Foggust in Port Mc Neill

One last thought on the Port McNeill shapes

What a difference a change in sky (and light) makes! Same scene. Same shapes. But different.

Waiting for weather

At least twice a day, we listen to the weather broadcast to see if the conditions ahead of us are improving and making for a safe passage. So far, strong winds (to 20 kts) and moderate seas (swells/waves of 9 feet or more) have kept us tucked up in the bay near Port McNeill.

This kind of waiting around for weather to improve is not new to us. We've done it before with the boat. But, we've also done it many times with flying small airplanes. You don't rush ahead when a thunderstorm is ahead. Boat or plane. Safety first. Always.

I decided to paint the same scene in a variety of ways today. The low tide has revealed the beach at the end and sides of this point. Later in the day, high tide will bring the water line up to the bases of the trees. I'll paint again then.

Done on Wallis Museum Paper with watercolor under paintings.

I used the little Koi field kit for watercolor, and a 1" flat brush.
I love the effect of an under painting.

Sketching at Port McNeill, BC, waiting for weather

At the top of the dock at Port McNeill, BC, sits this Steam Donkey (c. 1910). Signs posted all over it warn me not to climb on it, but I am more interested in sketching it than climbing it, as you can see. Logging is a big deal in Canada, particularly in the wet province of British Columbia. It is not uncommon for us to share the water with a tugboat hauling a log boom (a big raft of trimmed tree trunks). If you were to drive around here, you would see logging trucks with trees 4-5' in diameter as their loads.

With all of that tree-loss, is it any wonder that I take a special pleasure looking at the stands of trees near our anchorage? Their tops form a constant edge between sky and land, everywhere I look.

We are approaching the longest day of the year and up here, north of the 50th parallel, the twilight stretches longer and longer. Just last night, I took this photograph at 10:15 pm! Do you have special plans to celebrate the Summer Solstice? It is just days away, June 21, 2010.