July 1 - Start of a new month
Happy Canada Day! On July 1, 1867, Canada was officially born when the
Constitution Act joined three provinces into one country: Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, and the Canada province. It’s
sort of their July 4th – National holiday, fireworks, picnics, etc.. Happy to report we are closing in on Canada
and went right along the Canadian border as we rounded Lake Ontario and entered
the St. Lawrence Seaway. Ever the
environmentalists, the Canadian side was lined with well over 100 windmills
generating power from the winds that flow off the lake.
Windmills on the Canada side - eh!!
It was a long day on the water with a 6AM start but the weather forecast
was ideal for an open water passage. So
despite not getting to spend as much time as we would have liked in Oswego we
just had to go. And ideal it was –
smooth seas for the 40 miles of open water with barely another boat in sight and
then a breeze picked up on our stern as
expected for the last 2 hours entering the St. Lawrence River. Our
destination – Clayton, NY. Pretty much
the main entry area into the 1000 Islands area
on the US side for us loopers.
Oswego harbor lighthouse
Calm seas, blue skies - perfect crossing weather
Two things stick out from our crossing of Lake Ontario. First, the water is amazingly clear. I’m not sure this video of our prop wash does it justice but have a look.
https://youtu.be/QG6g_4pVtFo
Second, it is DEEP. Once it got beyond 200’ our depth finder could no longer read the bottom, gave up trying and simply displayed 7.9’. Our charts were showing depths approaching 500’! It worked fine again once we got closer to shore and depths reached the magic 200’ mark.
https://youtu.be/QG6g_4pVtFo
Second, it is DEEP. Once it got beyond 200’ our depth finder could no longer read the bottom, gave up trying and simply displayed 7.9’. Our charts were showing depths approaching 500’! It worked fine again once we got closer to shore and depths reached the magic 200’ mark.
The St. Lawrence River is definitely a seaway. Big ships use it to
transit from the Atlantic into the Great Lakes.
We made way for several of those boats heading onto Lake Ontario.
Not sure what this was being pushed by a tug.
Clayton looks like a great little town with a nicely developed pedestrian friendly waterfront area and a lively and historic downtown
catering to the lake cottage owners and renters. The Antique Boat Museum located here is one
of the premier nautical museums in North America with over 300 boats on
display. According to legend, Clayton is
also the place where thousand island
dressing was first created. During the
Gilded Age the railroads from New York and Philadelphia came to Clayton which became the gateway to
the summer playground and island mansions of the richest families in America. Several
of these remain as tourist attractions including Bolt Castle and Singer Castle. We'll do more exploring tomorrow.
Historic building downtown
St. Mary's Catholic Church started in 1889
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