A tug is pulling a log boom (a raft of floating logs, recently cut). Up and down the sound it goes, very slowly, killing time.
This is one of those “just because” photos, showing the traffic in front of my house.
Tag Archives: water
Precious Water – Photo Wednesday
The rain is welcome, in October. This is the season for recharging our water tanks, after a long dry summer.
Precious water.
Can you say Velella velella? – Photo Wednesday
Meet Sailor on the Wind, or Velella velella. There were millions of these jellyfishes on the beaches of Oregon this past spring. Piles and piles of them. This one was fairly fresh, not all dried up. Quite beautiful, actually. I didn’t touch it, I read somewhere that they contain a mild neurotoxin…
Sailing on Summer Weekends
From my house, I get to watch the sailors in the summertime. Little boats, big boats…
Sometimes, they play all together.
And when they turn around to go home, I love the colourful spinnakers.
The next day’s race was scheduled later in the afternoon. The silver afternoon light is just magic.
And sometimes, sailors prefer to work solo.
Sailing by yourself is a special kind of solitude, time to reflect, but also to react quickly to changing conditions. No one else to blame in case of a mistake.
The above sailor looks headed for the US (smile). That little chunk of land on the right is Blunden Islet, at the tip of South Pender Island, in BC. The islands in the background are Waldron and Orcas, in the US.
During the same sailing event, serious sailors competed on bigger boats. Team work and play. Less meditation, more intensity.
And sometimes, things don’t go as planned.
In 2007, on the eve of the Saturna Lamb Barbecue (a July Saturna tradition for over 50 years), the Robertson II ran aground on a reef near Saturna Island, in the middle of the night. Miscalculation, distraction, too much pre-partying? Night sailing is demanding and unforgiving.
Oh well.
Back to daytime sailing. And the afternoon light.
I caught the boat pictured above sailing “in the silver”, a couple of days ago. The late afternoon light was perfect. Then, I played with the filters and colour intensity. I think this is going to be a print. In the meantime, enjoy it online.
And go play outside!
Cool Surfers at Wickaninnish Beach
The days and weeks have been very long since I broke my ankle, on May 31st. Books and Netflix only hold so much magic…
To reset the dial, my daughter took me on a three-day road trip. Off to Vancouver Island, and Port Alberni, Ucluelet and Tofino. And especially, the Pacific Rim National Park… AKA the Wet Coast.
At the top of this post, a very wet me, sitting in the cool beach wheelchair we were able to borrow from the Kwisitis Visitor Centre, at Wickaninnish Beach. The hard sand part of the beach was easier to navigate for my wheelchair-pusher (i.e. daughter), but getting across the soft sand at the top of the beach was another story. We needed help (or I would have had to crawl back), and help was very graciously provided by one of the Centre’s staffers. They spotted our struggling, probably sighed, and came to our rescue. I am grateful.
The sights? Lots of surfers. The beach may look empty, but every dark speck in the waves is a surfer, in full wetsuit.
And then, this young woman and her dog caught my attention…
The dog was beside herself with joy at the open space, the water, the waves, being out there with her “mommy”, and having fun.
The surfer told me that her dog was learning to surf, but “she keeps dumping me when she steps forward”… Working on technique. Aren’t we all?
A few minutes later, looked like they were mastering it very nicely.
Well, then she saw “daddy” and started to step forward to say hello. Looks like this may end up in a tip over…
And I leave you with the suspense.
Did I mention that this was a very wet day?
We took a stroll (a roll, in my case) on the Peat Bog Boardwalk. It was a very wet day. Very wet.
And on the art side, we stopped at the Eagle Aerie Gallery, and admired the prints, carvings and paintings by Roy Henry Vickers. The gallery, a gorgeous building all in massive carved cedar boards, is a beautiful setting for the art on display. Not to be missed, if you are in Tofino.