THE OGDEN POINT BREAKWATER

The breakwater at Ogden Point, which marks the entrance to the Victoria Harbour, was built around 1900 and named after one of the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company. Almost half a mile long, it is located at 199 Dallas Road, right next to the cruise ship dock. (The walk that starts here meanders all along the edge of the Juan de Fuca Strait and ends at the eastern end of the Ross Bay Cemetery, a few miles away). Work on this project included over one million tons of rock, ten thousand granite blocks, fifty three concrete caissons and over one million cubic yards of dredged fill, and it took 3 years to complete.

Local resident Ron McLean has created a great pictorial of Ogden Point scenes, some historical, here and here.

Yesterday our brand new BC ferry docked at the breakwater to host public tours before it goes into service in March. It was a great day for a walk along the breakwater - a sailing regatta was underway, several freighters were going by keeping the pilot boat busy, and of course, the new ferry ....







I had no desire to go aboard (especially after I saw the line-ups!) because I wanted to take my Secret of the Stole out to play, since I FINALLY got Clue #3 done...


I'm really hoping to cast one Sivia's Moonshadow Stole (AGAIN) today, but I also need to work on launching the new Victoria FibreFest website this weekend!

I RISKED LIFE AND LIMB ...

... but it worked out... sort of. :-)

So there I was, parked at Clover Point minding my own business and knitting (working on the heather-toned purple shawl I've decided I need to FINISH before I start the two KALs) when I spotted something interesting floating out in the water between the point and Trial Island.

I was pretty sure that the floating object was someone's lost dinghy, so I decided that I'd do my good deed for the week and 'catch' it when it came to shore.

Well. Here's the shoreline of Ross Bay, where it was headed ... ... and it was already dusk, and cold and windy.

I watched it for a bit to determine its 'trajectory' toward the shoreline, and then drove the van along Dallas Road closer to where I was guessing it would come in. I parked, and walked out on the beach, trying to keep my eye on it in the looming darkness, while 'plucking' my way over patches of loose gravel, kelp, logs and various other flotsam and jetsam.

It took forever to get close to the shore, and because of the south-west wind blowing, I kept having to walk further along the beach and kept getting further away from the road as the dinghy angled off.

Luckily I had a wool scarf on, so I wrapped it around my ears to keep the wind from hurting them. I was probably standing there ... or walking along the beach ... for about 45 minutes - that's a long time when you're not dressed properly on an exposed beach.

At some point, I heard a noise behind me and turned around, only to realize that the wind had shifted something on the beach behind me. But it was then that I became aware that I was totally alone - on an exposed beach, in the pitch dark, and about a city block from the nearest point of access to Dallas Road. What WAS I thinking when I began THIS adventure? What if I slipped on some kelp or a log and fell? What if there was an attacker lurking somewhere? Oh, and then there's the Ross Bay cemetery ... and no shortage of ghost stories associated with it.

I turned back to the sea and again managed to visually locate the dinghy floating ever so slowly toward me. I decided that since I'd already been there all that time, and since it was clearly too dark to make my way back in the light anyway... I might as well wait.

And wait I did, for another full 15 minutes as the tide carried that dinghy closer and closer to the shore. Freezing, spooked and chiding myself for my stupidity, I waited ... until, finally, one last big wave crashed ashore, carrying my prize to me ...