Wednesday, Sept 18, 2019

We got the boat squared away for winter storage and left Wellesley Island for North Carolina today.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Here are a few pictures I took over the last two weeks.
We are planning on leaving Wellesley Island on Tuesday to return to North Carolina. We would have left this past week, but we waited to be sure the roads would be open after the hurricane. It looks like we did not sustain any damage even though a tornado touched down just one street over from our residence.
We have been getting the boat ready to go into heated storage in Alexandria Bay, NY. This includes changing oil and filters on the main engine and generator, washing and waxing the outside of the boat, and a few other maintenance items. Brenda has been busy getting the inside of the boat ready for storage.

We went over to Alexander Bay for lunch, and tied up at the free Public Dock. It was not too busy. On weekends it is hard to find a space at the dock, they have dockhands to grab your lines and help tie up the boat.

 

Some interesting Cloud formations

These are the docks at the Thousand Islands Marina that were under water earlier in the season.

 

I spent the afternoon yesterday washing the boat; its about a three hour job. Here I am with my trusty brush and Bucket.

I've labeled my bucket "Bill's Ferkin Bucket". (a miss-spelling) Several years ago we ordered a "Firkin Bucket" from LL Bean and had it shipped to my Father in Law as a gift. He wasn't aware of what it was or that it was being shipped; consequently, he was quite confused when he received a backorder notice informing him that his "Firkin Bucket" was backordered. The "Firken Bucket was a wooden bucket filled with pine sticks to use in starting a fire in the fireplace.

 

This large Laker was heading down river behind Welcome Island

 

Here is comes out behind the island under a full moon

 

We enjoyed a great rainbow one day last week.

 

Sunset over the St Lawrence River

Tuesday, August 3, 2019

We had the chance to play golf at the Thousand Islands Country Club during my daughter Katherine and Grandson Andrew's visit. They left to return to CT yesterday. Here are a few pics of our golf outing:

Katherine addressing the ball on signature hole. Lake of the Isles is in the background.

 

Katherine attempts a long putt

 

 

She obviously came up short, but made the second putt

 

 

 

Andrew addresses the ball

 

 

He takes a full swing with his driver

 

 

Bill studying the fairway

 

 

Katherine on the bench

 

Grandpa, daughter, and  Grandson

Mother and Son 

 

 

The end of a perfect day.

 

 

Sunday, August 1, 2019

My daughter Katherine, Grandson, Andrew and I celebrated Brenda's birthday at the Chateau Restaurant in Clayton, NY. It is an old estate and former Nunnery overlooking the St Lawrence River that has been converted into a fabulous restaurant and distillery. Here we are under blue lighting in the dining room.

 

 

Here is Brenda wearing her Birthday Gift from Katherine. Katherine brought the Kimono Jacket back from New Mexico.

 

 

Earlier in the day, we took a ride on the river and I took these pictures of Katherine, Andrew, Brenda, and Lulu on the bow.

 

 

 

Early this morning I took this pic of the sunrise

 

 

A New Boathouse being built in the same basin as our Marina.

 

 

Lulu sitting in her friend, Sara's Carriage. This "Dogger"carriage was specifically built for small dogs. Sara is a long haired Chihuahua with a great disposition and is about the same age as Lulu. Lulu and Sara get along great, mostly because Sara puts up with Lulu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, August 25, 2019

We took a 3 hour ride around Wellesley Island which took us into the Canadian Channel, and back through the American Shipping Channel. This trip is divided about evenly in US and Canadian waters. We took several pictures along the way:

This is Rockport, Ontario that is directly across the River at the East end of Wellesley Island. It is the first Canadian town we see. The red boat is a tour boat that makes several trips per day through the Thousand Islands.

Here is a Canadian Tour Boat that passed us off of Rockport:

 

We passed several impressive homes along the River in Canada:

 

 

 

The Thousand Islands Bridge consists of two spans, one from Alexandria Bay to Wellesley Island, and a second from Wellesley Island to Ivy Lea, Ontario. This is a picture of the Canadian span:

 

 

A River view along the way.

A narrow section of the Canadian section with a strong current. We were following a sailboat with limited speed and very little room to pass. So I had to keep it at 4 kts until we had room to pass. I have much more maneuverability in strong current if I could go a little faster.

 

Here you can see the sailboat after I had the opportunity to pass her. The water depth at the sailboats position is over 60 feet.

 

 Examples of the rocky shoreline along the river

 

This is a picture of an island that has been taken over by Cormorants. They move in in great numbers, take over the island,  and destroy the vegetation with their droppings. You can imagine the odor if you are close to an island like this.

 

 

 

 

Here is the sailboat following us through a narrow section.

 

 

Heading back to US waters at the Western end of the Island.

 

Capt Bill at the Helm

 

First Mate Brenda enjoying the view on the Flybridge deck.

 

Lulu enjoys a nap next to her music

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

In previous posts, I included pictures of the flooding along the shoreline of the St. Lawrence River, and in my Marina. Here is an interesting YouTube video put together by a Canadian/U.S. group attempting to educate and lobby to revert back to the prior plan of controlling the depth of the water in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. They make some excellent points, and scream Caution on continuing the current plan. Check it out:

https://youtu.be/l_Kv9hO4YMw

Sunday, August 4, 2019

I played golf this morning at the Thousand Islands Country Club ahead of a tournament called the St Lawrence Cup. The participants were all US and Canadian Army soldiers; 14 from Fort Drum in Watertown, N.Y. and 14 from Canada. They played both Saturday and Sunday. All of the tees had an American and Canadian flag as tee markers, and the American team all had Navy Blue shirts and Canada had Red shirts. Her is a picture of one of the matches on the 5th green. Obviously the cart belongs to the Canadian team. Unfortunately I left before it was over, so I don't know who won.

 

Yesterday, I was a volunteer at the Clayton Antique Boat Show at the Antique Boat Museum.

Here are pictures of one of the Museums famous boats: "Pardon Me". It is believed to be the largest runabout in the world at 48 feet. It is a triple cockpit and was built in 1948 by Hutchinson Boat

Works in Alexandria Bay, NY.  The boat is powered by a WWII

1500 hp supercharged Packard PT Boat engine and burns nearly 100 gallons of high octane fuel per hour. They do not have the boat in the water because the high water levels present the possibility of damage to the boat in docking. That may also have something to do with the cost of operating the boat.

 

 

Here is Lulu ready for bedding down for the night.