West Bay Walkway 2

Here's the view from Rainbow Park looking west towards the West Bay Marina at the westernmost end of the Inner Harbour.

Effects

While browsing through the archives I found these two examples of a processing style I like very much. Usually I like crisp, sharp, photorealistic images but sometimes I want more of a mood than a precise representation and this technique often does just what I want.

Powder-puff Clouds

Yesterday just as I was leaving the West Bay Walkway I turned back and saw this view towards the West Bay Marina. Actually it was the clouds that caught my attention. Those soft, fluffy, cotton-batting clouds always make me think of warm winds and summer days even though the temperature was hovering around freezing.

Mobile Homes

Here's another shot taken from the top of the Matson Lands, overlooking the West Bay Marina. On the right we can see some of the float homes that are moored there. Just to the left of them is an RV Park where another type of mobile home is moored, these ones with wheels. It looks like a great place to park for the winter.

Marina Sunset

Here's a couple of shots of the West Bay Marina taken at sunset a few days ago. The sunset light makes it look so warm (it wasn't!).

Float Homes - West Bay Marina

Our damp and dark weather continues as illustrated by this view of the float homes at the West Bay Marina. However, with the winter solstice passing today the days will begin now to get longer and brighter.

Pale Landscape

Fern likes winter's muted colors which is a good thing because even the most vibrant landscape such as Work Point pictured above is looking pretty washed out at this time of year when compared to summer's saturated colors.

Marina - Looks Like Summer

Our weather this week has been positively balmy, up to 10 or 11 degrees Celsius (about 50°F). This photo of the West Bay Marina taken earlier in the week looks positively HOT.

West Bay Marina Float-Homes

There are two locations in Greater Victoria where houseboats are moored. One is Fisherman's Wharf - a main tourist destination in James Bay. Houseboats there tend to be a bit funky and relaxed and tourists and locals are free to wander the "streets" and gawk at the romantic dwellings. The second location is West Bay Marina, pictured above. The tone here is decidedly different, much more up-market. This is NOT a tourist destination - in fact the owners protect their privacy with locked entrances to the wharves. However, it is still possible to walk around the edges and enjoy the wonderful shapes and colors of these float-homes.

Dramatic skies

I mentioned that we've been having dramatic clouds and lighting lately. Here's one taken on the West Bay Walkway. All of this week's photos are taken with one or another of the Takumar lenses I wrote about yesterday. Click the photo to see the detail - these lenses are awesomely sharp.

View from Swallows' Landing

The steep green hillside in the foreground is the Matson Lands, a conservation/restoration area of the Garry Oak ecosystem. On the right beyond the trees is West Bay and its Marina and RV Campground. The stairway in the foreground is to protect the Matson Lands from trampling and other damage. At the bottom it connects with the West Bay Walkway.

West Bay Marina

Swallow's Landing not only provides a good view of Victoria but overlooks West Bay Marina as well. Here we can see some of the houseboats and sailboats that use that facility. The houseboats (or float homes) are generally more luxurious than those at Fisherman's Wharf, as well as being more inaccessible. It is not possible to stroll around the pier and look more closely at them. I can't say I blame the owners for gating their piers since tying up at Fisherman's Wharf during tourist season must be a little like living in a zoo.

The Swallowed Anchor 2

A couple of years ago I posted a photo of this quaint house opposite the West Bay Marina. I took another photo of it yesterday when I was going for breakfast at the Queen Mary Restaurant at the Marina. The house is looking rather more decrepit now and anyone who wants to see it should make a visit to the West Bay Marina soon. It is slated for demolition. HERE is a good article about the history and future of this unusual old house. The name of the house, The Swallowed Anchor, is nautical lingo. To "swallow the anchor" means to retire from a life of sailing.

West Bay Marina Sunrise

I still have a few bird photos from my excursion to Esquimalt Lagoon on the weekend but I thought I would break the sequence today with another sunrise photo, this one of West Bay Marina with its houseboats and sailboats. This marina marks the western end of the West Bay/Westsong Walkway, the eastern end of which is the Johnson Street Bridge in downtown Victoria. It's a beautiful walk at any time of day.

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Some of you may be wondering what the white stuff is on the rocks in the foreground. It's not snow or frost - it's broken shells. Seagulls drop clams and other shellfish onto the rocks here to crack them open for their dining pleasure.

West Bay Marina

A few steps further down the walk pictured yesterday brings the above view into sight. It's the West Bay Marina, the western end of the walkway that begins at the Johnson Street Bridge in downtown Victoria. It's a nice mix of pleasure boats and colorful houseboats. The latter are now called floathomes, and I think it's a good idea to introduce a new term. Modern houseboats are a far cry from early models that were little more than boxes on barges. Some of Victoria's most interesting home designs are floating, both here and at Fisherman's Wharf.

Westbay Marina Houseboats II

I love the whimsical designs of some of these houseboats, curved roofs and round windows, interesting colors, and odd little decks and turrets. They make ordinary houses on land look, well, ordinary.

Westsong Walkway to Westbay Marina

Westsong Walkway follows the shoreline of the Inner Harbor from the Johnson Street Bridge (downtown) through Victoria West and Esquimalt, ending about 2.5 miles (4 km.) later at Westbay Marina. In the photo above, you can see the walkway as a boardwalk in the left center. I am becoming more enchanted with houseboats as I become more familiar with them. Westbay Marina has a terrific collection that I will be sharing with you over the next few days. Most of the houseboats are moored off-camera to the right.

Westbay Marina Houseboats

I love the colors and shapes of these houseboats moored at the Westbay Marina in Esquimalt. Many of these houseboats are manufactured locally, on land. Someday I will post some photos of them under construction because I keep visiting the place where they are made in the hope of seeing one being transported into the water (since I cannot imagine how they manage to get them there.)

Arbutus

More snow last night and a busy day trying to fit some Christmas shopping in with work so here's another shot taken a few days ago from the Westsong Walkway, looking towards Westbay Marina in Esquimalt.

West Bay Marina

Lovely bright day today and the wind has finally died down so I was able to walk around and take some photos of the neighborhood. I crept and slid down to the Westsong Walkway and took this photo of the West Bay Marina in Esquimalt.