LOA

I am taking an enforced  medical leave of absence, hopefully not too long, but in any case, I shall return.

Rocky Mountain Raspberry

I do this once every summer. Take the photo that is, my waistline is ample testimony

to the fact that I eat one of these rather too often. My favourite flavour.

At Putters, of course.

Arts Alive In The Park

Arts Alive in the Park was on once again this past Saturday and Sunday. It's a yearly event where "local artists

display their work and present it for sale". And there was a good bit of it to be had.
This was the 16th - or maybe the 17th, they're not quite sure - year of this event at Willingdon Beach.

 Painting, ceramics, textiles, jewellery, photography and much more, was on display.

Gerry Chabot, photographer, and his prints.

 The artist at work.

Musical entertainment performed on the stage ...

.. and Romeo the Fry Guy was one of several food vendors on site. Lots of people, lots of things
to run an eye over, and hopefully lots of wallets got cracked.

Not For Me

Have I ever been up in an ultralight? No

Have I ever had the opportunity? No

Given the chance, would I go? No

This is a Beaver RX550, and as you can see, a 2-seater amphibian. Locally-owned since 2010, though I haven't

spotted it before. It flew by Wednesday. And as noted elsewhere, maybe a bit too light and open for me.

The Sea Imp XI

 

For someone like me, who takes a lot of tugboat photos, it's a pleasure to see a new boat in our local waters.

The Sea Imp XI was launched May 27th, so at less than 3 months old she's barely wet her keel.

She was built in Maple Ridge, at the Sylte Shipyard, for Catherwood Towing. They've apparently put her

on the City Transfer drop-trailer barge run, as I've seen her here the last week or 2, with these the first photos

as she leaves the Mill harbour.  A fine looking boat.

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Diving The Malahat

The Malahat is the wreck of a very well know 5-masted schooner that rests in the water just off the breakwater at the Mill

logpond, and she has become a popular dive site. (There's info and a photo at her Wikipedia entry.)

These two young men were preparing to make the dive when I caught them on Tuesday.

As a dive site the Malahat gets great reviews - while there may not be a lot of her left, apparently
the marine life around her is something to see.

Not only is he carrying all that heavy gear, he's carrying an extra 42 pounds of lead weight to

counteract the buoyancy of all that gear once he's in the water. 

One last check on that Nikon in it's waterproof housing.

And off they go to check out the Malahat.

Cranberry Lake 75 At Lindsay Park

Cranberry Lake, one of the 4 small communities that form Powell River, was incorporated as a village

75 years ago, and celebrations were held Sunday at several venues to commemorate the event. At

Lindsay Park there was entertainment ...

... lots of people milling around, gossiping and catching up ...

... and the Rotary Club grilled lots of dogs and flipped many burgers.

You could get your photo taken by a volunteer using your smart phone ...

... or you might even have had your photo taken by the Powell River Peak photog,

here sporting his Sony α7.

Zunga Juice

We don't have much choice in the way of food carts in our little city - this is one of the very few and

it's parked by the harbour wharfinger's office, where he can serve the South Harbour, the

walkers on the Seawalk and the folks waiting for the ferry.

Besides the smoothies and juice, they offer tacos and quesadillas and the like.

And much as I dislike those ubiquitous phones, I guess if he's mobile, he needs a mobile phone.

Blackberry Season

Our Blackberry Festival is on this week, the berries are out in abundance. And as

any experienced picker knows, if you own an old pair of coveralls, that's

what you wear to get into those hard-to-reach spots where the best berries are.

Curious George

 On the Seawalk yesterday with my gear when this little guy just had to stop and check me out.

I can't believe something this cute has never seen a camera before, so I assumed it was

posing for a photo. I obliged.

Merlin

From the archives: this photo is dated August 2010, and though that's a few years back,

it seems like yesterday. I was out doing what I do with my camera, and made a stop

at Parson's Park on Cranberry Lake, where I spotted this fellow. But no long lens.

The next day, by chance, I was there again, but again, no long lens. The 3rd day,

against the odds, I went back with the long lens, and my bird was still there. And

this is still my best Merlin shot to date.

SAR "Buffalo"

While one might think this is a shot of a Search and Rescue "Buffalo" in all the recent smoke we've been dealing

with, these were actually taken 2 weeks ago, before the smoke hit us, and that's just a normal cloud this

plane is breaking through.

These planes are regulars here, they come over from Comox on there practice runs. They are big and they are noisy.

YOGN 82

Back in June of last year the Catalyst Mill announced that they were going to be sinking 4 of the10 concrete "hulks"

that form the breakwater protecting the mill harbour. YOGN 82 was the southern-most of the 10 - I say "was",

as she was storm-damaged some time ago, and is now tied up at the mill dock.  In any case, this hulk is

supposed to be the first to go. (And as I said she "was" here, you'll know these are archive photos.)

Back in June'16 they originally said she was to be sunk that October, then in April this year an

article in California Diver said October this year, but I'm not holding my breath.

When all 4 ships are eventually sunk, over a few years, they will make a very nice artificial

reef just to the north of Willingdon Beach, and an excellent dive location.

Take Two For Take Five

Steve Carson, sax and clarinet

I featured these performers of the jazz quintet Take Five this past May, when they played

at the Market. They played there again Monday evening for the special holiday opening.

It should be noted the group won a gold medal at MusicFest Canada at Niagara Falls this past

spring. They were definitely worth a repeat listen, and as my camera goes where I go,

they get a repeat post here.

Duncan McDonald, trombone

Hannah Schweitzer, keyboard and vocals

Cullen Buholzer, bass and bass guitar

Eli Carson, drums

At The Net

Making use of the volleyball net at the beach on Sunday.

A Touch Of Colour

Potted Lilies at the Market on Saturday. Gorgeous colour.

Holy Smoke!

 

 This shot, taken yesterday, is the view we've had the last few days from the Beach Trail. The

smoke from the forest fires in the Interior has made it's way to the Coast, and is playing

havoc with the views we normally get, as in the photo below, taken in March '14.

The weatherman says a few more days of smoke before the breezes clear it out.

None too soon.

Great Blue

I have taken a good number of Great Blue Heron photos over the years, and this one,

from the summer of  '13, is still one of my 2 favourites. (The other was posted

last March.) 

And while they really are a magnificent photogenic bird in profile, they do look

more than a bit silly face on.

Putting The Feet Up

The City doesn't supply foot rests with our park benches, unfortunately. This lady's solution is to use the park bench itself.

A great way to spend the first day of August.

Hydrangea

I did say, a few posts back, that I preferred the Lace variety to these full-headed Hydrangeas, but that said,

I have always liked this archive photo. The bloom itself is no great image, adding a birdbath makes it

a whole different photo.

There's some noise in the image, it was taken 8 years ago, in a shady spot, with an ISO640 setting -  the

up-to-date cameras I'm using now would look much, much better, things have really improved

over the 8 years. Unfortunately the bush has been cut back and the birdbath is gone.

Air Cadets

The Air Cadets, or more formally, the Air Cadet League Of Canada, British Columbia Provincial Committee,

have been flying around our airspace recently. They have 6 of these Cessna 182P's, conveniently numbered

1 through 6 on the tail sections. 

They are registered as being based in Comox, though every time I've seen them they've left heading South.

I think it's a safe bet to assume they're being used for pilot training. I've seen them here in groups of 3-4

on the week-ends, for a month or so.

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