Days 170-171: July 6-7, 2023

We left our anchorage heading for our next destination in the Thousand Islands. We passed Singer Castle once more getting a nice view of it, including a pic of Coda. On the way, we passed a teen on a jet ski ushering a deer back towards land, a huge ship with crazy huge water displacement at the bow, and Doug & Shari from Thistle! They zoomed up and greeted us from their dinghy – an awesome surprise!

The next couple days took us back south to the Alexandria Bay area. First, we docked at the Thousand Islands Club. This is a yacht club with great facilities, including pool and restaurant. Everyone enjoyed the pool time.

Boldt Castle

The club is also a very short walk to the Boldt Castle Yacht House where we hopped on the boat taxi and were whisked over to Boldt Castle. Boldt Castle broke ground in 1900. Yes, 1900! George Boldt, the hotel magnate (Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and more), was building the castle for his wife Louise. When Louise died in 1904, he abruptly stopped construction, so the castle was never finished or lived in. The grounds and buildings went into extreme disrepair until The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority took it over in 1977. It’s done a great job of restoring and maintaining the castle and completing the originally planned construction. There are still a few floors to complete, which they are actively working on with the income from the castle visitors. While the Singer Castle was large, it was more intimate whereas the Boldt Castle was much, much larger, like a grand hotel. (Side note: one of the origin stories for Thousand Islands dressing is attributed to Boldt’s chef.)

Secret side quest: George Boldt built the castle on Heart Island and incorporated many hearts into his castle and grounds design. We found some of the many hearts – how many do you see in our photos?

Day 170 Trip Details (July 06):
Town of Hammond, US to Jefferson County, US
Time 2 h 51 m (08:51 to 11:42)
Distance: 11.42 nm

Days 167-169: July 3-5, 2023

Picnic Point at Canoe Point

Arriving in the Thousand Islands we decided to anchor at Picnic Point by Canoe Point State Park. It was a popular anchorage and island park for the locals, but we found a spot and stern anchored, so the bows of the boats were into the wakes from the passing tubers.

It was a nice place to relax, as you can see with Mayli hanging in Steve’s chair hammock.

On July 4th we headed a little further north to check out Singer Castle, checking out the Thousand Islands along the way. Fun facts: there are over 1800 islands making up the Thousand Islands, and to qualify officially as an island, the land must have at least one square foot of earth above water and support at least one tree. There’s technically a tree on the white rock with birds, though it was questionable if still a living tree.

Dark Island / Singer Castle

Our next adventure was Dark Island, home of Singer Castle. It has a great day-use dock for people like us. We arrived at a great time as we were the only people there and our tour was just us, missing the tour boat crowding.

Frederick Gilbert Bourne was the president of the Singer Manufacturing Company — yes, the sewing machines. He had Singer Castle built in 1903 to be like the castle described in Sir Walter Scott’s book Woodstock. It included secret passages, a painting with eye-hole peeping, and even a dungeon.

We ended the July 4th holiday with some water fun, tubing, and relaxation. The weather and anchorage were so nice we spent an extra day hanging out to enjoy it. All in all, it was a great holiday!

Day 167 Trip Details (July 03):
Anchor Marina, Village of Cape Vincent, US to Town of Clayton, US
Time 5 h 3 m (05:53 to 10:56)
Distance: 16.70 nm

Day 168 Trip Details (July 04):
Town of Clayton, US to Town of Hammond, US
Time 4 h 7 m (04:37 to 08:44)
Distance: 15.47 nm

Day 168 Trip Details (July 04):
Town of Hammond, US to Town of Hammond, US
Time 0 h 26 m (10:22 to 10:48)
Distance: 1.55 nm

Days 165-166: July 1-2, 2023

Henderson Bay / Continued Engine Issues

The weather was warm, and it was time to head for the Thousand Islands, which are located between Canada and New York and partially lie in both countries. As it was a big distance, our first stop was Henderson Bay, after a 6-hour voyage. It would have been a shorter trip, but our port engine was acting up again and we did the journey on only one engine. Still, presumably, a fuel issue. And with it being a weekend and the July 4th holiday coming up, there was no way to get a local mechanic to investigate. We’ll be on one engine for a while it appears.

When we got to the anchorage, it was time to relax. We all enjoyed a nice dip in the water to cool off while sipping our safe-arrival beverages.

Cape Vincent

The next stop on the way to the Thousand Islands was Cape Vincent. Tonia, Boris and Mayli walked around town, but I was a bit stressed/exhausted from the trip on one engine that I passed.

We did have a wonderful happy hour with Leave it to Wally.

Day 165 Trip Details (July 01):
City of Oswego, US to Town of Henderson, US
Time 6 h 21 m (05:42 to 12:04)
Distance: 35.29 nm

Day 166 Trip Details (July 02):
Town of Henderson, US to Anchor Marina, Village of Cape Vincent, US
Time 6 h 5 m (05:28 to 11:34)
Distance: 26.17 nm