On July 20 I made another six-hour highway drive from my home in Pritchard, B.C., to the town of Anacortes at the tip of Fidalgo Island nestled in the Pacific Northwest’s San Juan Islands for their annual Shipwreck Festival. It’s certainly one of my favourite places and events of the year.
Again, as last year, long time friends Dave and Cynthia Monsees came along, and I was also very pleased that my photography partner Jo McAvany had decided to come along this year.
We arrived early enough so I could give Jo a quick tour of some of the places we would be photographing on Sunday, then drove down the main street of town to meet up with the hard working Fidalgo Island Rotary Club volunteers.
The Fidalgo Island Rotary Club organizes the Shipwreck Festival and again this year I volunteered to get a few pictures of them as they marked street locations for the next day’s vendors and also to take this year’s group photograph.
I’ll repeat what I wrote last year and say that over the many years I have been attending that popular festival in Washington State I have never heard or met with a sour word from anyone in the town. The people one encounters are always warm and generous and after a short time I always get the feeling they are old friends. Although I’m an out of town stranger, and a Canadian to boot, I immediately felt that way as I joined that group decked in their Rotary Volunteer vests.
I can’t remember what year I first started attending the annual Anacortes Shipwreck Festival, but it was some time in the mid-1990s I think, and although I have missed a few over the years, I am determined to make at least the next dozen plus. (Or at least till the Provincial Driver Licence Authority decide I am too old to be in charge of a vehicle).
After I photographed the festival committee, Jo and I set off for a picnic and pictures at the beach. After a quick stop at a close by grocery store, and a short drive to Washington Park, we spent the evening photographing everything, and of course each other, as we waited for the sun to sink into the ocean.
The next day was not only an exciting wander through the nine-block flea market on the main street of town, it was an excellent opportunity for us to try some “street photography” on the people packed avenue.
Whew, what a day. We saw, we touched, we photographed, and we talked to people from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Then we stepped into a popular Commercial Avenue Alehouse called the Brown Lantern for a late lunch and I gladly got to rest my tired legs. I am sure Jo will recommend the crab and corn chowder she ate and I agree that both my food and the two beers I drank were the refueling I needed. Then we were off for another quick look around and a few more pictures of the crowed street of happy bargain hunters.
Leaving the street festival we drove up to the high overlook at Cap Santé Park that offers a command view of the marina and city. We climbed over the large, smooth, flat rocks and photographed the city, ocean islands, and the many bright red Arbutus trees.
The next morning and for the rest of the day we drove around the island photographing many of the places I have visited in past years. The island location may be the same, but the image one creates in a different time is always a new creation.
I enjoy photographing just about anything. The Anacortes Shipwreck festival is always a good excuse to get me to the cool damp Pacific coast and away from what usually is a hot and dry July where I live in B.C.
We had fun, got creative and made lots of photographs. Now we are left with the memories and the photographs until next year. However, I am planning another trip in the fall, so the memories only have to last about three months because I’ll be back on the island and in Anacortes to make a few more.
These are my thoughts for this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net. Stop by Enman’s Camera at 423 Tranquille Road in Kamloops. I sell an interesting selection of used photographic equipment. Don’t hesitate to call me at 250-371-3069.
