, in the order of the road

Each row is drawn to scale: in the sequence strip, a bright segment is a second of light, a graphite one a second of night, and the amber line runs across the strip at the very speed of the light beside it. Three towers are dark today; their historic signals are drawn in dotted outline, and never lit.

No.	Lighthouse	Character	Period	Range	Sequence, to scale
01	Île-Verte Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs · tower 1809 Active · official aid	Fl W 5sList of Lights 1761 · focal 16.5 m	5 s	19 M	0flash 1 · eclipse 45 s The first lighthouse on the St. Lawrence, lit in 1809.
02	Pointe-au-Père Rimouski · tower 1909 Decommissioned 1975	darkhistoric character not confirmed	-	not confirmed	No sequence drawn: the historic signal is not documented with certainty. Reinforced concrete tower on eight flying buttresses; replaced in 1975 by an automated skeleton tower.
03	Pointe-Mitis Métis-sur-Mer · tower 1908 or 1909 Active · private aid	Fl(3) W 7.5sList of Lights 1707 · focal 21.0 m	7.5 s	not stated	00.25 · 1 · 0.25 · 1 · 0.25 · 4.757.5 s Its Chance Brothers lens still floats on a bath of mercury.
04	Matane Matane · built 1906, lit 1907 Decommissioned 1951	Fl(2) W 7.5shistoric signal, 1907 · light discontinued	7.5 s	15 M historic	00.5 · 1 · 0.5 · 5.57.5 s At the entrance to the town. Now a tourist information centre and small museum.
05	Cap-Chat Cap-Chat · tower 1909 Active · private aid	Fl W 6sList of Lights 1685 · focal 41.4 m	6 s	15 M	0flash 1 · eclipse 56 s Fresnel lens retired in 2007; a modern light now keeps the rhythm.
06	La Martre La Martre · tower 1906 Active · private aid	Fl(4) W 30sList of Lights 1657 · focal 39.6 m	30 s	17 M	02 · 3 · 2 · 3 · 2 · 3 · 2 · 1330 s By day the lens still turns on its original weights and cables; the night light has been automated since 1972.
07	Cap-de-la-Madeleine Sainte-Madeleine-de-la-Rivière-Madeleine · tower 1908 Active · private aid	Fl(3) W 27sList of Lights 1651 · focal 44.5 m	27 s	20 M	0timing approximated27 s Character and period are official; flash lengths are not published, so the strip is an approximation.
08	Pointe-à-la-Renommée L'Anse-à-Valleau, Gaspé · tower 1907 Decommissioned 1975	Fl(2) W 10shistoric signal · light discontinued	10 s	not stated	00.43 · 1.82 · 0.43 · 7.3210 s Site of the first Canadian maritime wireless station of the Marconi company, 1904.
09	Cap-des-Rosiers Gaspé · lit 1858 · 34.1 m Active · official aid	Oc W 20sList of Lights 1621 · focal 41.5 m	20 s	24 M	0light 15 · eclipse 520 s The tallest lighthouse in Canada; the same rhythm since 1903.