Ruth Lantz (left)
and Chris Bath (right) help artist Tom Jay (center) prepare and install a
concrete "tideline" at Cove Park. Photo courtesy of Ware Lantz |
Changing the much used lot just north of
the Ferry dock from a littered vacant lot to a beautiful neighborhood park
took a lot of work, hours of meetings, hands-on gardening time and a great
deal of determination. All of this was accomplished by a neighborhood group
working with city and state agencies, and the result is a delightful park
which is still a work-in-progress.
Stop by to enjoy the native plants, see
the artwork by Tom Jay, and dig your toes in the sand on the beach. |
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Picture a West Coast Native American family on their way to the oyster
grounds. The Nootka sealing canoe or a vessel very much like it would have
carried them there in style.
This highly evolved craft cuts through water like a knife, with fluted
sides that are self bailing. The rear tends to rise to a following sea.
Craft like these, attributed to the Nootka tribe, were traded and copied
throughout the Pacific Northwest peoples.
Construction began with a hollowed out cedar log. The craftsmen would
fill it full of water and drop hot stones in it to steam it into the beautiful
shape.
Our canoe began with plans from the University of British Columbia.
A naval architect lofted the lines of this historic canoe generating specific
cross sections. Tom Jay, artist and builder, then created a layered fiberglass mold.
Community volunteers helped him fill it with ferro-cement for our Cove
Park sculpture.
Please show utmost respect for this work of historical art.
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Nootka Sealing Canoe
Photo courtesy of Mike Ashby
Etching
of brig R.H. Fauntleroy, 1857
Brig
picture courtesy of retired Coast Guard Captain
Photo courtesy
of Mike Ashby
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