July moon rise from Air Force Beach , Comox

 

By Keith and Heather Nicol

    One of the disadvantages of living in the Comox- Courtenay area is that you don’t get a chance to see the sun dropping off into the horizon in the evening. Sunsets in this area can be nice as the setting sun undercuts any clouds that are in the area but a classic sunset can’t be seen due to the Beaufort Mountains. But we do have moon rises which come up over the Salish Sea and so we have taken to seeing the full moon rise whenever the weather cooperates. Weather hasn’t cooperated much in 2022 since it has been cloudy and cool for much of the year but on July 12 it looked like we might have a clear night. Our favourite place to see the full moon rise is the Air Force Beach Parking area and this gives us a good view of the various Gulf Islands, the Sunshine Coast and the mountains of the BC mainland that lie behind. We often try for the night just before the official full moon since it the moon rises just abit earlier and you can capture  some of the back ground scenery which often won’t occur on the actual night of the full moon. On July 12 the moon rose just over Cape Lazo and unfortunately right in front of some communications towers on the sky line (see photo below).

 

Of course like the sun, the full moon doesn’t always rise in the same place each month so the back drop to your views and pictures will always be different. As well the clouds are often different so this adds another variation to each month’s offering.  To find out the date of the full moon and where it will be in the sky check out this web site: https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/canada/comox. For newcomers to this area , to get to Air Force Beach take Kilmorley Road and be sure to drive past the turn off to Kin Beach.  Turn right on Air Force Beach Road and continue to the end.  See you for the next full moon and bring a tripod and telephoto lens for the best pictures. Another bonus of the Air Force Beach location are the views north which often have nice clouds and colours spreading across the water (see photo below).