Why we came this way...

It has been a long time since I've been in Canada. I think the last time was decades ago when the Head Honcho of the operation I was flying a King Air for had a sister who lived in Canada. Yes, corporate big wigs use their “corporate” airplanes to do things like visit family, go on vacations, and send kids to far away cities to go on shopping sprees. Of course they don't pay taxes on “corporate” planes like you and I do on our personal transportation, cars, boats, bicycles and such. But don't tell them I told you so. They think they have “earned” it.

During my flying days, clearing customs was, occasionally, a bit of a pain. It has always been a breeze going from the US into other countries. But getting back into the US? I have had every nook and cranny of the airplane I was flying inspected, with every bit of luggage opened and searched. I have sat, with passengers in the airplane, for more than an hour waiting for the Customs people (who knew we were coming and what time we were landing) to show up. Fortunately, one of the things I learned a long time ago was that, no matter how aggressive or threatening the Customs agent might be, responding with a smile, a “yes sir”, and a willingness to cooperate no matter what is the only way to go. Only once did I walk right up to that line. While clearing customs in a corporate jet after “business” in the Bahamas, the Miami, FL Customs Official handed me paperwork written in Spanish. I looked at him, managed a smile, but said, “Sir, I just landed in America in a US Registered airplane. I carry a US issued pilot's license. Do I look or sound like someone who is fluent in Spanish?” He gave me a hard look but went and got paperwork written in the only language I know. (Most of my adult life I have worked with and been around people who are bi-lingual. I have daughters and grand kids who are bi-lingual. Deb is Bi-lingual. I am always a bit embarrassed that I can only speak one language. I did study both German and Spanish in High School. Flunked out of both in less than a semester. In later years, I tried learning Spanish again. It made my brain hurt. English will have to do.)

Anyway, when we got in the slip at the check-in point in Kingston, Canada I stayed on the boat while Deb went to call the Customs folks. Two reasons for that. The first is, when it comes to personal interactions with people in authority (and people in general) Deb is far better at it than I am. Moreover, I don't have a clue as to what kind of stores we have on the boat. Deb works magic in the galley and I eat better than most of the people on the planet. But if they started asking me about vegetables, fruit, meat, and what country it came from, I would certainly come across as a possible mindless “mule” helming a boat full of smack with a band of potential terrorists on board. If asked how much alcohol we had on board, about the best answer I would come up is “enough.” 

The morning after clearing Customs, I managed to back out of the slip without bumping into anything, and we headed West. (I'm pretty sure it was the tightest slip in the most crowded marina I have ever tangled with in First Light.) The original plan was a pretty short day to an anchorage about half way to Trenton. But I wanted to go a little further given that the weather was near perfect and the vista was spectacular. Deb agreed and we changed plans and went further. The next anchorage we went further to didn't look that inviting. So we changed plans again and went a little further. The next spot on the charts turned out to be a really nice anchorage just a couple of hours from our stop at the head of our next series of locks.

This morning we woke to a perfect day in a perfect venue. This is why we came this way.

This part of the Loop belongs to sailboats for sure.

A lot of the islands have ferries that run back and forth to the mainland all day.

I had no idea that Canada was such a large producer of cement and aggregates.

We've seen so many cement plants on this trip.

There's simply no way to capture the grandeur of this anchorage on film.

On Entering Canada

Yes—we're in Canada! We have officially now traveled in our own boat from Eluethera, Bahamas to Canada.

 

I've been stressing about the border crossing process for days. I've been to Canada by car many times but I've never been there on our own boat and I was getting so many different stories about what you could and could not take across the border that I was stressed out. Add to that, our daughter was detained for an hour and a half while they completely unpacked their van for inspection when crossing through Canada on the way to their new home in Alaska. More stress, especially for The One Who Likes To Be Over-Prepared. Everyone here agreed that you had to declare firearms and alcohol and any currency over $10,000 US, and any cannabis products are strictly prohibited. But when it came to food...brother was there a pile of different answers. Some said no citrus, or apples, some said no potatoes, some said no meat that didn't specifically say a product of USA. In the end, we ate up our stores for the most part and planned to restock in Kingston where we were headed to check in.

Checking in took a whopping 6 minutes and involved our full names, birthdates, passport numbers, boat documentation number, reason for coming to Canada, how long our stay was going to be and five remaining questions: did we have any cannabis (no), did we have any firearms (no), did we have alcohol (yes and I had to specify exactly how much), did we have any currency over $10,000, and did we have any pets (no). Not a single question about food. The agent was pleasant, courteous, and very efficient. I got my report number and off I went to take down our Q flag and hang the Canadian maple leaf.

It's worth a mention here that we were checking in at Kingston, ON because we had tried every other check-in point down the Canadian side of the Thousand Islands and every single marina was full. Every single one turned us down. So we turned around and headed back down the NY side and crossed over to Kingston near Lake Ontario. We had wanted to go down the Canadian side of the Thousand Islands because it's incredibly beautiful and it was a bit disappointing to miss it.

That being said, Kingston is an amazing city. It has a ton of really old buildings and has a very European vibe about it. There are hundreds of little restaurants and shops in the few blocks around the center of the city where the marina is located. We picked a little bar called Kingston Brewery and I had a very delicious pulled pork sandwich and sweet potato fries. We rarely eat out, but this one was worth it.

I hadn't realized until I read a sign in the park that Kingston is on land shared with the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat nations. They have a statement worth reading on their website: thecityofkingston.ca. You could easily spend several weeks exploring the city as well as biking their many trails. But beware—plan on spending a good boat buck because you will be so tempted by the enticing aromas of their many bakeries and street food stands.

Tomorrow we leave to head to Picton then on to Trenton where we will begin our journey on the Trent-Severn Waterway which is supposed to be the most interesting part of this whole trip. Stay tuned!

Yes, more bridges. The architecture fascinates me.

Kingston's government building in the center of town. 

The old train station turned visitor's center.

Charging station for electric boats in the marina. Canadians are so far ahead of us here in the US

Tourist day...

This morning First Light headed off in the opposite direction of home. It seemed kind of silly to come all this way and not visit the Thousand Island part of the St. Lawrence River. That lay east up the river. The path home is west. But it was certainly worth the trip. If anyone had described this area to me I would still not have been prepared for what we found. The place is stunningly beautiful and utterly unique in my experience. Island after island with dwellings built on them, often with a boat garage. Boats are like cars around here and the place is awash in them swarming around a main shipping channel where monster freight hauling ships go about their business.

Not entirely sure how they fit that house on that tiny little island...

One strange thing is that the size of the island seems to determine the size of the shack, shanty, house, mansion, or castle that built on them. Yes, castles. We visited two islands with actual castles that have been turned into tourist attractions. The first was Boldt Castle. The second Singer Castle. Bolt was the most opulent. In fact, it was one of the most opulent places I have ever seen. There were actually two islands involved. One had the castle. The other the “yacht house”. The yacht house might have been thought of as a castle if there hadn't been a real castle just a few hundred yards away. I am generally not a big fan of opulent, but I do have to admit that the design and workmanship of both were truly impressive. The castle was to be Mr. Boldt's gift to his wife Louise, but her death in 1904 halted all construction. He simply couldn't bear to complete it without her.

The Boldt Castle was then abandoned for 73 years before being bought by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority who then started to restore the damage done by the elements and vandals. They have done a good job but it isn't finished yet. On the very top floor, graffiti still mars the walls. I think they should leave it as a reminder that, no matter how rich, powerful, or important someone likes to think they are, no one, and nothing they might build, lasts forever.

I found the Singer castle, built by the founder of the sewing machine company, a bit more tolerable. It stayed in the family for a long time. Eventually it was sold to a quasi-military outfit and then to a series of religious organizations for the sole reason (according to the guide) of getting back at the state of New York for the property taxes the Singer family paid over the years. The military and religious operations were tax-free enterprises. Rich people and tax evasion. Who would have imagined that? Now it is owned by a European entrepreneur. You can rent the top floor for a night. Dinner and breakfast are included, so you get some servants to enhance the experience. Don't know what it costs; there's no price on their website so I assume if you have to ask, you can't afford it. But I'll bet the bill includes taxes...

According to our guide, another part of the story is that Mr. Boldt and Mr. Singer each wanted to outshine the other in a kind of Castle Swinging joust. It seems to have ended up focusing on which of the two had the best and biggest clock tower. It turns out Mr. Boldt's burned to the ground one night for reasons unknown. Mr. Singer's was made of stone and still stands. It is the kind of story that can make a person cringe and laugh at the silliness of it, all at the same time. And any story that can do that is a good story indeed.

We are currently anchored up behind an island across the river from the Singer Castle. There is some weather moving in. We would like to find a dock to tie up to to ride it out, but hours of searching have yet to turn up an available spot anywhere within a long day's travel. We could make Kingston to check into Canada, but there appear to be no slips available on that side of the border either. So we will be leaving at first light to get First Light back to the anchorage where we were last night. It is likely we will not quite beat the weather, but we should be settled in before the worst of it arrives. After it clears, we will  head toward and clear customs. From here on in every mile is a mile closer to home. But it is still all new territory for us and, so far, most of that territory has been spectacular.

The following pictures are of the Boldt Yacht House:

First Light on the dock at the Boldt Castle

The top of the glass skylight

The following pictures are of the Singer Castle:

We were told to knock the door knocker to scare the ghosts away.

The castle was full of secret passageways that all had secret ways to open the doors to them

The breakfast room

This table and chairs were from the 1400's

First Light on the dock as seen from the fourth floor of the castle

The library held a first edition Edgar Allen Poe

More secret passageways

Part of the "sports therapy" room - a first edition light box to improve your health

The servant's bedroom

More secret passageways

The bathroom above this one had the skylight in the floor to give light

to this bathroom below it that had no natural light