All About Boats

Our latest camping trip in Gulliver to the Thousand Islands was all about boats and boating. The St. Lawrence Seaway is such a fantastic place to see it all, but this time I won't bore you with photos of ships.😉… not that we didn't we did see any, we did, including some that passed each other on reciprocal courses in very tight parts of the channel. We were mainly in the area for the Antique Boat Show and Auction in Clayton, but many of the same boats were out plying the river, along with unusual sightings such as these...

This is the biggest yacht we have ever seen at the Alexandria Bay docks, about 90 feet in length.

We were heading in to check out the covered marina at Bonnie Castle Resort when we got the chance to see our first Flyboard in person. Powered by the PWC, the man on the board was even doing the porpoising in and out of the water, just like a dolphin. When he dove into the water, he drenched the PWC riders. I bet Dave is going to want one after witnessing this!

In Clayton we saw the gorgeous Trumpy yacht Washingtonian.

The boat show was hot but fun...

We enjoyed watching the junior judges...

We both love boats (and cars!) with fins and 'wings'.

And I love pink! This 1958 Century Roan is owned by the granddaughter of a family who has been showing boats at Clayton for 50 years. 

Dave wanted to bid on this boat and put it in our backyard with a dock and fake water. Even though its name was Virginia (his mother's name), I was a spoilsport this time and wouldn't let him get a bidder's number.😏 It ended up selling for $15,000, but needed work especially on the wood hull, although the inside was pretty nice. Best of luck to the new owner.

We also had the opportunity to visit the Antique Boat Museum's warehouse in Clayton. The Doebler Storage Facility is rarely open to the public except during one day at the boat show. It contains all sorts of watercraft, engines and everything imaginable that has been donated to the museum that is not on display.

Boats:

Seagull was owned by Mr. Doebler who donated the funds to build this facility:

Skinny!

Engines and outboards galore:

This is a jet outboard. Notice the buckles that hold the cowling together:

We would love this one for OUR collection:

When we have such good experiences at these events, it makes us anxious and ready for it to happen all over again next year!

End Of Day

We are back camping in the Thousand Islands for the Antique Boat Museum's show and auction. Arriving a few days early has given us some opportunties to boat and kayak on the St. Lawrence...not to mention seeing some awesome sunsets!

More posts on our trip when we return home.

The Ruins

After walking the Crown Point Bridge to Vermont and back, we decided it was a perfect evening to roam around the ruins of the Fort St. Frederic/Crown Point property. Click HERE for the Wikipedia link that will tell you the history of these fort ruins that overlook gorgeous Lake Champlain.

It is right across the street from the parking area for the Crown Point Bridge.

The French built a fort first, but then the British built one also.

The Soldiers' Barracks rooms were pretty small but there were plenty of them.

Graffiti from 1928! I also saw one very faint name "Hiram" inscribed in calligraphy on a rock and a date born in 1848. 

Trying to keep the remains of the ruins from deteriorating any further must be a huge job. Even the fortifications are being fortified.

The property is huge and someday we will have to come back and visit their onsite museum as well as one of their re-enactments that they have every year.

Fife & Drum

Yesterday was the annual Ticonderoga Street Fest, where the main road through downtown is closed and local vendors and groups set up for everyone's enjoyment. It just happened to be the same weekend that there is a special fife and drum music event at the fort, so the participants had a parade though the Street Fest at 10 AM, just as we arrived. Talk about great timing! Each group was a bit different (including one that fired their rifles), but they were all fantastic. What was great too was that they waited enough time in between groups, so you could really hear what was being played. It was amazing to see and hear these re-enactors that came from Vermont, Massachusetts, and even Rhode Island. Below are the photos as they passed by...

The Bell Tower

Dave came up with an excellent idea to display the huge bell that we acquired at a recent auction. He devised a bell tower and once the rain stopped yesterday, we installed it in our yard. Setting the poles was fairly simple, but hanging the bell could have proved to be a challenge. However, with the New Holland sporting one of its forks, it raised and held the bell perfectly so Dave could attach it.

Then up went the embellishments...

Here is the completed project, and it goes well with our castle and iron farm implements in the background!

Much Needed Rain

The weather has been gorgeous this summer, but the heat and sun have made it near drought conditions. This week is putting an end to that though, with showers predicted daily. Today we had a deluge. We have needed the rain, but certainly not all at once! 2" in an hour is more like the tropics.

We have never seen puddles in the backyard before, but as soon as it stopped, our sandy soil absorbed them.

Even the goldfish almost swam out of their pond. Tadpoles also floated to the surface, taking advantage of being able to munch on any algae around the rim.

When the sun came out, so did our resident deer. She is around every time we are home, and I am sure more so when we aren't home! Today she spent an hour out back eating and drinking from the leaves. She wasn't afraid of us going in and out of the house but probably thought, "what are THEY doing here?" Dry or wet, we sure love our woods and wildlife.

Threading The Needle Bigtime!

We happened to be in Paradise Bay when one of the tour boats came cruising through. It certainly is tight quarters to maneuver in.

This is The Morgan from the nearby Sagamore Hotel, but the Mohican also comes through on their daily tours. They have to stop before going out the narrow passage inorder to get aimed in the right direction, most likely with help from stern thrusters.

They blast their horns to make sure everyone stays out of their way. Worked for us!