Alexandria Bay and final stop for the year.

Hi F and F, 

We started the day with Barbara's wonderful scrambled eggs and the left over Bras D'Or smoked  salmon All so delicious! Graeme and I had a lot to do today so we left the house about 9.30 am and arrived at the rental car place an hour later .Have to say we have been so pleased with the service Enterprise Cars have given us.The free pick up and drop off is a real plus, especially when you are living on a boat. Quick unpack and we were soon on our way down to Heart Island where Bolt Castle stands for the immigration checkpoint into the USA.

It was an easy ride through the northern part of the 1,000 Islands  , and even though we encountered a couple of big tankers , there was plenty of room to pass by each other. These Islands are all shapes and sizes and in fact there are well over 1,000 more like 1800 islands.

About 2/3 rds of them are on the Canadian side and 1/3  on the USA side. The checking with immigration went very smoothly .The officer even tied up the boat and three U.S. The lines when we left. Just a10 min job!

Alexandria Bay was just across the other side of the river and we were able to fuel up and pump out at the Horizon Marina.Julie and Mike the owners were most helpful and then Mike guided us over to the Thousand Island Club, he also owns where our boat is to be docked until ready to go into the heated  storage facility on the 9th. Lovely facility and he kindly kept the water on for us .Normally they have shut it off already . Dinner onboard , using up the last of our frozen food.The organic steak we bought back in NE Maine at the Farmers Market. We got out the BBQ, hadn't used it the whole  trip ! The Skipper did a great job cooking! Finished the evening off watching a DVD called Black Hat.

Over and Out 

S and S 

 

Last Blog for this journey

Hi Family and Friends,

Well hard to believe we have been on this journey nearly five months! 

We left our home in Lakewood Ranch ,Florida on 12 th May and will arrive home again on 10 th October.

It has been an amazing trip mostly very good , some days not so easy out on the water. Our Sabre boat has stood up to every test we have given her. We are truly thankful to have a boat that we could have confidence in, especially in those rough seas.

Today we were blessed with brilliant sunshine and a good breeze, perfect weather for washing and cleaning Lady Erica.We got all the cockpit cushions and covers drying out on the deck.Graeme prepped the dingy for winter while I cleaned the inside  and did some washing.

One funny incident involved  my washing which was hanging out on the boat .I couldn't resist hanging things out to dry, usually a no no in Marinas, but hey there was no one here now!

Anyway a half hour later, I noticed my blouse was no longer in sight and sure  enough it had gone overboard and sunk to the bottom.The beauty here is that the 1,000 Islands have fresh water and it was easy to see.We couldn't reach it with our boat hook, so hailed Mike the Marina owner to come over and try for us. Good thing is he was successful! Mike has been busy moving boats these past two days around his Marina as he shuts this weekend! Good timing!

We worked all day til about 6.30 pm and had a pasta dinner on board , good to finish off what we had left in the fridge .

Early to bed and tomorrow morning  a final washing of our bed linen and the boat wil be hauled late morning, going into heated storage . Then Julie will take us the Watertown where we will spend the night before flying back home.Sad in some ways to leave the boat, but we look forward to having the space in our house and catching up with friends and activities again.

This is my flowering companion for the last five months.It has gone to a good home at Barb's place in Ottawa.

This is Alexandria Bay , very pretty. Can see why people come to stay here in the summer.

Taken from our dock last night.

A fitting end to this journey ,a gift of a beautiful sunset!

We hope you have enjoyed this journey with us , it has been great to have you along .

We especially thank John and Rhonda and others for their feedback and encouragement.

Our last Over and Out for the season, 

Skipperette and Skipper 

Ottawa visit

Ottawa scenes.

Hi F and F, 

We had three wonderful days with Barbara and Stephen staying at their house in Ottawa.It is always such fun when we get together!

After our lovely evening  with Christina and Bruce , we had a quiet day, just enjoying being in a house again and getting various things done ie the blog catch up for me!

We had an early dinner and then went off to a very good  performance  by the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra.

Stephen had managed to get four tickets .Christina joined us also , she was helping organizing  the event.We enjoyed the works of Italian composers and we particularly liked the Pines of Rome  by Respighi. 

The next day we prepared for our big reunion dinner. Barbara and I got to work in the kitchen I worked as sous chef.  My favorite role! Our mutual friends, Lana and Tim had come over from New Zealand and we had all lived in Paris, France together back in the late 90's .Our sons attend the same school there.

Later Graeme headed off to have lunch with an old family friend who lives in Ottawa , and Barbara and I went to the Ottawa river to see the Ottawa Rock Art John Felice Ceprano does using the natural rocks he finds.He says there are always different compositions every year..

This work looks  a bit like the Inuit Indian Art.

Lana and Tim arrived around 7 pm bearing NZ gifts for us all. Jon , Barb and Stephen's son and girlfriend joined us for cocktails .We had a great catch up and shared a lovely meal together. We worked out this was a 25 year reunion.Lots of photographs were shared of the grandchildren . It was a special time for us all.

Over and Out,

 S and S.

Photos from the Remington Art Museum

Hi F and F, 

As promised some photos,

Also we experienced high winds as did many of you on the East coast of USA this past week!

Off to Ottawa

Hi F and F, 

Photos will follow of the Remington Art Museum when I get back from Ottawa!

Lovely sunny day today, and very little wind finally!Several locals said they hadn't seen winds like we  had over the past three days before.

Leisurely start to the day and the for lunch we went to Bud's on the Bay and sat up on the patio overlooking the Marina.

Very nice apart from the wasps and flies which decided to dive into our beers on several occasions.

At 1.30pm we headed off to Ottawa.It was an easy 1 1/4 hour drive and soon arrived at the house.  Put our things in the bedroom , Barb and Stephen were out , so we headed to the BayShore complex close by. Ended up buying a few DVD's.We  found we prefer to watch those on board rather than rely on shaky TV reception. Not that we watch much! Back to the house and we had a good catch up and prepared.for the dinner guest Christina and Bruce , our old friends from Hong Kong days.

I had brought the remaining smoked salmon from the Bras D'Or Lakes to make  a hors d' oeuvres  dish. It was still very good.

We had a wonderful evening catching up and enjoyed a delicious main dish prepared by Barb and a delectable chocolate and raspberry dessert brought by Christina.

Evening finished just after 11  pm , 

Over and Out, 

S and S

Brockville stop

Hi F and F, 

Our plan is to keep the boat here from Saturday til Wednesday before we head to Alexandria Bay where the boat will be stored over the winter.

Nice to have a break and enjoy some time with our good friends Barb and Stephen in Ottawa.

 At 10.30 am the Enterprise Rental Car lady arrived at the boat and we drove back to her office to sort out payment , and then we headed to a good supermarket to get groceries, and check out the library wifi.Our Brockville Marina doesn't have wifi surprisingly ! Many shops in the town were closed but they did have a Farmers Market operating.I dropped Graeme off at the library and headed there.

The first stall I came to was selling  organic meats and as I listened to the owner speaking I realized he was from Down Under.

So I asked , Are you a New Zealander? Sure enough Luke. came from Hamilton, had won a scholarship to work on dairy farming in Sussex , England ,had met his Canadian wife there and now lived in Ontario. He was raising turkeys, sheep, cattle and hens NZ style he said.  Much to the interest and amusement of the other  shoppers , we had a good old chat!

I bought a couple of fresh items from the market then we headed back to the boat.

In the afternoon, we went on a little adventure I had planned .A visit to the Frederic Remington Art Museum on Ogensburg which is on the USA side. The areas in the 1,000 Islands change from Canadian to USA  very few miles.Infact the water over the bridge we crossed over to Ogensburg , is divided right down the middle of the seaway.One side USA the other Canada.we took our passports and had an easy border crossing.

Frederic Remington ( 1861 to1909) was one of the most famous artists of his time.His interest was in the Wild West of USA and he did many bronze sculptures (some quite large ) and paintings of that era. Many people have collected  or inherited his work.Sadly he died at age 48 of peritonitis  due to an appendix issue.The lady in charge at the museum filled us in on lots of information and then we toured the museum which was well laid out and informative. Several visitors arrived (members of the museum) and they laid on a nice afternoon drinks and nibbles which we were invited to. The museum was originally the house of Remington's wife , after Frederic died.

Lovely way to spend the afternoon and drive through the scenic parts alongside the river , both sides

Dinner on board was a nice spaghetti bolonese dish with an emu sauce we had found in the Quebec Farmers Market It was delicious!

Over and Out, 

S and S.

Last three Locks to go, Two USA and One Canadian

Hi F and F, 

Weather was still sunny , but oh so windy .Again fortunately it was behind us again.Getting through the lock system in high winds is not fun though as we found out.

Getting back to,last night , we had an angel in disguise help us.

As we were preparing to put up with a cold night ie no heating, the security guard for the Valleyfied Marina showed up and offered to get us hooked up to an electric point on a nearby dock!

Wonderful!

At 9 am the young lady  dock master arrived and we paid for the night and took on some fuel. All conducted in French as we are in Quebec state still.She insisted we both get off the boat as she fueled up for us , even climbing over to the other side to fill the left tank.

Most unusual , this is a first time we have experienced this rule! Maybe they have had some issues with spillage from boat owners.

We headed off through Lake Francis , a long and thin lake weaving between the green and red buoys.

Lots of nice homes and little towns lined the lake on both sides.

Got to the first USA lock which had a different system than the Canadian ones.

There is a floating bollard arrangement inside the concrete walls of the lock and the plan is you must cleat (tie) one end of a line on your boat the lasso the line around the bollard and bring the other end back on the bait and either clear it or hold it.You need to attach two of these lines either from the middle clear or the bow and stern or as we found what worked best for us , was a middle cleat and the stern cleat 

The floating bollard then raises up as the water fills up in the lock , so you don't have to control the lines bringing them in as the water rises.Sounds a good system but we found it difficult initially especially with the gusty winds and the boat moving around .

Having got through that lock we were told to head on through to the second lock a short distance away and it would open up for us.The same lock keeper would operate that one as well.

We decided just to sit at the entrance on Skyhook ( it keeps the boat in place ) but guess what ! We ended up waiting nearly an hour .The lock master decided to let a small speed boat through from the northern  side , we doubt the boat was even at the entrance of the second lock while we waited there.

We have decided that theses lock masters are a law unto themselves and it was a bit frustrating . At least we got to make lunch during the time.!

Have to also say the Canadian side was more organized than the USA side .Someone should write a detailed manual how to negotiate all these specific locks .When we called this second lock he said we could tie up at a mooring ball while waiting .There was only one mooring ball insight, hate to think how it goes during the busy summer season with lots of boats coming through!

Graeme described this part of the journey as being challenging but not particularly pleasureable!

It was recommended to us instead to go via Ottawa River and RideauCannal system ,avoiding theses large locks and having a more picturesque part of the journey .

On reflection we would have done that if time had not been a factor.

All the marinas are closing on 15 th October and the RideauCannal Cannal system on the 

12 th October.

One more lock to go,.We arrived at the Iroquois lock and the wind was blowing a gale.We tied up to the rocking exposed floating dock and Graeme made his call and paid the lock fee and got his ticket.

This one was a 1/2 hour wait and  then we entered in.An easy lock this time only went up  2 feet!

Soon we we on our way to Brockville surfing along and passed the big tanker BBC Mississippi, just as we entered into the Brockville Municiple Marina. Fortunately we didn't have to wait at the locks for this ship!

John our friendly dock master was there to greet us. It is a lovely Marina and we had views of the park and seaway where we tied up.

Too tired to cook and we wanted to once again try Don's famous fish and chips. Deja viu ,as almost a year ago we had driven with Barb and  Stephen to the 1,000 islands and picked up the fish and chip  meal which we ate in the same park where our boat is parked!

And they were just as good as ever and reminded us of our NZ style F and C.

Another long day about 8 1\ hours , so an early night.

Over and Out, 

S and S.

Last three Locks to go, Two USA and One Canadian

Hi F and F, 

Weather was still sunny , but oh so windy .Again fortunately it was behind us again.Getting through the lock system in high winds is not fun though as we found out.

Getting back to,last night , we had an angel in disguise help us.

As we were preparing to put up with a cold night ie no heating, the security guard for the Valleyfied Marina showed up and offered to get us hooked up to an electric point on a nearby dock!

Wonderful!

At 9 am the young lady  dock master arrived and we paid for the night and took on some fuel. All conducted in French as we are in Quebec state still.She insisted we both get off the boat as she fueled up for us , even climbing over to the other side to fill the left tank.

Most unusual , this is a first time we have experienced this rule! Maybe they have had some issues with spillage from boat owners.

We headed off through Lake Francis , a long and thin lake weaving between the green and red buoys.

Lots of nice homes and little towns lined the lake on both sides.

Got to the first USA lock which had a different system than the Canadian ones.

There is a floating bollard arrangement inside the concrete walls of the lock and the plan is you must cleat (tie) one end of a line on your boat the lasso the line around the bollard and bring the other end back on the bait and either clear it or hold it.You need to attach two of these lines either from the middle clear or the bow and stern or as we found what worked best for us , was a middle cleat and the stern cleat 

The floating bollard then raises up as the water fills up in the lock , so you don't have to control the lines bringing them in as the water rises.Sounds a good system but we found it difficult initially especially with the gusty winds and the boat moving around .

Having got through that lock we were told to head on through to the second lock a short distance away and it would open up for us.The same lock keeper would operate that one as well.

We decided just to sit at the entrance on Skyhook ( it keeps the boat in place ) but guess what ! We ended up waiting nearly an hour .The lock master decided to let a small speed boat through from the northern  side , we doubt the boat was even at the entrance of the second lock while we waited there.

We have decided that theses lock masters are a law unto themselves and it was a bit frustrating . At least we got to make lunch during the time.!

Have to also say the Canadian side was more organized than the USA side .Someone should write a detailed manual how to negotiate all these specific locks .When we called this second lock he said we could tie up at a mooring ball while waiting .There was only one mooring ball insight, hate to think how it goes during the busy summer season with lots of boats coming through!

Graeme described this part of the journey as being challenging but not particularly pleasureable!

It was recommended to us instead to go via Ottawa River and RideauCannal system ,avoiding theses large locks and having a more picturesque part of the journey .

On reflection we would have done that if time had not been a factor.

All the marinas are closing on 15 th October and the RideauCannal Cannal system on the 

12 th October.

One more lock to go,.We arrived at the Iroquois lock and the wind was blowing a gale.We tied up to the rocking exposed floating dock and Graeme made his call and paid the lock fee and got his ticket.

This one was a 1/2 hour wait and  then we entered in.An easy lock this time only went up  2 feet!

Soon we we on our way to Brockville surfing along and passed the big tanker BBC Mississippi, just as we entered into the Brockville Municiple Marina. Fortunately we didn't have to wait at the locks for this ship!

John our friendly dock master was there to greet us. It is a lovely Marina and we had views of the park and seaway where we tied up.

Too tired to cook and we wanted to once again try Don's famous fish and chips. Deja viu ,as almost a year ago we had driven with Barb and  Stephen to the 1,000 islands and picked up the fish and chip  meal which we ate in the same park where our boat is parked!

And they were just as good as ever and reminded us of our NZ style F and C.

Another long day about 8 1\ hours , so an early night.

Over and Out, 

S and S.

First set of locks on St Lawrence Seaway

Hi F and  F, 

Well we got the sunshine back today although the wind was still with us 10 to 15 knots!But at least it would be behind us most of today!

Graeme had spent some time organizing the timetable when the big cargo ships were planning to go through the four locks.They take priority over us pleasure boaters!

We set off around 9 am and struck our first wait even though the first cargo ship was just exiting the first lock.

Apparently bridge work wa seeing carried out so they decided to give us an hour and half wait and then we would go in with a U.S. Coast guard vessel .The system worked well, but time consuming.Yuo first tie up at a small floating outside the lock.You get off and walk to a phone where you call the lock Master .Also at that time. You pay by credit card $30 for each lock.fortunatlry some of the locks go in pairs so you only pay once , others are individual payments!

You then receive a ticket which you hand to the lock master once the lock process has finished. 

Onto the second lock of this pair of locks ( about 7 miles apart)with our Coast Guard friends behind , going about 6 knots.That all went fairly smoothly. 

Onto the second pair of locks and we just missed getting there before a very big cargo ship was in the furthest away lock.We were able to enter the first one but on completion needed to wait just over  an hour until we could pass the cargo ship that was slowly exiting his lock.

Then another surprise , we had to wait for two bridges ! We had fallen behind from our well planned schedule and  it was 6pm by the time we crossed under the second bridge , having waited about another hour for the openings of those two.

We needed to get to a Marina closer than our original plan of Cornwall and chose Salaberry de Valleyfield! Or Valleyfied Marina for short.

Graeme called the dock master and although she said she wouldn't be around, we could chose one of two slips in the Marina .It was 6.30 pm by the time we got there and found  the slips were too small and the depths were questionable   Going downto 1 ft In places!I suggested to Graeme, lets just tie up at the fuel dock. We were too tired and needed to stop .So we did.I had planned dinner but with no electricity and not wanting to run a generator beside a fuel dock , we went out and found a local Resto/Pub .It was very lively and was just perfect Steak and frites and veg. Back to the boat we were In visaging a cold night with no heating , but the security guard came around and offered to plug us into the electric system from another dock! He was most helpful and friendly. So all is good .Now time for bed after a 9 1/2 hour day!

Over and Out, 

S and S

Three full days to enjoy Montreal

Hi F and F, 

The 28 th September Was our first overcast day since Rimouski on the 15 th September! 

But that didn't dampen our enthusiasm to explore this other lovely French Canadian city. We first went off to find the Post Office.Quite a task but we ended up getting help from a local lady who happened to be taking photos of some buildings near the Marina, with her I Pad.

She didn't know the whereabouts of the Post Office branches , but after checking on line then finally telephoning the Main office found out there was one quite close to the Basilica where we were plan to visit next .On the way we passed by China town with its white lions  guarding the entrance.We had noticed a large Asian  presence in this city. After posting my parcels we four ( Lynne and John were still with us )went in for a tour of the Notre Dame Basilica .What an amazing church and our guide was excellent .

This was Jesus and Pontius Pilate sculptured in wood.

We wandered through the street afterwards  and stopped for lunch at a chain restaurant called Tutti Fruiti.So far our least favorite meal on the trip.But is was cheap and we got , soup , salad ,main course  and coffee  all  for $27 a person! We then went off searching for the best baguette.John had found a great little patisserie near the Marina, when he had gone looking for the morning croissants..So we stopped in there and found what we were looking for. Lynne and I played Canasta for a couple of hours while Graeme and John washed down the boat.Dinner in the evening was Drews CYC Gumbo , followed by the river shrimp we had bought in Gaspe and a big salad . And of course followed by cheese and baguette! 

The 29 th was also an overcast day , but surprisingly the weather had not  been cold here.

John thought we were on a good thing with our croissant breakfasts , so he went off again to get croissants with Lynne and Graeme in tow.

We had a leisurely morning time and then Lynne and John packed and headed for the airport .We were sorry to see them leave , we have had a wonderful six days together and they were great guests to have on board. Graeme and I decided to do a little retail therapy , I ended up a pair of Moose leather Indian moccasins , they will be perfect for Florida  and Graeme found a nice casual watch to add to his collection. We cooked dinner onboard , Chicken Tikka, rice and broccoli very easy .Afterwards we watched a DVD , Graeme had found a couple of them the Marina office earlier .This  one starred Richard Gere and was called Arbitrage..By the time we went to bed it was raining pretty solidly and continued most of the night.

30 thSeptember was a very wet and windy day and now the cooler  weather had arrived.

We didn't feel like going out, staying our cosy boat had much more appeal!

But after lunch we decided to head to the Beaux Art Museum of Montreal.Graeme thought we should take a taxi and when we were finally able to get one , we went all over the city, due to road works and our Yugoslavian driver who talked non stop  was telling us of his life before Canada and how he worked in the YugoslavianEmbassy in Washington DC .This was prior to the breakup into the two separate countries of Serbia and Croatia. The taxi ride also gave us a chance to see more of the city It turns out this city had four universities , two French and the two English ( McGill and Concordia) .

We saw lots of students walking about in the Art and Museum.area .At the Beaux Art , we got  to see three levels of art work including a room exclusively with  things of Napoleon and Josephine. Just a feast of wonderful art. There were even two other buildings , one housing contemporary art and the other Canadian artists.,  but we felt we couldn't absorb any more today .

Back to the boat via the metro which was fast and efficient and a short walk from the Marina.

For dinner Graeme had a desire to try the Morrocan Restaurant he had seen, so we walked back later in the evening for a fun experience.The restaurant was set at basement level and had low tables and sofas and a tent like ceiling .Our waiter was indeed from Morocco and even wore his Fez style hat.

It was a set menu with about eight MiddleEastern small   plates to start. They were filled with different vegetables , hummus and served with warm pitta breads.  Graeme had  Couscous Royale and I the lamb shank and prunes as a main course , this was followed by baklava desserts and sweet mint tea. What a feast!

Got back and watched the second DVD, called War Horse. Off to bed about 11 .15 pm! One of our later bedtimes!!,

Tomorrow off on the journey of the Locks!

Over and Out, 

S and S