The Thousand Islands and then some.

August 14, 2009: Clayton, NY. Lucy III has remained at the Islander Marina in Clayton for the past two weeks while we returned to Boston for work and camps. Our return on Friday was without mishap. The traffic was minimal (only a six hour drive) and the weather was outstanding. We arrived in Clayton and found the boat riding comfortably on the mooring. We enjoyed dinner and dessert in town before taking the dinghy out to the boat only to find that various bugs had found a new home for the evening. After managing to get inside without most of our uninvited flying guests, we started the electric fans to cool us down. The girls did some reading as is their usual practice. Sue and I tried to make plans for the weekend.

August 15, 2009: Islander Marina, Clayton, NY. The morning began with an incredibly beautiful sunrise: goodness gracious great ball of fire. We decided to proceed to breakfast to the Koffee Kove early as we had arranged for a tour at St. Lawrence University at 9:45. The food was as excellent as on our last visit here and we were soon off to visit yet another college. Our route took us along many country roads past distressed farms and with farmers not normally seen in Massachusetts. The Amish reside here and travel by horse carriage as they do in Pennsylvania (they are apparently moving here since farms are rather inexpensive in this region). We stopped and purchased a beautiful “Lazy-Susan” style basket for our dining room table from a friendly gentleman. Our tour of St. Lawrence University was great. Both Sara and Stephanie were impressed. The campus was very nice with an excellent library and cafeteria in the new student center. The Sports complex was also extensive for such a small school ( 2100 students). Sue and I wondered how they could afford facilities such as these. The response from our guide was generous alumni. Our return took us to Ogdensburg, NY and the shore road back to Clayton. Next on the agenda was a visit to the summer home of our friends Shep and Emily Holt on Grindstone Island via the Lucy III. We had no difficulty crossing the St. Lawrence River and finding their beautiful yellow bungalow style cottage and boathouse. They are set on a peninsula with the boathouse on the protected shore with crystal clear waters. We pulled right in only to find two dogs in the cottage. We decided to wait awhile and enjoy the scenery. The Holts returned within fifteen minutes and they welcomed us to truly special part of the world. Sara and Stephanie enjoyed swimming as the water was warm here and weed free. Our hosts were very welcoming. Much of the conversations concerned our shared pursuits of ice skating and boats. We promised to return next Summer, with our masts raised, to take their family sailing. Our return to Clayton was in time for dinner aboard Lucy III and ice cream ashore.

August 16, 2009: Islander Marina, Clayton, NY. We arose early once again and proceeded to the pier to off load much of our summer gear including 4 bikes and lots of clothes. Arrangements were made to store the dinghy at the Islander Marina and the Lucy III next door at the French Bay Marina. Haul out is planned for next Monday. Stephanie chose “Bella's” as our breakfast restaurant. This bakery and restaurant was great with seating right along the river. It is not unusual to see antique wooden boats and (soon thereafter) giant ships on this river.

Back to the U.S.A.

July 31, 2009: Kingston Marina. We've been back to Boston for a week and now return with Sue's parents. The Nason's are staying at the Kingston Sheraton next to Confederation Park and the beautiful City Hall. The rest of us are back aboard the Lucy III for one last night in Canada.

August 1, 2009: Kingston Marina. Perfect weather, 80 degrees with Southwest wind of 10 knots and unlimited sunshine. We prepared to depart with the help of the very helpful marina staff. In no time our fuel tank and water tanks were refilled and our holding tank emptied. We filled the fridge with drinks and some snacks before setting off to join Sue's parents for breakfast in town. The Saturday Public Market behind City Hall was an excellent stop for a few last minute items. We drove around town and the Queens campus before going to the Rideau Canal locks at Kingston Mills. Our timing was great since four boats were locking down to the Lake Ontario level and everyone could view the process in and see this 19th century engineering still working flawlessly. Our next step was splitting the crew up for car and boat. Sue and her Mom travelled by car and two ferries from Kingston to Clayton, New York via Wolfe Island. The rest of us took to Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River by boat. The excellent weather brought out many boaters, both sail and power. There were several sailboat races taking place on our route that were exciting to watch. Kingston Harbor was alive with many sailboats out to enjoy this day. As we motored out to the East in the St. Lawrence river we pasted the Canadian Military Academies and the imposing Fort Henry on the port side. On our starboard side we also viewed many windmills and a beautiful lighthouse on Wolfe Island. The traffic was mainly pleasure boats until we crossed into US waters East of Wolfe Island. Here we encountered oceangoing ships able to fill the 700 foot St. Lawrence Seaway locks, and many power boats. The log indicated our speed at 7.3 knots due to a favorable current.

Our arrival at Clayton was a bit problematic since we needed to clear customs and we had arrived on the busiest day of the year here: the Clayton Antique Boat Festival. Clayton is famous for its beautiful wooden boats and the town docks were full of them. Fortunately one boat freed up a space at the town pier and we made our way to the US Customs VideoPhone check in. The phone is set up in front of the harbormaster's office. We never saw the harbormaster or any Customs people. The phone check in requires everyone on the boat to check in, not just the master (this is different from most rules in entering a foreign port). We rewarded ourselves to Ice Cream after being officially back in the States. The next step was to find the Marina. I had double booked us as the reservation process was lax here. We had both a mooring and a slip. Our Slip at French Bay did work out very well after some confusion as to any reservation.

After settling in, we met up with Sue and drove to Alexandria Bay for a tour of Boldt Castle and an excellent dinner on a barge. The Boldt family built the most beautiful 125 room castle now owned by the State of New York and open to the public. Lucy III is now on the Islander Marina mooring for two weeks as we return to Boston for more work and summer camp.