PHOTOS OF OUR 1000 ISLANDS CRUISE

From mid-afternoon until 8pm in Kingston yesterday, it was turnaround time for the KV's crew between the passengers going home and the new bunch arriving. Huge amounts of supplies, clean linen, and food was delivered and stowed, and then the relieved crew members went home.




Monday, June 9.

The Kawartha Voyageur sailed before breakfast today and we enjoyed a twelve hour cruise on the St. Lawrence — up the Canadian side and down on the US side, which is the Seaway. Sadly we didn't encounter any of the lakers, the big ships, on our return voyage. We picked up a historian at Gananoque, Ian Campbell, who provided a running commentary for most of the tour.

Here are some photos of the 1000 Islands, a gorgeous place. It is best to see the 1000 Islands from the water and there are many short and long tours available from Gananoque and Kingston.

The St. Lawrence River is full of melt and
flowing very fast as this buoy shows. Going
downstream we easily made 7.7 knots, but on the
return managed only 5.4 knots.

We picked up the historian at Gananoque. A tour boat
that does day trips is alongside the village.

Ian Campbell gave us a running commentary
of the history, geology, politics, and interesting
characters for six hours.

This home owner bought an island (L) in Canada and
 a small one in the USA. The 4.5 metre
bridge is the international boundary

This recent statue was placed high overlooking
the river by donations from those who use
the seaway. St. Lawrence watches over all mariners

Ospreys have made a huge comeback in southern
Ontario. They nest anywhere that provides
 a flat surface, manmade or natural. We've seen many pairs.
This home is atop a navigation marker in the Seaway.

Boldt Castle, in the USA, is enormous and was built for
 love of a woman. She died before it was finished
and her husband abandoned it. Now it's been
restored by the Bridge Authority and opened to the public.
Above is the power house for the complex on the east end
 of Heart Island in front of the main castle behind the trees.

IMAGES

© Photos by Pharos 2014

All rights reserved

CRUISING THE THOUSAND ISLANDS, CANADA AND THE USA

The blue sky beckoned us as we drove south from Ottawa under skies that threatened rain to the St. Lawrence and our tour boat. We were eager to do a cruise through the Thousand Islands, place we had seen as we drove by but never explored.

Our Gananoque Boat Lines, Thousand Islander, sailed from Ivy Lea a few miles east of Ganonoque. (Other tours leave from their main port in Ganonque.) The blue sky was still distant and we struggled with the light to get good photographs.

The three-deck boat was bigger than I expected and accommodated two bus-loads of visitors on package tours without being crowded. Commentary was in English, French, and Cantonese, and covered history and geography of this breathtaking area.

Islands number over 1800 on both sides of the international boundary between Canada and New York state in the USA. Some are tiny—one was smaller than the house perched on top! Others are large. The border does not cut through the  middle of any but one owner has two islands (L) linked by a bridge—one on either side of the boundary. And this bridge is not the smallest international bridge in the islands; that one is three metres long.

The boat tour meandered past Rockport through islands but the most astonishing  by far is Heart Island that contains Boldt Castle (below) in the US. Built by a multi-millionaire for his wife as a summer home, it is a stunning piece of architecture. Today it is owned and operated by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority. Our boat did not stop for us to visit, but there are tours that do and these look really worthwhile. I wish we had had the time. The interior images on the castle's website look amazing. 

Aerial view of Boldt Castle
(Photo: Wikipedia)

The aerial view (R) shows the castle's Yacht House beyond Heart Island, which can be reached by shuttle from the castle dock. It's huge and houses slips, workshops, etc. Everything for your own fleet of pleasure craft from a big houseboat to racing launches.

This castle marked the middle of the cruise and as we turned to lay a course to home port, we saw astern of us a large bulk carrier steaming east in the main St Lawrence stream. It reminded me of the importance of this seaway to the economies of both countries that straddle the river.

As the cruise ended, the elusive sun broke through and we headed to Gananoque, a delightful town and on to Jones Lock and lunch at the Kenney's Hotel to watch the boats and canoes navigate the staircase locks from the restaurant.

The Gazebo in the foreground; Boldt Castle behind

IMAGES: © Photos by Pharos 2013, except where noted. All rights reserved.