Boating Mecca

We had four absolutely gorgeous days in the 1000 Islands. Every day brought calm winds and sunny skies, so we were out in both the skiff and the kayaks.

However, the St. Lawrence River level is still quite high and is starting to take its toll on docks and boathouses. 

Even on land in both Alexandria Bay and Clayton we could see how the high water was affecting businesses. They are doing their best to adapt, but we could tell that tourism was off both in town and at the campgrounds. The photo below shows the enormous black bladders, along with sandbags, that were helping to keep the water out of the buildings (I think I look like I am saying, "what the heck is that?").

This was the launch ramp at Grass Point State Park, so we could only kayak there and launched Foxie at Keewaydin State Park a few miles away (yes, that is another freighter in the background 😉).

There is a 5 mph no wake zone for 300 ft. from shore, which is difficult to comply with, since there is so much current. The current was running even more than usual because the water is being let out of the dams to the north. You can see the current in these photos of our annual rift exploration.

There was no book exchange at our favorite island on the way to the rift.

To compensate for the current we took our usual paddle around Fisher's Bay and out to Rock Island Lighthouse the opposite way. That way we could use the current to get us back to the ramp instead of fighting it.

It worked quite well and Dave even went out to see if he could get a glimpse of the sunken schooner off of the lighthouse shoal. It is in over 100ft. of water. It's clear, but not THAT clear, so he couldn't see anything.

How could we not resist yakking into this wreck? It is one of our traditions...

We kept hearing bird screams as we approached a couple of small islands and then realized we were going through a cormorant rookerie! There were nests throughout the trees, which were decimating them. Needless to say, it was rather stinky too...

On a better note though, the Grass Point resident swan parents allowed us to get close to their two offspring. We were really surprised and were being very careful, since swans can be quite mean. They were instead very mellow...

On one of our boating adventures, we noticed that the 1000 Island Bridge was being painted and men were climbing and painting on top...

On another trip we loved seeing the imagination of this home owner who painted his water pump tank like a minion...

We took the kayaks in Foxie over to the exclusive Thousand Island Park for a new adventure, paddling by all the stately Victorian homes and classic colorful boathouses.

Everyone in this area should have one of these weather vanes...

Wendy, this one is for you...your 'ship' has come in.

For the second and third nights of our camping and boating expedition, we went to Keewaydin Park for both the better launch ramp and their gigantic pool. The water sure was warmer than the St. Lawrence River and Dave even went down the slide!

What a way to end each day, and the days are really long. There were still beautiful sunsets at 9:30 PM. Yup, more ships passing by. Wait until the next post when you will see even more!