Category: Photography and other Art

Weekend Update

Another great Canada Day weekend in Ottawa. We wandered around in the crowds, saw some busker shows, watched boats go through the locks, paid way to much for lousy “Canada Day Special Menu” meals at restaurants and saw the fireworks. I loved every minute of it. Sunday for a change of pace we took a canal tour boat, something I never felt the need for when I lived there. It wasn’t all that exciting, but the tour guide was pretty funny.

The flight back was good too. Same problem with the push to talk switches as we had on the way out, and I forgot to have Vicki fill out the customs form while we were flying so the customs people had to poke around the plane and ask for all the paperwork (and I forgot where the registration is stored on the Lance, so that took a bit of time to find).

First kayaking of the season

kayaking/DSCN1853I went kayaking for the first time this year. Actually, except for the day of the sale, this is my first time kayaking in my own Skerray RMX. And it’s a great boat. In the narrow twisting sections and while trying to photograph the numerous kayaking/DSCN1856geese and kayaking/DSCN1874swans, I could put the skeg up and make it maneuverable, and when I went out on the lake to visit kayaking/DSCN1879Mike’s plane, I could put the skeg down part way and get a lot more stability.

kayaking/DSCN1861I probably went a little too far. My elbows are complaining a bit. I’m going to take some more ibuprohen and ice them down a bit. But man, it felt good. I went up to the weir, which was running pretty strong and I got splashed quite a bit when I side-ferryed into the tounge of the water coming through from the eddy beside, and suddenly I had to paddle like crazy just to stand still.

kayaking/DSCN1871There was almost nobody on the creek today. I saw two people setting off just as I was arriving, and they returned just ahead of me too. There were two people milling around looking for somebody who worked there, and I saw them later on the water so they did manage to find somebody to rent them kayaks. But otherwise it was just me, a few turtles, geese, swans, redwinged blackbirds, and one great blue heron. It was glorious.

Dammit dammit dammit

Ok, I won’t know for sure until the afternoon forecasts come out (usually around 1pm), but it looks like I might have badly misjudged the weather. Not only are the ceilings lower than I thought they’d be, they’re also colder, meaning I might not have the above freezing escape route I thought I did. I’m not sure about that, though. It also appears that the low pressure system is moving much slower than I thought, and I might not have that plan B backstop of VFR weather until Monday evening or Tuesday. Oh well, if I have to wait, I have to wait. Right now it’s just a game of wait for the afternoon forecast and see if things look better. Right now they’re predicting a ceiling just above minimums for Rochester (OVC004 – overcast at 400 feet), and relatively better at Syracuse (OVC020 – overcast at 2,000 feet). Also, Syracuse is predicting rain but Rochester is predicting mixed rain and snow. Also I’ll have to see if I can get a tops report – it would be better if I could fly above or between clouds.

On the plus side, Alyssa and I went out to take some pictures yesterday. The results can be found at my Gallery site. I think we got a few good ones.