Canadian Waters, Part 1: Kingston, Ontario

Coming into Kingston, Ontario on June 16, Charlie counted 86 wind turbines on Wolfe Island. Charlie and I saw on the local Canadian TV news that the wind turbines in general are stirring up lots of controversy these days here as they are in the U.S. These generate enough power for 75,000 homes. One thing people have against them is the low level, continual noise they create.

A general map of the cities and passageway along the Trent-Severn Waterway which runs from Trenton to Port Severn.

Our journey continues into Canada.

June 23, 2009

Greetings from the city dock wall at Old Mill Park Marina in Campbellford, Ontario,Canada! (we are about where the end of the red line is above.)

Freedom's Turn is on her second day on the Trent-Severn Waterway Canal along with her new looper boat buddy "Adagio." We met Adagio's crew Dave and Pam from Akron, Ohio in Kingston, Ontario on June 17 and have had the pleasure of their company since then. Dave and Pam are newbies on the Great Loop having left just three short weeks ago; starting on Lake Erie and entering the western end of the Erie Canal at Buffalo, NY to Oswego to Kingston.

The Trent-Severn canal begins at Trenton and ends at Port Severn; a distance of 240 miles, 42 locks, and a railroad bridge later. We are taking this passage as a way of getting from Lake Ontario to the Georgina Bay on Lake Huron. We estimate this canal trip will us about 12 days traveling about 20 miles and five locks per day or sometimes 40 miles and just a few locks per day. Twice along the way we will spend two or three nights. So far it has been easy locking through, a peaceful journey with beautiful scenery. The next blog will document this trip.

This blog will take us from Oswego, NY to entering Canada at Kingston, Ontario; from June 15-18 and a distance of 95 miles.

Freedom's Turn entered Canadian waters via Lake Ontario on June 16. Her destination for the day was Kingston, Ontario which is in the northeastern part of Lake Ontario. Our reservation was for Confederate Basin Marina, located right in the heart of the downtown. The first task for us was clearing customs.

Other than securing your boat lines, pleasure craft entering Canada are technically not allowed to hook up power or water until they report to Customs. If there is a Customs office on the premises, only one person is allowed to leave the boat and go in person to report in with the proper documentation papers. In our case, there was no Customs office on the property so Charlie called the appropriate number on his cell phone and ended up with more of a situation than we had planned on.

The Canadian government has the basic information about Charlie and I and our boat already because we have been boating in Canada several times since 2002; going through the checking in process each time. In the recent past, a cell phone call and answering a few questions are all that we needed is obtain a report number that we write on a paper and tape it to our window in plain view. We always knew though, that should they want to, the agents can still request to board our boat at any time and any place during our Canadian stay if they wish to.

After answering an affirmative "no" to firearms and illegal drugs to the agent on the phone with Charlie, a "yes" to under the limit of 50 cigars on board per person. Then we told them we had more than the 1.15 liter of alcohol or one case of beer per person on board. (this is the amount allowed duty free) We informed the Customs agent of the exact amount of bottles, remembering from past years that only unopened bottles could be taxed and we didn't have any that were unopened. The opened bottles had been considered just part of our ship's supplies.

The agent we spoke to said the rules have changed and every ounce of alcohol above the limit is taxed per additional ounce and by the type of the alcoholic beverage.

We abided by the rules with as much patience as we could muster up because we had nothing to hide and were honest with them all the way. After we did a thorough inventory and called them back, they surprised us by informing us that two agents would be coming to the the boat in 25 minutes for an inspection! They came and acknowledged that the information was correct then taxed us $25 in duty charges! Honesty is always the best policy but it can been a challenge at times. For those of you that know Charlie you can just imagine the challenge here.

Later, we learned from a fellow boaters that while in the Unites States, Customs reports to Homeland Security, in Canada, Customs reports to the Department of the Treasury!

Oswego, NY June 15

Backtracking a bit, Freedom's Turn turned off the Erie Canal onto the Oswego Canal going north to the town of Oswego. The next day we would be going across Lake Ontario into Canada!

The photo above shows a different view for us because coming into Oswego, the Oswego Canal is running right nest to the Oswego River! Actually, the canal is the tame part of the river.

Coming into Kingston we appreciated looking at the the blue Canadian waters. They are as beautiful as we remember and the lighthouses are still quite striking to us on the blue water. It was the first time we had boated on Lake Ontario. According to our charts, we had depths that day near 600 feet. Lake Ontario is the third deepest lake of the Great Lakes; the deepest is Lake Superior then Lake Michigan.

We had read that Kingston is the fresh water sailing capital of the world! The World Sailing Olympics were held in here in 1976.

Getting to the ice cream store is always important. Guess who just went through the opened door here?

Captain Charlie!

At our marina, we spotted an interesting pontoon boat whose owner is proud to be a Canadian!

We toured Ft. Henry. Here is the moat. The walls of the fort are very low profile; designed to make the enemy fall in rather easily if many would rush in and not be able to see ahead in time to stop. If the fall didn't get you, our guide said, the gunfire coming out of the walls would.

Kingston, Ontario, June 3 16-18

Charlie and I soon found the downtown of Kingston a lively college town (Queens University) with ethically diverse restaurants and unique shopping. Among the fun things we did were going to a farmer's market where we bought cookies for Charlie and a tart for me. We took a 50 minute trolley tour around the city seeing the historic sights. We paid $3 more than the regular trolley ticket price so we could get off and on as much as we wanted for the day. We enjoyed a stopover at Ft. Henry.

The area of where Kingston is today was first discovered by the French explorer LaSalle in 1669. Following the American Revolution, Kingston was settled by the Loyalists, sympathetic to the British Crown and was Canada's first capital until it was feared that the Americans would attack it. The capital was then moved to Ottawa.

Fort Henry is a British Fort and was built following the War of 1812 on Point Henry overlooking the Canadian Naval Base and the Kingston Harbor. The fort was to defend the waterway to the Saint Lawrence River from a possible United States attack. Although there were never any battles fought here, Fort Henry served as a place to hold prisoners for the Civil war and during other times in addition to being a strategic military stronghold for the British.

We took the tour inside the fort. There was a major restoration in 1936 when the introduction of a guard was established to the garrisons of the earlier days. The guards were not a part of the military but were made up of college students working their summer jobs this way. They did a great job making us feel like we were seeing some of the the sights of the fort as seen during the mid 1800s.

At 12 noon, we witnessed the shooting of the cannon ceremony. This has been a tradition since 1867 when Canada became a sovereign state. Our guide told us that a cannon was shot at 12 noon every day as a way of telling the people in the fort and in the city that it was lunch time, since many of the people did not have clocks.

In the early days, these big guns would shoot cannon balls as a far as 1 kilometer. (.6 of a mile) Our guide told us that each shot would have eight lbs. of gunpower and a 24 lb. ball.

We learned about the meaning behind the design of the British Flag. The red cross is for St.George, England's patron saint. The white diagonal stripes are for Scotland's patron saint, St. Andrew and the red diagonal stripes are for St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.

There were many unique book stores in Kingston. Here is one that only has mysteries for sale and is named "As the Plot Thickens." Another interesting bookstore was named "A Novel Idea."

The Canadian Royal Military Academy is in Kingston. Here is a dormitory building we saw from our trolley car window. This building here at the Academy as well as many of the buildings in Kingston, including Fort Henry, are made of limestone because of the huge limestone quarry here.

The Royal Academy is the top Canadian Military school for officers for the Army, Navy and Air Force combined. There are over 1,000 cadets in the Academy's five year program. About 25% are females.

This is a photo of the blog writer these days. She was having a good hair day and asked her captain to take her picture.


We hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

Our weather in Canada this week is very warm with highs in the mid to upper 80's!

Sincerely,

Linda and Charlie

The Hudson River and the Erie Canal

June 12, 2009 Charlie and I toured the Remington Arms Factory in Ilion, NY while we were on the Erie Canal. This site has been in operation since 1825.

Sunday, June 14, 2009 Day 312 Greetings from Sylvan Beach on the Erie Canal!

Freedom's Turn cruised the Hudson River at New York City to Albany, NY; a distance of 160 miles taking her four days. Two extra days layover in Albany, then a cruise of eight miles north to Troy, NY where Freedom's Turn entered the Erie Canal with a destination of Oswego, NY (will arrive there tomorrow)on the southeastern shoreline of Lake Ontario. This stretch equals a distance of 180 miles in eight days. Added up these distances and we get 348 miles for this blog. These are all statue (land) miles.

If we would have continued on the Erie Canal to it's end, we would have ended up in Buffalo, NY.

Charlie and I bought a ten day pass for $37 which will be more than enough time from June 9 to getting through the Oswego canal by June 15.

There are many free city docks and free lock walls as well as marinas along the way for us to choose to spend the night. Some have electricity and water, so do not. The marina prices are very reasonable compaired to New York City,the Eastern Seaboard, and Florida.

The time span for this blog is from June 3 through tomorrow, June 15.

After tomorrow, we will have gone through 31 locks on the Erie and Oswego Canals. Each one takes about 1/2 hour plus we travel at about 8 MPH (the speed limit is 10 MPH.) "Go with the flow" could take on a whole new meaning for some; for us it is our comfortable and economic cruising speed.

Last night Freedom's Turn enjoyed a free dock wall tie up in the town of Sylvan Beach on the Erie Canal. Today she is heading west for a 1/2 day cruise on Lake Oneida to Brewerton, NY (near Syracuse, NY) where she will leave the Erie Canal and go north on the Oswego Canal to Oswego on Monday. SEE MAP (Brewerton is not on the map but is roughly at the turn heading north on the map's black line)

We made a big black dot for Oswego because it is here where we will cross over Lake Ontario to Kingston, Ontario, Canada on Tuesday, June 16; signifying us leaving the U.S. for the next 4-6 weeks; the last leg of our trip! If you click on the map you can see the details a little better.

Once in Canada, Charlie and I will not have internet coverage with our Verizon aircard. Checking email and blog updates will depend on hot spots found either in a cafe or marina that provides wi-fi coverage. We will still answer our emails; we regret not knowing how soon we can make that happen! We will change our cell phones to include Canada, however, so feel free to call us!)

This blog has lots of photos because it is our goal to catch everyone up to the point of entering Canada by June 16. Since we are on the Erie Canal now, well start the blog here, then we'll move backwards to the Hudson River.

The Erie Canal

The Erie Canal was opened in 1825 at which time New York city was second in size to Philadelphia as a port and also as a city based on size. Ten years after the canal opened up, the Port of New York was larger than the Port of Philadelphia. The canal runs from Buffalo on Lake Erie across New York state to Troy and Albany, which are on the Hudson River. The exact location, size and depth have changed over the years but today the canal has an average depth of 10 feet. All locks are 44.5 feet wide and 300 feet long. even though it is called the New York Barge Canal system, there are very few barges on the canal. The overwhelming majority of boat traffic is recreational.

During the week, we have experienced one or two boats each time we have been through one of the 21 locks so far. Now that we are into the weekend, we have seen a slight increase.

From Troy, Freedom's Turn went up in elevation a total of 420 feet to Rome, NY and then will have descended 246 feet by the time we reach to Oswego.

Charlie and I had the pleasure of traveling with Hank and Ann of Queen Ann's Revenge continuing on from New York City to just a few days ago when they went past of us on the Erie Canal to go further west to Youngstown, NY. Their goal is to rent a car and drive to Iowa because their son is getting married in about a week from now! We did not say good-bye but see you in Canada or Michigan, we hope.

Entering the New York Barge Canal System on the Erie Canal, June 9. The Champlain Canal leads boats north to Lake Champlain and to the St. Lawrence Seaway. Many loopers go this way and it extends the trip by a month or more.

Each lock has a sign

giving us information.

The walls are very rough and we have to wear sailing gloves and use plenty of fenders and hold the lines they drop down to us very tightly.

Some locks have a pipe or cable for us to loop our line to.
Our books tell us so we can prepare ahead of time.

Canajoharie- We are tied up at a free dock but no power. We went out to dinner with Hank and Ann. Linda and Ann toured the fabulous Arkell Art Museum and library here. This town is where Beechnut gum and all other Beechnut products originated from. The factory is still in operation!

In Illion, Charlie and I toured the Remington Arms Museum as well the factory.

Freedom's Turn is at the Illion Marina on the Erie Canal for a two day stay. Town was very close. We both got our hair cut here!

There were many historical sites including Revolutionary War sites we learned about while on the Erie Canal. Although it was hard work at times going through the several locks and holding our boat steady, it was a very pleasant trip overall.

We had two days of rain which is a bit uncomfortable standing outside while in the locks but we were grateful the rain was not extreme. In the spring of 2006, the Erie Canal was closed for 20 days due to extreme flooding and our fellow Great Looper boats and others were stranded in the canal!

The Hudson River

In 1609 Dutch explorer Henry Hudson sailed his ship the "Half Moon" from what is known today as the New York Harbor to Albany, New York on the great river that would later bear his name.

History books tell us he was seeking a short cut from Europe to Asia but instead found a river that had lush, green highlands and plunging rocky cliffs.

Queen Ann's Revenge and Freedom's Turn were very lucky to see the official and exact replica of the Half Moon as she passed us on June 4 on her way south to New York City to be apart of the 400 year celebration of her maiden voyage up the river. Here is another view; showing her stern. It was a thrill to see her and to imagine, even if just for a moment, that we were back in her time.

We found the Hudson River absolutely beautiful. There are numerous small towns dating back to the 17th century when the Dutch settlers were the first to come. We saw glimpses of these quaint towns as we cruised by them. Visitors from all over the world flock to here to enjoy the ski resorts, fishing and camping, wine tasting, antique ships and art galleries. Key attractions include the West Point Military Academy, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Historical National Site, and the the Vanderbilt Estate which we visited via rental car, once we got to Albany we drove back to some of the sights. We did not get to The Culinary Institute, to our dismay!

Historical villages are flanked by rolling hills where farming is still a major industry. There is a real town of Sleepy Hollow, where Washington Irving wrote Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow! Everywhere we went, we felt the locals took pride in preserving the environment in the Hudson river Valley.

It was on this part of the trip we began to see and hear the cardinals again!

Charlie and Hank enjoying their cigar time at Norrie State Park Marina.

From the Hudson River valley, dense forests spring up in panoramic views. These include the Adirondacks, and the Catskills. Tourism took off in the Hudson river Valley in the mid 18th century with the steamboats bringing folks in to see the places they were beginning to see in paintings produced by painters from the Hudson River School, founded by Thomas Cole in 1815. Many of America's best landscape painters studied at the school. Winston Homer was one of them. Besides being a watercolor painter, Winslow Homer was an avid hunter and fisherman and many of his paintings reflect the scenes of and near the waters of the Hudson River.

One of my favorites of his painted in the late 1890's along the Hudson River; not typical of the large, romantic landscapes of the Hudson River school style but never-the-less, I just so happened to have a book about Winslow Homer on board!

We saw the Indian Point nuclear plant along the way.

A pretty line of sailing vessels at Norrie State Park Marina.

Our bathroom-shower house at the Norrie State park built in 1939!

Our beautiful cruise on the Hudson River; looking at views that Henry Hudson must have seen.

Queen Ann's Revenge going up to West Point Military Academy.

Many of those city slickers from New York City and other places have had country estates along the river for many a year.

We rented a car while in Albany and visited West Point by land. In their museum, we saw this crest bearing the army's motto: Duty, Honor, and County.

In the museum we saw this actual death mask of Cheyenne Chief Sitting Bull done by the government. Sitting Bull was the victorious chief where General George Custer was defeated and killed in the Army's Battle of Little Big Horn in the 1878. Sitting Bull died a few years later.

The Army's football stadium. The athletic teams at west Point are called the Black Knights.

A view from a mountain road along the Hudson River.

A Civil War Monument at West Point. It is overlooking the place on the Hudson where George Washington ordered a 68 ton large linked chain to go across the river to act as a hidden hazzard to any British ships coming up to West Point. It took 270 men to lay the chain across logs that were all just under the water's surface. The British found out about it and did not come up the river to here, thus the stronghold here on the river was preserved.

West Point Military Academy was founded in 1778 and is the oldest continually garrisoned post in the U.S. army. Distinguished graduates include Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and Douglas MacArthur.

There are 16,00 acres of training grounds, playing fields,and buildings constructed in the Military Gothic style. The lifestyle while here is very rigorous.

The Academy's Chapel. Catholic and Jewish services have their own places of worship. Everyone is required to attend special events here from time to time.

Inside the chapel, there is a row of seats reserved for the MIAs only. A perpectual candle burns, waiting for them to return.

The chapel and a dormitory.

The Congressional Medal of Honor was displayed in the museum. The West Point Museum is the largest Army Museum in the world.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
National Historical Site

Winston Churchill
















"Freedom From Fear" monument, below. The two figures in the center are made from actual pieces of the Berlin Wall and were made by Winston Churchill's daughter.

Burial place of F.D. Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor is in their beautiful rose garden on their Hyde Park, NY estate known as Springwood.

Springwood Estate
This is the boyhood home of F.D. Roosevelt and when he married Eleanor, his mother Sara gave the couple the house as a wedding gift. This was their primary residence. But then Sara moved in with them! There were other residences for the Roosevelts as well but Springwood was their primary one.

Springwood Estate

Here is the Vanderbilt Estate known as
the Hyde Park

We ran out of time to go inside the Vanderbilt "Hyde Park" mansion. Charlie is on the front porch. We walked through their Italian gardens. The extensive gardens were in full bloom!

After sightseeing by car for a twelve hour day, we were happy to get back 'home' to our boat at Albany Yacht Club and settle in for the night. The next day would be our first day on the Erie Canal.

The gazebo at Albany Yacht Club

Good night and thank you for reading our blog.



Sincerely, Linda and Charlie