Goodbye Thousand Islands - Hello Rideau

After Sackets Harbor, it was time to take a little break.  We have been moving the boat for eleven straight days, so we needed to take a Chrisy day - any given day that Chrisy declares "the boat is not moving today." Cape Vincent proved to be the perfect spot.  The town dock was ideal. With nice proximity to town, it offered 30 amp power and pretty good protection from the waves coming off the freighters in the channel.  We broke out the bikes again and had a nice ride down to the lighthouse. One Chrisy day turned into two as we decided to stay put and ride out a pretty good storm. We were thankful for our dock when we heard a few days later that the storm caused some serious damage in a nearby harbor. 

Egret hanging out at the Cape Vincent town dock - the calm before the storm.

The basic Thousand Island strategy is to explore the US side - cross over the border - clear customs, and then explore the Canadian side.  We're pretty big fans of the Canadian side, as there are well-maintained parks/islands that have moorings and docks.  We also get to meet all the nice French Canadians who are always welcoming and fun. Before we crossed over, we stopped at Wellesley Island,  a New York state park, and we anchored off of Picnic Point on Grandstone Island.  

Cruising around these waters, it's always possible to get stopped by a combo operation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the US Coast Guard. They cruise along the boarded in these massive inflatable boats and sneak up on you from behind. You hear them first when they turn their siren on. We were stopped four years ago, and you guessed it, it happened again this year.  With their bulletproof vests, pistols, pepper spray, and a bunch of other stuff, these folks are pretty intimidating. They're actually more like puppy dogs.  They ask you for a few papers and ask a few basic questions about life preservers, etc., and then send you on your way.

They even pose for a selfie at the end of it.

That wasn't the end of it.  Two days later, when we were pulling out of Gananoque, Canada, pronounced Gan-an-ah Quay, we were stopped again. This time by a group of Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We showed them our paper verifying that we had passed a previous inspection, and we were on our way. Sorry, no selfie this time. 

Our anchorage at Picnic Point, Grandstone Is. US

At our dock under the bridge on Georgina Is. Canada

When you have cocktails on a dock, it's obviously called "docktails." Camelot Is Canada

One of our cruising buddies was a professional photographer - out for a walk on Camelot.

After a quick reprovisioning stop in Kingston, Ontario, we are off to the Rideau - the whole reason for the trip.   The bridge that we pass under to get to the Rideau is under construction and only opens on Sundays. We have perfect timing, but we will be traveling in a group of folks who have been waiting for the opening.