Thousand Islands 2021 – Adventures in the Dirt Yacht

September 12, 2021September 13, 2021

End of Summer in Thousand Islands 09/11/2021

Even though the summer season is winding down, Swan Bay Park is very busy. We noticed quite a few large Class A Motor Homes pulling in. After googling events in the area, I discovered there was an All-Inclusive Motorhome (AIM) Rally here next week. I had never heard of this club and even though I read that it is open to Class A, B or C type motorhomes, the majority appear to be high-dollar Entegra Class A’s. There are several million dollars worth of RV’s in the park!

As busy as the park has gotten, I guess it is good that we have started packing up to get the Dirt Yacht ready to head home for a few weeks. The weather forcast is for some rain next week so Randy decided to pull the boat yesterday and he loaded the golf cart today while the weather is still dry. Randy was busy today rolling up the carpet, puttiing away all but 2 of the chairs, removing the wheel covers and polishing the wheels. Tomorrow he wants to take down the weather station and the DISH. He will probably keep the DISH hooked up, but just place it on the rocks in the back where we can still get reception.

August 31, 2021September 12, 2021

Castles 08/22/2021

We got to visit Boldt Castle on Heart Island and Singer Castle on Dark Island in the last few days while Ryan, Bill and Cheryl were visiting. Randy did a trip to Boldt two times since Ryan’s visit did not coincide with Bill and Cheryl. Randy toured Boldt Castle with just Ryan and then again a few days later with Bill and Cheryl when I joined them too. I did not want to do too much on the boat so Randy and Ryan explored the Canadian side of the River by themselves too. When Randy and Ryan toured Boldt Castle they also toured the Yacht House which we did not do on our trip to Heart Island. I liked being able to explore Boldt Castle at our leisure more than the tour of Singer Castle because the Singer Castle tour was a guided tour with a limited time frame of 45 minutes. I wish we could have explored the dungeon, tunnels and secret passageways in Singer Castle, but all we were allowed was a quick peek. I think they were trying to entice anyone to come back for an overnight stay so you could explore the entire castle. The day we toured Singer was probably one of the warmest days all summer so it was a little hot inside the castle too. It was fun taking Sweet Thing to both of the castles, instead of having to take one of the tour boats, even if the ride back from Singer was a little bumpy!

August 10, 2021August 10, 2021

Antique Boat Show & Auction and Weekend Fun! 08/05 – 08/08/2021

We started out the Antique Boat Show weekend wanting to watch the boats cruise on Thursday afternoon for the 2021 Boats on Parade. According to their website, the boats were supposed to leave Clayton about 3:00 and cruise around Grindstone Island. We planned to watch the beautiful wooden boats when they went through the Wellsley Island Narrows about 4:15. We arrived in plenty of time, but only saw one wooden boat: No parade of boats! I am not sure if they just did not go or if they went later in the day. After reviewing ABM’s website, I found multiple times for the Thursday cruise on different pages: the 3:00 start time, a 5:30 start time and a 6:30 start time. Needless to say, I was very disappointed that I did not get to see the parade of boats. I wanted to grab a few pictures as the boats navigated the Narrows. Before heading in, we headed to Clayton to look at the boats tied up at the docks.

August 1, 2021August 9, 2021

Antique Boat Museum’s Storage Facility 07/30/2021

It was another cool, damp morning at 58 degrees when we woke up. Fortunately it warmed up a little later in the day with the sun coming out, but the wind was too strong to use the boat. We are fortunate we are not getting the scorching heat wave that a lot of the country is getting, but I would love a few warm days. Since it was not a good boating day, we decided to visit the Antique Boat Museum’s Doebler Storage Museum a few miles away from the downtown museum.

July 27, 2021July 29, 2021

Randy’s Birthday: Dinner and Boat Ride to Dark Island 07/26/2021

We started celebrating Randy’s birthday early with dinner on Saturday night with Bill and Gail and ended it up with a boat ride to Dark Island on Monday. It was a little windy so the ride back was a little bumpy and a storm was building so we didn’t stop for a late lunch, but it was still a good day. Hopefully Randy enjoyed his birthday!

July 24, 2021July 28, 2021

Clayton: This time by water! 07/23/2021

Since it was Friday there was a little more boat traffic on the River today, but it was a pretty day so we wanted to get out while we could before the weekend. It had warmed up from the 57 degrees we woke up to, but I still needed a sweat shirt for the boat ride. It felt great in the sun, but the air was still chilly.

July 20, 2021August 4, 2022

Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site 07/19/2021

It was not what we planned for the day, but when we were driving near Sackets Harbor, I convinced Randy to stop so we could explore the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site. The grounds and views were gorgeous, the self-guided tour was informative and the tour guide did an awesome job explaining what life was like for the Commandant, his family and servants living in the house prior to the Civil War.

July 18, 2021August 10, 2021

Antique Boat Museum, Clayton 07/17/2021

We enjoyed our day with Bill and Gail visiting the Antique Boat Museum in nearby Clayton. It was another cool, damp day with light showers, but it was still a lot of fun. Even thought we had been to the museum two years ago, it was still interesting to see the antique boats again. They have such a large inventory of boats, the exhibits are not all the same as our previous visit. I know Randy especially liked talking motors/engines with Bill.

July 18, 2021July 18, 2021

U.S. Eisenhower Lock, Massena, NY 07/15/2021

We took advantage of the nice day to visit the U.S. Eisenhower Lock in Massena, New York. This lock was constructed on the portion of the St. Lawrence River known as the “Long Sault” by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Originally named the “Robinson Bay Lock” the lock was renamed for President Dwight Eisenhower after his term was over. It is one of the seven canal locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway. The $30 toll charge per lock from pleasure craft vehicles traveling downbound is collected from the officer in charge at the Eisenhower Lock. The tolls for upbound traffic are collected from the officer in charge at the Snell Lock.