Belleville, Ontario to Lock #6 Frankford, Ontario

Date            Friday July 22, 2011
Day             24
Depart        Belleville, Ontario  8:45 am     
Arrive         Lock #6 Frankford, Ontario 1:15 pm      
Distance         17
Cumulative   620 Miles

Note:  You can double click on any picture to view a larger image!

We are now on the Trent-Severn Waterway.

 So far, we have gone through 23 locks on the Erie Canal, 20 of those locks raised us a total of 372 feet and 3 lowered us 57 feet.  On the Oswego Canal we went through 7 locks.  These lowered us a total of 117 feet.  The Trent-Severn Waterway is 240 miles long.  It has 43 locks, 2 lifts (Peterborough and Kirkfield) and a marine railway (Big Chute Marine Railway).  The total distance lifted on the Trent-Severn Waterway is 852 feet.  Once the Trent-Severn is completed we will be in Georgian Bay and will travel to the North Channel.  With areas where the speed limit on the Trent-Severn is only 10 kilometers (6 mph), it will take us some time to complete this leg of the journey. 

Tonight we are staying on the lock wall above Lock #6 in Frankford, Ontario.  Town was a short walk and we went out for Chinese (the buffet was highly recommended; the variety was good and it tasted good too!).

Most locks on the Trent Severn are manually opened

Lock #5-Original Lockmaster 's House

Lynda waiting on Lock #6 blue line for the lock to open

Leaving Lock #6

Lock #6-lock wall, tied up for the night

Bob working to open the lock!

Lock #6-walking Tucker

Lock #6-Sunset

Still in Belleville, Ontario

Date            July 21, 2011
Day             23
Depart        No travel today
Arrive             
Distance         
Cumulative   603 Miles

Note:  You can double click on any picture to view a larger image!


We had planned to leave this morning, but the bay right outside the marina looked like this.

The wind was averaging 20 miles per hour, with gusts to 25.  The waves on the bay were breaking on the dock, so we thought it best to stay put!  We took advantage of the lay day; Lynda did laundry and Bob took Bruce and Ann up on their offer for a ride to town to pick up a few groceries and go to the post office.  When he returned, we both retreated inside the boat where it was air conditioned!  The weather had become very hot and humid, in the mid 90's; it reminded us of the weather in the British Virgin Islands, without the palm trees!  Even though there was a strong breeze,  it was most unbearable outside of the air conditioning.
We invited Ann and Bruce for happy hour on our boat and discovered they have a winter home in Fort Myers, Fl.  They will be following this blog and hope to be able to connect with us in Florida!  It's now 10:30 pm, the wind has died down but it is still 86 degrees, looks like the AC will be on all night!!

Hope the bay looks like this tomorrow when we leave!!

Kingston, Ontario to Belleville, Ontario

Date            July 20, 2011
Day             22
Depart         Kingston, Ontario 8:05 am
Arrive          Belleville, Ontario 3:00 pm  
Distance         58 Miles
Cumulative   603 Miles

Note:  You can double click on any picture to view a larger image!

We say good bye to Kingston and head out on Lake Ontario for a long day's journey.  We decided to go all the way to Belleville because the weather tomorrow may not be favorable and we wanted to get as close to the Trent Severn Waterway as we could today.  The water on the lake was smooth as glass for a good part of the day, making for a very comfortable trip.  By the time we arrived at our destination, Meyers Pier in Belleville, the wind had picked up somewhat.  The dock staff was on hand to help us into the slip and with Bob's excellent boat handling, made quick work of getting tied up!  We noticed a boat on our dock that had a looper flag and stopped to chat with them.  They, Bruce and Ann on Happy Hour, are planning their loop trip and hope to start next year.  A restaurant at the marina opened approximately three weeks ago, so we decided to give it a try.  We choose the fish and chips and a pitcher of margaritas, both were excellent!  On the way back to our boat, Bruce and Ann invited us aboard for a cocktail.  They are local to this area and gave us some information on our upcoming travel on the Trent Severn Waterway.

Goodbye to Kingston

Restaurant at Meyers Pier

Clayton, NY to Kingston, Ontario Canada

Date            July 19, 2011
Day             21
Depart         Clayton, NY  9:35 am
Arrive          Kingston, Ontario Canada 12:05 pm  
Distance         20 Miles
Cumulative   536 Miles

Note:  You can double click on any picture to view a larger image!

I think we have everything ready to enter Canada,  passports, boat info, dog's rabies info and oops, I need to dispose of the basil plant, can't have anything with roots!

We have made it to Canada!!  We arrived at Confederation Basin at 12:00 pm with our yellow quarantine flag flying.  Once the boat was docked, Bob went ashore to call customs.  A short time later, he returned.  He said checking in with customs was fairly painless.  They asked him a few questions, name, birth date, my name, birth date, how much liquor onboard, and the date the dogs had their rabies shots and that was about it!  We then took down the quarantine flag and replaced it with the Canadian courtesy flag.
This marina is right downtown.  A short walk will get you to an array of restaurants, banks and shopping.  This is the most civilization we have seen in three weeks!!
We will stay here tonight and then tomorrow head off toward the Trent Severn Canal and the many different types of locks/lifts that we will encounter.

Private residence at the tip of Wolfe Island, Canada

Down with the quarantine flag....

Up with the Canadian courtesy flag!

Our slip in the Confederation Basin

We stopped for a cold one, but the dogs couldn't come in

Fountain in Confederation Park - daytime

Fountain at night

Cape Vincent, NY to Clayton, NY

Day             20
Depart         Cape Vincent, NY  9:35 am
Arrive          Clayton, NY 11:15 am  
Distance         14 Miles
Cumulative   516 Miles

Note:  You can double click on any picture to view a larger image!

Clayton was a short distance downriver from Cape Vincent.  We decided to stop here because we could not get a space in Confederation Basin in Kingston, Ontario and we had been told that Clayton has a wonderful antique boat museum.  They were not wrong.  This museum has a huge collection of antique boats, motors and some boats that are in the midst of restoration.
The trip from Cape Vincent to Clayton was pleasant and we stayed at the Clayton Municipal Dock.  Not free, this time, but only $1.00/foot.  It is a short distance from the main shipping channel, so it was a bit rocky during the day, but it quieted down at night.  Bob is enjoying all the freighters and tankers that we are seeing on the St. Lawrence River.  He even purchased a book that gives all the statistics of the ships, their length, width, beam and draft, along with where they are from and when they were built.  He is really enjoying the sights!
Since I am writing this on Tuesday morning, we are about to head out to Kingston Ontario.  Posts will be sporadic until we get back into the US as we won't have internet unless the marina offers it or we can find it available in a coffee shop or library.

Erika Lin at the municipal dock in Clayton, NY.

Speed boats at the antique boat museum

Antique steam engine boats

Looks like a storm is on its way!

No storm after all!

Sackets Harbor, NY to Cape Vincent, NY

Day             19
Depart         Sackets Harbor, NY  9:45 am
Arrive          Cape Vincent, NY 12:45 pm  
Distance         24 Miles
Cumulative   502 Miles

Note:  You can double click on any picture to view a larger image!

The morning began a little overcast but cleared to a blue sky.  However, the waves on the lake were rolling in and it made for a rocky ride.  Because the waterways have been so calm, we got a bit lazy in making sure everything below was secure, so when we arrived at our destination, we found that the lower helm seat had fallen over and the dinette chairs were in the middle of the main salon!  Just a reminder that we need to secure everything before we head out, no matter what!
Cape Vincent is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River, just off Lake Ontario. On our port side (left) as we turned toward Cape Vincent, is the Wolfe Island Wind Mill Farm.  Here is a shot of a couple of the wind turbines.

Wolfe Island Wind Farm (Canada)

We arrived at the free village dock, tied up, Lynda did some grocery shopping and then we pondered over the charts to determine where we might head to tomorrow.  We ate dinner onboard and then off to bed.

Welcome to Cape Vincent

Erika Lin secure at the FREE village dock!

Sunset over Lake Ontario

Oswego, NY to Sackets Harbor, NY

Day             18
Depart         Lock 7-Oswego, NY 10:00 am
Arrive          Navy Point Marina-Sackets Harbor, NY 3:00 pm  
Distance         38 Miles
Cumulative   488 Miles

Note:  You can double click on any picture to view a larger image!

Another perfect day!  Clear, sunny day and smooth seas.  Both Lifestyles II and Little Latitudes decided to stop at another harbor, so we continued on to our planned stop, Sackets Harbor.  To our surprise, the town was celebrating it's 40th annual CAN-AM Festival.  Because we arrived in mid-afternoon, we had missed the parade, however, we were able to attend the craft fair and sample some salt potatoes from one of the food vendors.  From our boat, we were able to hear the evening band concert and then were entertained by a fireworks show.  I think we picked the perfect spot to stay the night!!

We say good-bye to Oswego,

And Hello to Lake Ontario

I can see why this is called "Stony Point"!

Erika Lin at Navy Point Marina.  This photo was taken from the park where the CAN-AM Festival was being held.

CAN-AM Festival taken from our boat

Beautiful sunset over Lake Ontario