All Red Line
- Comments: 8
- Posted on: December 27th, 2008
My 95 1/2 year young Pop mentioned a story a couple of days ago, then Owen from the Isle of Man wrote a post which reminded me and prompted me to do a little research which I decided to share with you.
Pop was a commercial fisherman from the 1930’s to 1970 and had many adventures which he loves to share! He fished for salmon in his 39 foot boat off the coast of Vancouver Island, but found the boat was not quite large enough and safe enough. The hull was narrow and tended to ‘roll’ when he was in heavy seas. He built a much larger, safer boat in 1951 and was a very successful fisherman for many years.
Back to his first boat, though – the Skeena Chief. When Pop first started fishing off the West Coast of Vancouver Island, he was advised by the Federal Department of Fisheries advised of a communications cable which ran from Bamfield on Vancouver Island underwater to Sydney Australia. All fishermen were warned if they were to accidently hook the cable with their anchors to cut their anchor line and the Government would re-imburse them. They did not want the cable disturbed – or worse – broken!
The “All Red Line” was part of a communications system developed by Great Britain to link the Empire. The name, “All Red Line” was symbolic of the color system used on political charts and maps to define the British Empire and it’s colonies.
The “All Red Line” was installed to link the Empire via electrical telegraph, which is a telegraph that uses electric signals. The electromagnetic telegraph is a device for human-to-human transmission of coded text messages over wire.
Back to the 1940’s – Pop was fishing out from Bamfield and the fog rolled in. Rather than try to navigate his way in to the harbour he anchored on the fishing grounds (this was common practice if and when the winds and weather permitted).
In the morning when he started to pull the anchor it was hooked on something which allowed him to pull about 20 feet then became taut and very heavy. Pop realized he was hooked on the ‘All Red Line’ but certainly didn’t want to cut his anchor line as he’d then have to stop fishing, lose precious time going to Vancouver or Victoria to buy a new anchor – and burn fuel. Money was scarce – and the fishing season was short.
Pop was a resourceful man and knew he could retrieve his anchor if he used his skill and was patient enough. He pulled the anchor line taut then let it go suddenly, hoping the anchor would fall free of the line. It took quite a few tries – and it was very heavy work, but finally he freed the anchor and was able to carry on with his fishing.
I was reminded of this story when Owen gave a link to the undersea ‘internet cable’ chart which hooks the world together. I had no idea these 4 inch cables even existed. I merely assumed we were all hooked via satellite! You may read much more at History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy – 2008 Trans Pacific Express Cable.
That’s so neat!! What a great story. I always love listening to stories from older people. They have so much to teach us. I had no idea about the cables, either! I thought it was all satellites. How interesting!
ReplyI really enjoyed this story. I thought everything was connected via satellite too!
Well, we learn something new everyday!
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ReplyGood story, and the recent breaks in the Mediterranean cables show how important it is to guard cables against ships’ anchors and fishing trawls.
Cables are protected by international law, which makes whoever damages them responsible for the repair costs, typically about a million dollars per incident. On the other hand the law also requires the cable companies to compensate mariners for any loss or damage to their gear, as you note in your article.
Regarding satellites, about 95% of all traffic – phone, internet, video, etc. – goes by cable worldwide. Cable circuits are cheaper than satellite, and much faster.
The heavier cables are used only near the shore where extra protection is needed. Deep-sea sections are only about an inch in diameter. Here’s an example on my website:
http://www.atlantic-cable.com/Cables/2008TPE/index.htm
There’s over 150 years of undersea cable history, much of it chronicled on my site. Start at the main page: http://www.atlantic-cable.com
ReplyWell whadda ya know? I thought everything was brought to us through satelittes. I love hearing stories from your pop.
ReplyWhat a truly wonderful story, rich in details!
ReplyWhat an interesting story and I had no idea myself that there were actual cables under water. Thanks for the post it is always nice to learn something new. Happy Holidays
ReplyWhat a wonderful story your Pop told you! A commercial fisherman must have been hard work! We bet he has lots of cool stories! Thanks for sharing! We always wondered where all the internets went to get all around the world! Now we know! We want to wish you a Happy & Prosperous 2009!!
Your FL furiends,
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ReplySorry but I got distracted by the photo of the hunky man in your blog post!
You are blessed to have a father who is able to share history with you.
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