1000 Islands NY - St Lawrence River

I started to do a blog entry about our 7 days circumnavigating Wellesley Island, but discovered that Google+ did one for me while I wasn't looking.

Suzy, Merlin and I towed Big Duck from SC to Watertown NY to meet Doug and Elaine who had towed their Parker from Chicago. From there it was 24 miles to the ramp and once on the water we met up with some Canadian houseboaters in their newly acquired shell of a Hobo. Gaetan and Michelle had stopped by our home in SC a while back on a run from Canada to Florida and were excited about spending some time on the water with us.

The three of us rafted for meals and overnights and all of us had an absolute ball. We especially got a kick out of Gaetan, buying his Hobo only 3 days before our outing; it was stripped inside and without a motor. He scraped together two motors - one for running and one for slow speed maneuvers, switching propulsion for rafting/docking. They slept on a camping mattress on plywood supported by 5 gallon buckets which also served as storage for their stores. Gaetan rigged an inverter to run his CPAP machine at night. They surprised us with food that we never would have thought to bring aboard. They were a joy and inspiration as boating companions.

The waters and scenery were like no other we've ever encountered. 'Big water' with ocean going freighters transiting the St Lawrence Seaway regularly blocking views of elaborate houses on only a stitch of island... with bridges leading to boat houses on large nearby rocks. Beautiful vintage wooden boats were everywhere.

It was a comfort to have the Gentry's and their Parker along. Not only does the 40mph capable Parker give us a sense of security (Qbo and Big Duck are both over 40 years old) but Doug did all the shopping and cooking and Elaine took care of all the other associated chores. Doug was point for the cruising and safely navigated us through the tricky 'Rift". Come to think about it, I didn't do jack except drive the van and boat, eat and drink beer. No wonder I had such a good time.

Click here for Google's Story