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Thursday July 28, 2005
As we ended the last entry in this journal of our summer of 2005 cruise we
were arriving in Kingston, ONT. It is at the eastern end of Lake Ontario,
and the western end of the St. Lawrence Seaway, as well as the entry to the
Rideau Waterway, and nearby is the entry to the Trent Severn Waterway
taking cruisers to the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. Thus, there is a lot of
boating activity. It is often referred to as the Annapolis of the Great
Lakes. We have been here several times and have already seen most of the
sights, but Kingston is always a lot of fun and an easy town to visit by
bike or afoot.
(Click on any thumbnail image to enlarge)
Sadie B at anchor
This morning was the first really cool morning in three or so weeks. We had
a nice long walk along a dike above Kingston Mills, and then a major boat
cleanup. We've been on board for just 30 days to date, and have not done
much in the way of cleaning the outside of the boat. Particularly while in
a series of frequent locks the exterior of the boat gets to be quite a
mess, and it's hardly worth the effort to clean up if another lock is just
ahead. But, now we are about to enter one of yachting's big centers, and we
want to appear shipshape.
We have often stayed in Confederation Basin, the municipal yachting center,
usually on a wall away from the offices and sort of just avoided being on
board when the harbor master or his crew stopped by to have us register
(and pay). Recently we have heard that the locals are being more aggressive
in collecting docking fees along this wall, so we opt for using the
extensive, although short, day use docks. There are perhaps 50 double wide
slips, each with a finger pier only perhaps 12 feet long.
Confederation Basin Docks
Craig Campbell meets us here, and shares some computer expertise we have needed since our laptop died several weeks ago and had to have the hard drive replaced. Craig is a friend from an Albin Cruisers Internet group.
We also have a chance to meet another Albin owner on a new Albin 28, John Murray, from Ottawa who is doing a small loop cruise, Ottawa, Kingston, Montreal, and back to Ottawa.
Plane at Day Use Docks!
Following our socializing we visit a local grocery store for a few items, and end up buying a two liter container of ice cream, and trying to eat the whole thing as a substitute for dinner. Navy Bay, just east of Kingston is the site of the Canadian Military Academy, and a good anchorage very close
to downtown. We've stayed there in the past and like the privacy of anchoring over staying in a busy marina with boats every five or so feet apart. Each morning we up anchor and cruise about 1.5 miles back to the day use docks to tie up in town, and return to the anchorage in mid to late afternoon, charging the batteries a bit, and having the best of both
worlds.
Canadian Military Academy
We can dinghy ashore easily early mornings just a hundred or so yards, play some tennis on the Academy's courts, then cruise over to Kingston for biking or sightseeing. We enjoyed a nice trolley tour of Kingston and surroundings. It was a good orientation to things we can come back and see on our own, like several of the many museums in town.
Two of the more interesting museums in Kingston are located several "Martello Towers", fortifications built around 1846 for defense during the "Oregon Crisis" in border disputes with the fledgling USA, where the term "54.40 or fight" originated during the administration of James Polk. These towers were based on similar designs seen in the Meditterean Sea. Round, and located waterside these fortifications are as much as 15 feet thick,
and designed to shed bombardments of cannon balls from both land and sea. Rainwater can be collected from the roof into a cistern for drinking water in long sieges. They were never used in wartime, but five still persist in the Kingston area to remind both visitors and locals of their historic
tradition.
Navy Bay's Martello Tower
In the evening at anchor, we are surrounded by a group of French Canadian sailors, who raft up with little regard to swing room. Of course, in the dead of night, they begin to worry about being too close, and suggest that we ought to move and re-anchor. Esther lets them have a word or two about who was there first and who should be picking up and relocating.
Another day we rode the free ferry over to Wolfe Island in the middle of
the St. Lawrence River. Wolfe is around 15 miles long and lots of folks go over on weekends to ride bikes on the fairly flat roads. Some farming still takes place here, but mostly it is a tourist and summer homes place now.
August 1, 2005
After five days in Kingston we needed to travel some distance to recharge
the house bank batteries, as well as needed a change of scenery. The Bateau
Channel leads toward Gananoque and the Admiralty Islands behind Wolfe and
Howe Islands north and east of the main St. Lawrence River channel. Along
the way, Craig Campbell came along with Larina, a sister ship of Sadie B.
We visit for a while comparing details of each other's boats. Craig has
updated our laptop with a recent addition of Fugawi, a pc based navigation
program. In these complicated waters it is very comforting to see the
little boat icon passing over the water on the laptop screen, and leaving a
nice track showing where we have been as well as our position relative to
aids to navigation.
We anchored off Bostwick Island in the Admiralty Islands, an anchorage we
remember from our previous cruises here. Lots of boats, but very protected,
with few fast moving boats. One of the attractive features of the 1,000
Islands is the seventeen Parks Canada Island Parks, with small docks and
mooring balls. Fees for overnighting on the islands are covered by our
Parks Canada Mooring pass which we have already purchased for use in the
lock systems. Unfortunately, at this time of year they are generally very
crowded with vacationers and kids. We prefer to find our own anchorages,
generally by ourselves.
Rainbow Over Anchorage
One evening, off Sugar Island, we snagged a cable when lifting the anchor.
We left it in place for the evening, and in the morning went around to the
opposite side from which we had anchored and were luckily able to pull the
anchor off what we suspect was an underwater electric cable which was not
on the chart.
On Thursday, August 3 we ventured to Gananoque Marina, for an overnight
dock and social visit with Craig Campbell and his wife Barb. Craig outdid
himself in producing a lovely steak and salad meal, and then treated us to
a wonderful production of Anne of Green Gables, a famous Canadian stage
production done by the Gananoque Players. Barb is the owner of a "You Brew"
store, a peculiarity of Canadian liquor laws, which allows their citizens
to make their own wines and beers tax free. Most towns have such shops in
Ontario where liquor taxes are onerous. We got to sample several of her
favorite vintages, all of which were very good.
Gananoque Marina reports they offer WiFi service, but we can't seem to get
a strong enough signal for our's to work. We have a nice walk in the AM and
then head out, generally toward Clayton, where we are expected for the
weekend. Craig has suggested Brakey Bay is a nice anchorage at the
northeast end of Wolfe Island, so we end the day there, in a broad bay well
protected from the prevailing winds from south and west. Early that
evening we are joined by several other sailboats, and the barque Faire
Jeanne, a big wooden training ship from the Military Academy in Navy Bay at
Kingston. Around 7 PM a heavy time squall rolls over the anchorage, and we,
along with several others drag anchor and have to relocate.
Barque Faire Jeanne
In the morning I try to change the oil and do some other 100 hour chores, but the drill pump I use for pulling the oil out of the pan will not work. Later in the morning we head the 10 or so miles downstream to Clayton, and have no troubles with US Customs. The town provides a no charge town dock,
and Customs maintains a video phone for use by cruisers. We are welcomed at the Islander Marina, right across the street from the Wooden Boat Museum at Clayton, as guests of Dave and Beth Freidrich, owners of Polaris, a sister ship of Sadie B. We met Dave and Beth first at a Trawler Fest several years
ago when they were first considering buying a trawler. Since then we have seen them several times, including cruising from Montreal to Ottawa and Kingston, just as we have just finished. Also joining us are Craig and Bark
Campbell on Larina, another sister ship, with another shipment of nice locally made wine.
classic Woodie at Clayton
We spend the next three days in Clayton doing the Wooden boat Show, enjoying a short cruise with our three sister ships, enjoying several great meals, sprinkled with Barb's nice wine. The weather was great the whole time, if perhaps a little too hot, but the wonderful covered docks at the
Islander kept everyone in the cool. The Wooden Boat Show is spectacular, with large crowds, lots of beautifully restored wooden boats of all ages, an auction, lots of free seminars, and fun everywhere.
Craig Campbell's Larina
August 8, 2005
We left Clayton after three great days of fun, friendship and good wines. Fuel was available at a nearby marina at $2.49 per gallon, or about $1.00 per gallon less than in Canada. We filled up and thought $2.49 was not such a bad price. It?s amazing how quickly one gets used to rising prices of
such essentials as fuel!
Dave Freidrick's Polaris
Downstream of Clayton is Wellesley Island, site of 1,000 Islands Park. We found a day use dock on the south end of the island and walked for a couple of hours around a community which grew up around the turn of the last
century. Like Cape May, the architecture was mostly Queen Anne, with lots of elaborate wood trim. Homes were very close together and mostly centered around presently large open green areas which had formerly been the site of
large resort hotels, burned some time ago. The only remaining large hotel was built in 1906, and had in interesting lobby with the pine floors pocked with golf cleat marks from when the golf course was in the front yard. A
nice small local museum is there also.
Wellsley Island Hotel
Wellesley Island Home
Later, we headed downriver toward Alexandria Bay, only a few miles away.
Dennis wanted to go again to Heart Castle there to get some digital photos
of the castle and grounds. This castle was mostly built early in the 1900's as an expression of his devotion to his wife, who passed away during the
construction, and it is said Mr. Heart never again set foot on the Island. The lavishness of construction details rivals even the summer homes of Newport, RI. No expense was spared, including a smaller castle holding the generators for electricity and cooling, as well as a boat house large enough for a 60 foot tall masted sailboat, and a neighboring island farm to produce fresh vegetables, flowers, and milk.
The castle sat in near ruins for a long period, and was taken over by the 1,000 Islands Authority (they
administer the Bridges in the area) several years ago in an effort to boost local tourism. Today several lines of tour boats ply the waters around the area, and thousands visit the Island each season to ?See how the rich folks lived.
Heart Island Playhouse
A day laterwetraveled 20 or so miles again downstream to nearly the end
of the 1,000 Islands area. Here we visited another castle, much more
recently removed, Singer Castle on Jorstatd or Singer Island. Here, one can
tour another monument to conspicuous consumption, built early in the
1900?s. Most notable is the difference between the two castles in the
philosophy of the two owners. Mr. Heart at Heart Castle could not seem to
Singer Castle's East facade
hold back the ostentatious demonstration of his wealth in every area of his castle. Mr. Jorstad on the other hand, built a very commodious summer residence, but all the private family rooms were rather small and non-obstructive. Included in the design were concealed passageways between the staff quarters and most public rooms, so the staff could move about the house invisibly, so as not to be too showy. Mr. Jorstadt, by the way, was hired by Singer Sewing Machine Company in New York as an uneducated teenager, and rose to head the then gigantic Singer company. He was also a
neighbor and good friend of Fredrick Remington, the artist and sculptor, and several Remington pieces were displayed.
Remington Bronze at Singer Castle
After visiting and touring this island we ventured over to Chippewa Bay on
the New York side of the river. We anchored in a nice cove on the northeast
corner of Alantis Island, thinking is was out of the way of most boat traffic. Wrong! We?ve no idea where all the boats were going to and coming from, but it lasted all night.
In the morning we crossed back into Canada headed back upstream, and
easily cleared Customs with a cell phone call in Rockport, ONT. The Customs
Building there was closed, but there was a posted phone number to call and
they were easy to deal with.
Late in the morning we tied up at Peck?s Marina, Ivy Lea, ONT. The owners,
Andrew and Patti Atkins are friends we first met several years ago while
sailing in the South Pacific. After their circumnavigation, they decided to
settle down and go back to work. They bought this marina and are having a
great time running it. Andrew uses his woodworking skills to rehabilitate
old wooden boats in a very modern new shop facility. In addition to the
marina and shops, they operate a brokerage business, a busy motel, restaurant, and bar. A highlight of our visit was a nighttime cruise on Andrew's newly restored 17 foot Shepherd runabout. After several bottles of wine, Andrew insisted on demonstrating how his runabout could change direction 360 degrees in its own length while at full throttle. Both Esther and I still have grins on our faces when thinking about our midnight ride.
Patti and Andrew's Restored Shepherd
1,000 Islands Bridge Across St. Lawrence
Friday, August 12.
After our visit with Andrew and Patti we ventured back to Kingston after short stops in Gananoque and the Admiralty Islands. Near Kingston we saw another small Albin 25 foot cruiser, owned by Bob and Linda Clarke of Ottawa. It was a sailing version which we had never seen prior.
We found in Kingston that the day use docks were entirely filled with boats which had reservations. It seems that there was a "Poker Run" scheduled for the weekend. This event involves 100's of extremely fast speed boats which will travel farther in two hours than Sadie B does in a week. They make several stops along the way, picking up a card, and gradually build a "poker hand" of cards. To give an idea of speeds possible, the boats are divided up into those over and under 100 miles per hour.
The event brings lots of money to town and many people. The start is particularly impressive; lots of boats mill about on the river just in front of Confederation Basin. On a signal they begin the race, screaming downriver at speeds well in excess of 100 miles per hour, throwing enormous
rooster tails of water over those behind them. Of course, most boats are sponsored by corporations, as an advertising expense, and represent major investments in boats, motors, hauling trucks and trailers, maintenance etc., etc. I am reminded that the primary difference between men and boys
is the price of their toys.
Kingston's Poker Run Start
On Saturday Graham and Shelia Pugh picked us up and deliver us to a nice lunch at their new home outside of Kingston. They are old Canadian friends who used to live in Alburg, VT and were enthusiastic gardeners and
customers at our former nursery business. They now own and cruise with their devoted Labrador retrievers on a Mainship 35. Dennis enjoys sharing a bit of horticultural advice regarding their new digs.
Sunday finds the harbor still crowded, and a cold wet rain, so we decide to head out a day or two ahead of schedule, and begin our return back to Vermont, going in the opposite direction from our getting here. The step
locks at Kingston Mills, are just ten or so miles form Kingston and often crowded. When we get there, there is already a line of waiting vessels so we volunteer to wait until the last lockage up in the early evening, as we intend to stay above the lock for the evening.
We end this chapter here, and will continue with a chapter titled Returning From Kingston to Vermont, 2005.
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