Jack Tar Adventures

Sun & Mon June 21 & 22:  Clayton NY to Gananoque Ontario

Link to today’s route: https://share.nebo.global/voyage/49c4ff8a-f21a-4060-89ac-1781fbcb08a0

June 21: We left the Clayton marina at the same time as three of our other neighbors.  We stopped at the pumpout dock on our way out, and a boy about eight years old named Beckett expertly helped me with the lines (he said he had had plenty of time to practice at Ess-Kay Boat Yard, where we had our boat hauled).  He had a lot to tell me about his experience with the loop so far.  They are three months into a 16-month trip.  He told me it’s not like a vacation because there are always so many chores to do, and something that needs to be fixed on the boat, not like a cruise when all that is taken care of for you, but he was loving the experience.  Couldn’t agree with him more.  He is traveling with his parents, grandparents, and sister.  His grandfather told him everything is broken on your boat, you just don’t know it yet.  Wise man.

Essentially, we retraced the route we had taken on the tour boat on Tuesday through the 1000 Islands (although once we were in Canada, we should probably have started saying Les Mille-Îles), but in reverse.  The first islands we saw were Round Island, Little Round Island, and Coburn Island.  I guess when you have more than 1800 islands to name, you can’t always be very original.

Rock Island State Park
Our tour guide told us that this house had the hull of a cargo ship in its kitchen window when it missed the channel marker and grounded on the rocks!
This house belongs to the McNallys of Rand McNally.  They bought La Duchesses from the Boldt’s before donating it to the antique boat museum, where Peter saw it last week. Just to the right, they have their own cove and boathouse.

The St. Lawrence River was named after an early Christian martyr. French explorer Jacques Cartier named the gulf at the river’s mouth after the saint because he first sailed into the estuary on August 10, which is the Catholic feast day of Saint Lawrence.

More views of Boldt Castle with the boathouse to the right
Welsley Island is connected to the mainland by a bridge, which is part of Interstate 81.
These are some of the many, many houses on their own little islands.
Finally, we arrived in Canada!
We were in 220 feet of water, but it was like a gorge with only 20 feet at the shoreline.
Yeo Island
City of Rockport, with some of its tour boats docked
We continue to see lots of geese with their broods everywhere we go in the canals, lakes, and rivers, and the goslings are getting older.

As we approached Gananoque, we saw an egret skimming the water.

June 22:  Gananonque

Gananoque City Park

There were many lovely old buildings in Gananoque, with well-tended gardens in all the houses and parks.

Having consumed our alcohol on the boat before we had to declare it with Canadian Customs, we promptly went to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) to replenish. As we perused the store, we were reminded that Doug Ford, the Premier of Ontario Province, prevented U.S. products from being sold there after tariffs were imposed, causing two auto plants to close in the province. We happily chose products from Europe, New Zealand, and Australia.

We thought having a second language to work with would open up a whole new set of boat name puns, but maybe only one.

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