Mohr Island

My pal David sent me an amazing set of watercolour paints from Japan last month.  The colours are strong and most are opaque.  I have been doing some experiments with hem on a nice little pad of 6" x 6" high cotton content made by Papier Canal in Montreal.

I find it surprisingly difficult to just choose colours and do splotches of colour as an abstract painting and after a few peices, chose to work from something I could see.  This was the view from the boat moored at Mohr Island on the Ottawa River, complete with the navigation buoy off the sandbar.

Big Blue

"Big Blue" is the pride and joy of the harbour at Britannia Yacht Club, or at least my pride and joy as the Harbour Master.  It's a 5000 kg. hydraulic stationary crane that can lift all but about a dozen boats in our fleet.  Before we bought it, we had to bring in mobile cranes and basically launched about 175 boats with three cranes in one day.  If you missed launch or haul-out, or had to pull the boat out for a repair, it meant you had to bring in a crane and pay the minimum hours charge - very expensive.

Last Swim

We've had a beautiful warm September and I swam regularly in the Ottawa River from the Britannia Club pier, and from my boat while at anchor.  This week, however, the nights grew cold and its undeniable that summer is over.  Clearly, its time to renew my membership at the swimming pool.

It’s a morning with dew

at six on the clock.

It’s a morning for flannel,

two shirts and wool socks.

The warmth will come later

and by lunch be quite nice.

But summer is over,

soon the lake will be ice.

It’s my strange obsession.

Will this be the day?

Or have I already had,
my last swim in the bay?

You can sail on the Ottawa River?

The Ottawa River is one of the world's grest rivers.  And yes, we sail here.  I sail on Lac Deschenes which is about 16 miles long and 3 or 4 miles wide, but extwnds another 16 miles before a major dam.  We get good winds, but seldom have any waves to speak of.

Today I just had to get out on the water,  so me and my faithful dog, "Sailor', took the boat up the river by ourselves. And what a glorious day it was to sail.  These late summer days are so precious, as fall and winter are mere weeks away.

There was a little motor sailor, "Half Moon",  at anchor at a small bay which is a good overnight stop.  I talked to the owners a couple of years ago.  They have been all over the place with this boat as it is easily trailerable..  They have taken it to Georgian Bay, Lake Champlain and the Brador Lakes.  A few of my friends are purists and degrade the craft, but the owners have had way too much fun and too many  adventures to care.

Last night I watched 'Master and Commander', as I do at least once a year.  ...Today was nothing like that.
No hurricanes, no cannons, no amputations, no unnamed speicies.

On the way home we had a nice following breeze.  It was strong enough and a dead run, so I didn't bother with the main'sl.  It was a little hairy drawing while steering with my feet, but who cares about a straight course anyway.

The Supreme Court from Victoria Island

Another double pager.  I found a nice shady spot to get out of the heat for a while on Victoria Island beside the Ottawa River.

The backside of Parliament

I really liked the double page (1:3) format from our recent trip, so when I saw some drawing pads in that format in the art supply store I bought one.  This is Parliament Hill, here in Ottawa, as viewed from the other side of the Ottawa River.  I only captured about a third of the panorama, so I'll have to return with a finer pen.

And with this we close out another month.  I set a goal of sketching three times a week back in April.  Easy on vacation; in an average week, not so much.  I have done fairly well towards that goal and am feeling some improvement.  I am also becoming more selective in what I post.