We cleared into Canada in the town of Gananoque, Ontario on Thursday, June 23rd. With the ArriveCan app loaded with our passports and vax cards, the process was easy. All the stress of bringing in too much hooch, vegetables, and raw eggs was for naught. A quick phone call from the customs dock and we had our clearance number. Since clearing in we've been enjoying the Parks Canada sites. They are basically entire islands owned by the park system with trails, campsites, composting heads, docks, and/or moorings - perfect. The first two nights we opted for docks (McDonald Island; Camelot Island) because it's too easy to take Millie for a walk, and tonight we are at anchor just off of the Beau Rivage Island.
Neither of us has ever been to the Thousand Islands before, and they are absolutely spectacular. If you've never been either, think the coast of Maine meets Lake Winnepesaukee, NH - oh right - and it is a river. The coastline has evergreens right down to the rocky shoreline. The freshwater is in the low 60s which will take your breath away when you dive in. Our recent weather has been spectacular: perfect sleeping weather, warming to the low 80s during the day. Chrisy has enjoyed being out on her paddle board. A nice steady breeze has been enough to keep us cool in the afternoon and not enough to make Roger long for a sailboat. The navigation is a bit tricky. We've done a good job of charting our route on the iPad using AquaMaps. When things get a bit dicey we are both on Ipad and the Raymarine chart plotter and taking our time. There are tons of rocks just above and just below the surface, and they are pretty randomly distributed. The standard system of Aides to Navigation is used, and they are supported by a system of private aides that are put out in the spring and picked up in the fall.
We've been cruising by ourselves since leaving Clayton. The Looper boats we met have all gone in different directions, and we haven't run into any others in the Canadian Parks. We have, however, had great fun with the Canadian boaters. There are lots of Quebecois who bring their boats down and obviously lots of local boaters taking advantage of the spectacular cruising ground in their backyard. There are also lots of houseboats that can be rented for reasonable prices and can be insured for any number of calamities for $10/day. There are no boater safety requirements for these folks. We were quickly warned by some locals to give a wide berth to the houseboats particularly when they are docking. "Have insurance, will boat." A quick inspection of the newly renovated docks revealed some damage that was credited to the houseboats.
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