Oswego Harborfest, Day 3 & Fireworks

Oswego Harborfest Fireworks

Unfortunately, while Friday was beautiful, Saturday was not. It started out OK, but as the day went on the clouds moved in, and by late afternoon, the rain. It rained off & on throughout the evening, with a fairly steady light rain during the fireworks. The view from my tarp, at least before the rain was beautiful:

Oswego harbor

If anyone wants a large version of the harbor image (and has a fast connection - it is a 16MB file), Click here. In the large image you can see the groups of fireworks mortars stationed along the breakwall. A few hours before the performance they tow a couple of barges from the East side of the harbor with many more preloaded mortars.

During the early afternoon before the rain, I wandered over to East Park & took some photos and listened to some of the jazz. On the way back the "Flying Platform" was going again with members of the jet ski team all taking turns flying. I got a couple of close up photos. It looks like they divert most of the output of the jet ski through a fire hose attached to the nozzles on the platform. The rider has some directional control by tilting the nozzles with his or her feet, but the height is controlled by the throttle of the attached jet ski driver. A rider has to stay on good terms with the jet ski driver or become a submarine! I also took a few photos of the group playing at the Veteran's Stage.

Jet Ski "Flying"

I sat out the first batch of rain reading in my car, then headed back to Breitbeck Park around 6:00 for a dinner of a Garafolo's sausage sandwich. Went back to my tarp on the hill, poured the water off the tarp & dug my chair out from under it. I was lucky enough to be able to eat my dinner before the second (and permanent) batch of rain arrived. After that is was trying to squeeze me & my tripod under a too small umbrella. We all sat huddled under umbrellas or what ever anyone could find. Once the fireworks started I had to dump the umbrella, and the results produced flare on many images from raindrops on my camera lens. Since the ground (and tarps) were wet, a number of people stood, which means I got great photos of the backs of their heads! Many more Fireworks and Harborfest photos at my Website.

Still, a huge crowd, as usual. After the fireworks it was a wet hike back to the Maritime Museum parking lot & my car, then a 45 minute 1/2 mile drive through the city to head home.