Living in a lighthouse, usually in a remote, often cold and certainly wet locations, is not for everyone. But before the automation of the lights up and down Canada's coastline, the longest national coastline in the world, the role of lighthouse keeper was incredibly important to commerce and remote communities.

The lighthouse on Saturna's East Point was especially important because of Boiling Reef, a rocky shoal that juts out from East Point towards Patos Island. More than one ship has been lost on it, like a coal barge that ran aground sometime in the early 1900s. The ship broke apart, spilling it's valuable black rocks all over the reef. Word has it that the following winter was uncharacteristically warm on Saturna Island.