Day: October 11, 2019

August 23, 2019

Friday, as I traveled between Ottawa and Toronto, I stopped to take a boat tour of this portion of the St. Lawrence River, part of which is actually a Canadian National Park (a real Canadian National Park…).   These were taken with my digital camera during the first hour and a half of a 2 1/2 hour boat ride, after which I was informed by my camera that the SD card on which the photos are stored was FULL (after being put into service only 3 weeks previously!).  For the final hour I took photos with my smartphone and will post those photos (not as many) in another set of posts.

My boat trip started and ended in Gananoque, (pronounced gannon-AQUA) Canada, on the right side of the map below.

Many of the tour boats operate from the New York side of the river but my pre-trip research indicated that the boat company I used was the best.  We basically made a huge counter-clockwise loop – heading west towards Toronto, turning left towards New York State and left again to go back east near the US mainland and eventually turning around again and returning to Gananoque on the Canadian side of the river.  We spent part of the time in Canadian waters and part is US waters.  As you may have guessed, the area is called 1,000 Islands because there are LOTS of islands, some quite large, some only big enough to build a small house on (and I mean that quite literally, as you will see) and some not even big enough for a house, except maybe a plastic Barbie house.

These photos are posted in the order in which they were taken and continue over the next 3 posts.

The photo below is of a ship similar to, but slightly smaller than, the ship I was on.  If some of these photos look familiar it is because a few were posted in a “real-time” post the day after I took this ride in a post titled “The best $29 (USD) I ever spent”, a teaser post to give a brief overview of what I had done during part of my day.

The photo below is of the first of many houses I saw built on small islands.

One of the pros of the house shown above – the leaves probably just float away rather than needing to be raked.  One of the cons – you’d better have curtains on your windows if you want any privacy…..

The photo below is the view we had much of the time – navigating between the larger islands.  I had snagged an outside bench seat in the front of our ship and was able to take most of these photos by standing and holding my camera up above the people on my deck.  Fortunately I have a viewing screen which tilts downward so I can see what my camera “sees”.

 

August 23, 2019

Friday, as I traveled between Ottawa and Toronto, I stopped to take a boat tour of this portion of the St. Lawrence River, part of which is actually a Canadian National Park (a real National Park…).   These were taken with my digital camera during the first hour and a half of a 2 1/2 hour boat ride, after which I was informed by my camera that the SD card on which the photos are stored was FULL (after being put into service only 3 weeks previously!).  For the final hour I took photos with my smartphone and will post those photos (not as many) in the next set of posts.

These are posted in the order in which they were taken.

Same house and island, from another angle:

We would eventually go under the bridge in the distance before circling around and passing under it again on our way back to where we started.  The bridge you see connects US Interstate Highway 81 in New York State to Canada.

The houses in the photo below are in New York State, on the US mainland.  Subsequent photos continue to show houses located on small islands.

And here’s the hot setup… a deck built out over top of your boats (to protect them from the sun and elements).

We snuck up on the folks in this small powerboat…

Once they realized we were approaching the captain hit the throttle.

August 23, 2019

Friday, as I traveled between Ottawa and Toronto, I stopped to take a boat tour of this portion of the St. Lawrence River, part of which is actually a Canadian National Park (a real National Park…).   These were taken with my digital camera during the first hour and a half of a 2 1/2 hour boat ride, after which I was informed by my camera that the SD card on which the photos are stored was FULL (after being put into service only 3 weeks previously!).  For the final hour I took photos with my smartphone and will post those photos (not as many) in the next set of posts.

These are posted in the order in which they were taken.

The photo below is of a small waterfront house with a For Sale sign in front of it.  I have blanked out the name and phone number of the realtor as I doubt they would split the commission with me if a blog reader buys the house.

I looked up the property (a month and a half after I took the photo) and as of the date of this post, it is still available.  2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, curiously a one story 891 sq. ft. house on a 871 sq. ft. lot!  I guess the dock isn’t living space, nor is the boat “garage”.  Asking price?  $299,900 USD (it’s in New York State if that affects your possible consideration).

Here is another private home, presumable NOT for sale.

And here is the first look at Boldt Castle, located on a private island on the New York side of the St. Lawrence River.  Our boat made a lap around the island so you will see several photos from various angles.  FYI – Boldt Castle is the BIG one in the background….

The photo below is of the Boldt Yacht House, located on another nearby island.  You’ll see another photo of it in the next post (4 of 4).

 

The 2 photos below are of the Power House, one of the most photographed items on the tour and a popular spot for wedding photos.

 

 

August 23, 2019

Friday, as I traveled between Ottawa and Toronto, I stopped to take a boat tour of this portion of the St. Lawrence River, part of which is actually a Canadian National Park (a real National Park…).   These were taken with my digital camera during the first hour and a half of a 2 1/2 hour boat ride, after which I was informed by my camera that the SD card on which the photos are stored was FULL (after being put into service only 3 weeks previously!).  For the final hour I took photos with my smartphone and will post those photos (not as many) in the next set of posts.

These are posted in the order in which they were taken.

We saw two large cargo ships in the distance.  The red one is traveling west, towards me,  and the yellow one is traveling east, towards the Atlantic Ocean.  You’ll see more photos of these ships later in this post.

These are more photos of Boldt Castle, in a private island on the New York side of the St. Lawrence River.  One can take a boat tour which includes a stop on the island, and with an opportunity to visit the castle, but I did not take that tour.

The photo below is of the Yacht House, part of the Boldt complex but located on another nearby island.

This is another small house located on it’s own little island.

To help put the size in perspective to it’s surroundings, here is a photo showing some of the other people on my boat taking photos of the house in the distance.

And to put the size of the red cargo ship in perspective, here is a photo showing it full frame as seen from the boat I was on and near a small island.