Life On The Edge

The edge of a Seaspan chip barge that is. Harbours provide a safe haven for more than just boats, and Sea Lions have been

making the Catalyst mill harbour a haven for many years. The mill crews have never been impressed - these beasts

are loud, smelly and very dirty.

Man At Work

The man here is working on the end of the ramp of a barge/tug combo making its way into the Catalyst mill harbour

for a pick-up and delivery. He's one of the deckhands on the Stormaway V, a tug working out of Campbell River.

The photos are a backwards sequence.

It's a much better job in the summer. These raw cold, wet and windy days we've been having are not great days
to be working on the water. The snaps were taken Sunday.

Steller's Jay

Steller's Jays are a close relative to the well-known Blue Jays of parts east, but we don't have the Blues

and they don't have the Steller's. To my mind, one of the best looking birds of the coast. The reference

material says they can be enticed with peanuts, but for whatever reason, they always disdain mine.
And I have tried, and tried.

Ceramics VI

Bill Boyd Bottle Vase

For the 6th entry in this on-going series featuring the work of west coast potters I'm showing four

pieces by Bill Boyd of Galiano Island. Boyd has been a potter since 1970, but since he discovered

zinc-silicate crystal glazing in 2002, he has done nothing else.

Bill Boyd Bottle Vase

These pieces are small, the bottle vases are the tallest at 8 inches, but some of his large free-standing

pieces and wall hangings run to almost 2 feet, and are priced accordingly.

Bill Boyd Vessel

These are crystal-glazed porcelain, fired at very high temperatures. Each piece is different, and can not be duplicated,

making them unique works of art. To say I like them would be understatement.

Bill Boyd Lidded Vessel

Looking Forward

With all the rain and cloudy skies - and more to come if we can believe the weather prognosticators - it may

seem like we'll never see Vancouver Island again. Yet once this rainy season passes into the cold days of

January through March our old familiar view will be back. For non-residents, that's Rebecca Rock on the

horizon, and for skiers, that's Mount Washington, the high peak to the left.

The photo dates from early 2012.

The Cape Caution

I've posted her photo here before, several times. I really like the look of that red and white on the water, so I'm sure I'll

be taking many more. This shot, with the typical autumn fog obliterating the view of Vancouver Island, dates from

2015, and is one of the favourites among my Cape Caution photos.
It's definitely a better photo than the one below, taken a scant few weeks earlier.

Rain Forest

From the archives : a walk along Suicide Creek Trail. The weather this last week leaves no doubt that we

are in the Pacific temperate rainforest ecoregion. Rain, rain and more rain.

Rounding The Bend

On the boardwalk at Inland Lake - another photo from mid-afternoon on Monday.

Sun And Cloud

Mid-afternoon at Inland Lake on Monday, after the morning rain cleared and gave us some sun.

I normally do both a landscape and a portrait mode shot when I do scenery,
so for this scene I'll show both.

Bald Eagle

With the horrendous weather lately I'm having to dig into the archives, so here's one of

my favourite Bald Eagle photos. A classic pose on the rocks of the South Harbour breakwater.

Ceramics V

The fifth in this ongoing series featuring west coast potters is a stoneware tea set by Meg Buckley. She was a

potter for almost 50 years, since 1980, till a recent retirement, on Salt Spring Island. Her studio on the Fulford

- Ganges Road was well know for her functional ware in this speckled oatmeal glaze. As she's now retired,

the next time I drop - and break - the lid to that sugar bowl, I will no longer be able to drop into her

Salt Spring gallery to replace it.

Looking Back

Long-time Powell River residents will remember back to February 1975, when 4 rail cars of poisonous liquid chlorine
disappeared from a barge on its way to the local paper mill. The Chieftain III was the tug towing the barge to Powell
River on the evening of Feb 18, in a storm. When dawn broke the following morning the crew noted that the 4 rail
cars were missing. So somewhere in Malaspina Strait, between Glower Point near Gibsons and Powell River,
there still sit 4 rail cars of potentially catastrophic chlorine. Many, many thousands of dollars have been

spent looking for them. In 2004 government scientists said they "might" have located the rail cars, but
they're not sure. After 40+ years of rusting on the bottom there is still no consensus on how
dangerous they really are - estimates run from "very" to "not at all".

These days the Chieftain III is mostly used to haul log booms to the south, in this case, yesterday, to the
bluffs at Gabriola Island, opposite the Harmac pulp mill south of Naniamo.

It's Not Just The Canadas ...

... that are fouling our parks and playing fields. Their cousins the Snow Geese are lending a hand.

These "helping hands" were busy at the JP Dallos soccer field. It's a mess. 

That Wide Brim

Always wondered what it was for.

A Sad Commentary

 It says something about the state of our world that even in our semi-isolated little city, population

12,384, where you can't leave town without waiting for a ferry, the local RCMP felt
the need to have a fully-armed officer, C8 tactical carbine and all, on station at
the Remembrance Day ceremony on Saturday.

On A Sunday Morning

This archive photo of 3 lads out on the water on a Sunday morning has been one of my favourites for a good while.

That may be because it reminds me of the days of my long-gone youth, when we did this on the St.Lawrence

River, among the Thousand Islands. Taken in early autumn, so just slightly out of season, and so

long ago that these teens are now grown men.

Ready For Winter

Lost its spots and grown a heavier coat, ready for its very first winter.

And not to worry, mama was nearby, just out of the frame.

Lest We Forget

Veteran's Memorial Park - November 11, 2011

Those Dull Drab Days

Those drab, dull days, when it's difficult to find a photography subject.
Normal temperatures for the first half of November are somewhere around 10°C so the 3 to 5's we've been

having the last while have been decidedly cool. Add in a breeze, and dark threatening skies and it feels

more like mid-winter than mid-autumn. And definitely not a nice time to be on the water. Which is

probably why the Seaspan Queen was the only boat on the chuck Tuesday, other than our ferries.

Ceramics IV

Continuing the series featuring ceramics by BC potters, for those days I need a blog post. This tea set is

by Anne Byrne, of B's Pottery Studio on Salt Spring Island. This is a celadon glaze, which she uses in a lot

of her work. For many years B's Pottery has been a fixture at the Salt Spring Saturday market at

Ganges, which is where this set was purchased.

Henderson House

The very first home built in Powell River, it was built by the Powell River Co. for Dr. Henderson,

and deeded to him as incentive to become the new town's first doctor. Construction on the

house started in 1910, right next door to, and the same time as, the first hospital. For some

time it was the only privately-owned home in the company town. It was restored as a 

community heritage project for the city's centennial celebration.

An archive photo, from Fall 2011.

Search and Rescue

Sitting at the lip of the Cormorant's bay.

One of the SAR CH-149 Cormorants from Comox was practicing maneuvers with our local CCGS Cape Caution

one day last week. I watched them winch down 3 SAR personnel, from the Cormorant to the deck of the

Caution, not an easy thing to do in the wash from that propeller.

Hanging by a thread.

Note that he - or she - is wearing a full wetsuit,. Even aside from maybe going in the chuck, that's a lot of

wet thrown up by the Cormorant.

Still hanging, but ...

And I will readily admit that whoever it is on the end of that cable, they have more nerve than I do.

,,, getting closer.

The Caution has a 14' beam, which is not an overly large target.

And the eagle has landed!

Gold, Rust and Green

At Cranberry Lake, looking toward Lindsay Park. I posted a similar view last year; this

year the colours are a few weeks earlier. We don't get the bright colours they do
in parts east, but the coast has many other blessings to compensate.

Beyond My Means

Waterfront property that is. The backside of the houses on Willingdon Ave.

Practicing

I think it safe to say that one does not expect to hear the sound of a lone French Horn

while passing through the park at Willingdon Beach, yet there it was.

On investigating, I must say I concur with our musician - when you have time off work

and need to practice on a gorgeous autumn day, what better place than the

Amphitheatre at Willingdon. Though he did say it was a little cold on the fingers.

Duck Lake Vistas

The view at Duck Lake last Sunday morning. Top, with an 85mm lens, below, with a 35mm. This is my church on a Sunday.

At The Weir

To escape the fog in Westview on Sunday morning I headed inland, and made my

first stop at the Haslam Lake weir, where the lake drains into Lang Creek.

This has been, and remains, one of my favourite scenes, I've taken photos here
several times and will probably do so again. 

More Fog

The weatherman said "foggy patches" for Saturday morning, but the reality was a thick

blanket across the coast that spread a good bit inland.

This is the Upper Willingdon pathway.