The wind was up last night, setting the rain hammering away on the roof and the plastic lens of the skylight; all unfamiliar noises to us over the last seven years as basement suite dwellers. As such, our cat, Newts, was also a basement dweller, with access to only a small window. Here, our living room has very large windows on both sides of the house, as well as almost full length glass double doors. Last evening, I spotted Newts frozen at the door, and on the porch, not more than a few inches away was either an extremely well fed mouse, or a rat-in-training. Oblivious to the imminent threat of death, this Rodent Of Unusual Size cheekily sauntered across the porch, then with an insouciant flip of his tail, disappeared over the side and into the underbrush. ROUSes in Ucluelet... inconceivable!
While the night gave way inexorably to the dawn, the wind carried on unabated, and going out to the porch, I could hear the crashing of the surf, even above the wind in the trees. Hot damn!
We finished brekky, and then jumped into Tigger (our trusty Toyota Yaris), and made haste to the southern end of the peninsula to do the WPT loop along the coast, past the lighthouse. After days of decidedly mediocre surf, today is a revelation!
In a way, I'm a little disappointed in my choice of camera for this morning: my iPhone (consciously chosen to challenge me with its limitations). Still, as the saying goes, '
the best camera is the one you have with you', and the iPhone can indeed produce some very cool images.
The waves are just awesome and the resulting spray very dramatic against the roiling background. Today, we remark that the swells are coming in at a different angle than we've noticed before. It's easy to see why this part of the coast is so deadly to shipping.
I tried to take some video on the iPhone but the wind gusts were so strong, it was utterly impossible! It was hard enough to get a sharp still image. I'm going to have to rethink using video for my wave project if I can't stabilize the tripod enough to preclude wind-induced camera movement.
In the bright, contrasty light, the Amphitrite lighthouse looks a little like the wheelhouse of a ship.
Just as I walked back along the coast to the car, the light started to change and brighten the horizon.
When we got back to the house, I grabbed my other cameras and tripod and walked down to Big Beach to have a gander. As I approached the lane way down to the beach, a pleasant young woman joined me, exclaiming on the weather and the conditions. We chatted amiably as we walked. She was joining her two kids on the beach, and set off in one direction, while I went the opposite way, looking for a good sight line across the cove to the rocks in front of Black Rock Lodge.
I wandered until I found a spot tucked behind a rock formation that offered some break from the worst of the wind gusts. From here, I was able to set up my tripod low and then brace it with my body as well to keep the worst of the vibration at bay. I have had a look at the clips now in Final Cut Pro, and there are some usable sequences. (Which is more to say than the iPhone videos which were all totally unusable.)
Well, we've finally had a taste of what's to come as far as the storm season... which, of course, is one of the main reasons we decided to retire here! Much fun to come!
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