Sheltering in Place

The Canadian wildfire smoke descended on us again this year. The hot and dry conditions of June caused some massive fires up in Ontario and toward the end of the week the air quality went from okay to unhealthy as the winds blew the smoke this way. Now that I don't have to work I've been trying to get out a couple times during the week and at least once on the weekend. This past Saturday we had a good ride to the Blawenburg Bistro and Tuesday I road back from the shore. I was planning on going out again this week but when I went to airnow.gov I saw the air quality was well into the unhealthy range. Of course I did really need to see the news reports or particle counts in the air to know it was not healthy to go out as it smelled like smoke outside. The look of the air was also weird as it wasn't the normal hazy that is caused by fog or clouds. 

The picture above is a couple hours before sunset. The only way you can a clear picture of the suns disk without it being sunrise or sunset is by using a solar filter which blocks out 99.999% of the suns light. The fact that I could get this picture without a filter shows you how much smoke and dust is in the air blocking the suns light. 

This meant there was no outdoor activity for me for the last few days of the week. Spending any extended time outdoors would not be good for your health as the particles in the air are so small and numerous that they can bypass a lot of the standard body defenses and get into your lungs and bloodstream. 

The predictions of air quality and smoke cover are even worst than normal weather forecasting so my hope for a ride on Saturday was crushed when I saw the air quality when I got up in the morning. I'm hoping to get out on Sunday and hope the wind direction changes for the rest of the week so I can spend more time outside.  

Tall Ships

I'm not a big fan of birthday parties either mine or someone elses. I don't see the big deal about marking surviving another year. This July 4th is the 250th birthday of America. It's a nice milestone but it's just a number. There will be of course a big celebration around the country with the normal parades and fireworks. As part of the celebration in New York there will be a parade of tall ships (i.e. large ships powered by sails) along the Hudson and East river. The ships were expected to anchor in Sandy Hook bay a day or two before the parade so I decided to take a drive to Sandy Hook on Thursday. Friday morning might have been a better day but I didn't want to deal with the expected crowds. 

I did a little research and found a few good places to try and see the ships. We stopped at a marina in the bay by the Earle ammunition depot. There was one tall ship there but is was on the other side of the dock so could only see it mast's.

Next stop was at the Mount Mitchill  Scenic overlook which gave us a good view Sandy Hook and then entire bay. From there we spotted a tall ship entering the bay.

 

It had taken it's sails down and was motoring in to the anchoring spot. It was close to 100 degrees at this point and it was hot and hazy so not the conditions for clear pictures. 

We then moved on and drove out to the end of Sandy Hook to see if we could spot any more. There was a line to get into Sandy Hook as it is summer and a lot of people hang out at the beach there. There is a fee to get in in the summer but I have a free senior pass so we got in for free. 

We drove up to officers row and parked there. Across the bay there were three tall ships at anchor.

 

There was the two masted schooner pictured up top and a couple of three masted schooners next to each other. I had hoped to get a few pictures of them in full sail but had to settle for them at anchor. It wasn't really a good day for pictures as the heat rising off the water caused a lot of distortion in the air. We didn't spend a lot of time outside looking at the ships as it dangerously hot out even down near the water. It was the kind of heat that can cause spontaneous combustion so after a few minutes taking pictures we headed home. 

This 100 degree heat is going to last through the fourth. Anytime it is over 90 by 10am in the morning I'm staying off the bike so for this holiday I will be enjoying the air condition comfort of my home until it cools off a little.