Vita Nova, Roa Island

Vita Nova, Roa Island, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Back to Roa Island this afternoon to shoot the trawler Vita Nova again. She was sideways on to the causeway today, presumably having been moved by a high tide, which gave me a chance to see the lettering on her stern that appeared to spell out 'New Brunswick'. This would go a long way toward explaining why I could find no trace of a British trawler called Vita Nova last time I looked. The nearest I got was a Grimsby boat called Via Nova, but she was 185 feet long anyway, much bigger than this one. If Vita Nova came to the UK from Canada she would possibly have never been registered as a working fishing boat in the UK, but I am still at a loss as to why she arrived here. The rusty colours on her hull and superstructure are being gradually covered with red lead paint, which does nothing for her photographic appeal, but may serve to preserve her a little longer.

Venus and Cupid, Morecambe Promenade

Venus and Cupid, Morecambe Promenade, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

This sculpture is positioned on a grass area at Scalestones Point on Morecambe Seafront. Designed in 2005 by Lancaster artist Shane Johnstone, it was originally destined for St. George's Quay in Lancaster, but was felt to be better suited to its present setting as a tribute to 'those who are lost at sea', which would include the 23 cocklers lost in 2004 in Morecambe Bay.
I have to confess that, despite having driven past it hundreds of times, I have always thought it was a depiction of a mother and child on the beach, and was a celebration of the open space and free moving air of the Morecambe Bay area.
Having read the placard next to it and discovered it to be Venus and Cupid, commemorating those lost at sea I shall look at it differently in the future.
The surface of the piece is beautifully smooth, but made of a mosaic of tiles. It is well proportioned, has a scale that is way beyond its size and sits well in the coastal scenery.
Amazing how much you can learn about things simply by stopping to photograph them.

Rocky Cove, looking towards Silverdale

Rocky Cove, looking towards Silverdale, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Drove over to Silverdale to join a gym this afternoon, after finally realising that I have to either make an effort to get fit or give up and just be a fat old bloke from now on. Last chance and all that....
On the way back to Arnside I stopped off at this cove and took some photographs, despite the light being completely flat and dull as ditchwater. The rock platforms left behind as the sea cut through the cliffs are deeply fissured and look as though they are made of clay, but the limestone and red marl are harder than they look and are withstanding the sea much better than their east coast counterparts.
Silverdale used to be a port, where coastal ships unloaded, and the sands here were once part of an ill fated reclamation project.
I'm just hoping that going to a gym will enable me to carry on photographing this unique and fascinating part of Britain for a good deal longer. I know that Morecambe Bay is hardly the Amazon or the Skeleton Coast, but there are still parts of it that I haven't even seen yet, let alone photographed.

Morecambe in Summer

Morecambe Fisherman's Tractor, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

Back to work tomorrow, so I set aside my last day of freedom to go out and take some photographs. High tide was at about 3.00 pm, so Sunderland Point was out of the question. The Lakes seemed a good idea, but the weather was dull, overcast, with rain in the air, and showed no signs of recovering, and if it is raining in Arnside, it will be RAINING in the Lakes. So where better than sunny Morecambe, home of the £1.50 jug of tea and the misspelt stick of rock.
The rain finally stopped as I parked at the Lifeboat station, and I took a set of pictures of the slipway and the sailing club.
Back at home I post processed in Photomatix, then opened this shot in Photoshop and cloned out the trailer that was attached to the tractor.
I had always wanted to have a go at selective colour, so I created a new layer, desaturated it then reversed the selection and painted the colour back in to the tractor. I rather like the result, and it gives more of a sense of how dull and miserable it was this afternoon.