The Saint Lawrence River Thread

CLayton is absolutely beautiful Matt enjoy !!! we thought about actually moving there its is quite nice . But these pics are Alexandria Bay ( ABay to us river rats 😎) . CLayton is 10 miles up river and Cape Vincent another beautiful spot where the River meets Lake Ontario is also beautiful as is Sacketts Harbor and Henderson Harbor all doable from Clayton easy drives 30 -45 minutes away . We live about 35 miles north of ABAY so all of this is closeby .

Another great day trip is Who,e in Clayton is TIP (thousand islands park )  a beautiful Martha's Vineyard enclave on the Tip of Wellesley Island over the TI bridge ,gotta do that . Beautiful victorian gingerbread cottages ' a cillage square massive deep,water dock and pavilion great deep water swimming off the dock , wonderful walking along the various gingerbread cottage lanes and small town square and park  with old fashioned ice cream parlor (worth the trip ) ,,it ll cost ya a couple o bucks bridge fee no visa required its not Canada at this point . On the other end of the island about 6 miles is the TI country club and resort and a nice condo colony on TEnnis Island with a driveable small bridge from wellesley to Tennis island

Also Kingston Ontario where both QUeens U and Royal Military College ( their West Point ) is a great limestone city and was originally the Nation's capitol ... Just soooooo much to so and see in the Islands it a tres kewl vibe and CANADIAN BEER . 

Great spots to eat in Clayton : breakfast and lunch The COFFEE COVE

DInner or Lunch BELLA's on the River

The new hotel on theWaterfront is spectacular .

The deal is LIVE in Clayton, PLAY in ABAY  Abay is a place that never sleeps and the bays there are loaded with very high end CIGARETE style Racing boats ..

 Lots of wealth in the ISlands   it is the "front porch " for  Canadian and you may be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Dan Ackroyd ' Bon Jovi and several others who. Keep some really nice yachts  in the region and visit each summer .

Nice place to stay in the summer and fall if you are working in the region ... Bring Ace and u guys will have some fun up here

Thanks for the info, warp!

MC-- I'll echo Warp on the Harbor Side Hotel. My girl and I stayed there for a long weekend last year and the place is top notch. It's a must hit. Very nice outdoor space with a bar and great seating right on the river. Also hit the Wood Boat Brewery for good brews and pizza.

 

What you see here is the Oswegatchie River emptying into the St Lawrence . Here the ST Lawrence is a bit over two miles wide and the beginning of the Thousand Island ( actually 1800) archipelago  there are some islands here .  This is part of the waterfront in the small city  we live in .The city  has  a riverfront necklace of parks along the confluence of both rivers a, series of marinas , a vistor welcome center and support facilty for boaters , and a 4 mile paved walkawy bikeway system along both rivers and a newly built walkway system around the light house point which is also a park for a restored French and Indian war Fort . Fort de la Presentation was an outpost from which major raids on the BRITS in the MOHAWK VALLEY were conducted .

There is also another 4 mile bikeway at the International  bridge in town  . Eventually the trail  systems will interconnect thru a an old railline

This week is a huge annual festival with nitely concerts in th epark and many other events for all ages and all the schools have their alumni weeknds and parties this week so it a great time and many former students and rsident COME HOME For the weeks events ......great times , lots of sporting events so our crew arrived last nite and today

Gotta run , Queen says its River time !

One piece of trivia the large limestone bldg on the mainland in the background was the original cistoms house and it is the OLDEST federal bldg in the country

Best thread ever! Nice move Harv.
Another must see is the Punkin Chunkin contest in Clayton. It's a riot!
Google "Chunk Norris"

ABAY , small beach right in town a freebie with beautiful picnic pavillion and access to a small island by footbridge where you get great close up views ofBOLDT Castle and several island groupings i will also post another great UNKNOWN beach at Oak point for some private swimming in a nice shallow bay acesssinle by car or boat about 10 miles from Abay

Oak point beach

And bay near Crossover Island lighthouse

Ya alao gotta do Gananoque , and Ivy Lea , Rockport and Brockville on the Canadian side and do 1000 islands parkway right along the river inOntario then cross over at international bridge inOgdensburg and returnto Clayton thise towns ar ebeautiful with wonderful architecture , restaurants and waterfronts

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BOLDT CASTLE On Heart Island in the background

Built icirca turn ofThe century by multi millionaire George Boldt owner of the Waldorff Astoria as a wedding gift for his bride . She died Boldt never spent much time here afterword , now owned by TIBA ( Thousand Islands Bridge Authority)  you can tour it and SINGER ( Singer sewing machine company founder) Castle on Dark island from any number of commercial boat tours .   These ccastles and their interiors and out bIdgs are unique .. Modelled after RHINE river castles ,

I highly rcommend the the TWO NATION TOUR from Uncle Sam Boatlines out of ABAY you will see a plethora of islands HIDDEN CHANNELS and many Magnificent mansions in both countries in the 2amd a half hr cruise . You can stop at the castles  tour them then hop on any of the shuttles from Uncle Sam ...makes for a great dog day in August when its hotter than hell ......but the River breezes are heaven sent baby and did i say CANADIAN BEER !!

more OAK POINT bay / beach  great sandy bottom off dock swimming , very gradual good for families , low density , ya gotta know its there ! Go to Oak point turn off from RT 12 main rd , a half mile off main road on paved road very small cottage enclave another beautiful little lighthouse island. In the main channel

Beautiful.

So in the main flow, or in narrower sections......how much current is there?

Fairly significant in the main shipping channel , the inter island rifts are a variable . Weekends are busy with boaters and so lots of churn around ABay and Clayton .  

If foul weather kicks up it can get nasty quick this is one big body of water so it churns up in a wind

One word of caution , be a good chart reader and watch your radar ,sonar etc ......beaucoup shoals . Its generally not something that fair weather boaters are going to feel comfortable with . Have seen keels ripped open by NOT knowing your depth chart data .

Big bays are generally ok with the notable exception of EEL bay the shipping channel is ok for depth

Lots of very intersting LOST channels and passages ( remeber there were huge smugglers and pirate activity here in early history and of course during prohibition .

One great fun time here in ABAY is PIRATES Weekend , a major series of all day nite block parties and dock bars and an outrageous bar scene . BILL JOHNSON was an infamous RIVER  pirate in the region's history during the early 1800's ,people dress up and party hearty in his honor 😆😆😆😆

. This one is looking back at the city from Lighthouse Point

Agree with others on the recommendation of Clayton and the whole 1000 Islands region.  Best experienced by boat if possible but only if you know the area or can read a chart as there are lots of low spots and rocks.  We have a family place on Grindstone Island, the largest of the US islands.  A beautiful place that feels a bit like stepping back in time.  A great place to camp on Grindstone for those with a boat is Canoe Point.  Busy on summer weekends so make reservations but not to be missed.  Looking forward to heading up this weekend and hoping the rain stops!

Ugh been raining since Yesterday. Last weekend was fine . We have 8 house guests this week its been hard to do outdoor stuff last 2 days hopefully by Friday we get relief have outdoor concert and fireworks Fri and huge parade Saturday so need return of sunny weather

Yo Warp Daddy! I'll be up at my brother's place on Indian Point from Sunday-Wed, hopefully we can hook up for some cold refreshing beverages!

Sorry Shaman Just saw this , been in Clayton for awhile . We did the Antique boat show up there . No longer into boating but still enjoy checking these vintage babies out

 Heading to Oneida Lake wed am for a reunion with my kid brother here from South Bend . He's a dean at Notre Dame U and we'll meet up with some area cousins . Our family originally from greater Utica New Hartford region  had a camp there for many generations  til it was sold in the late 90's so this is an annual nostalgia get together

 Hope your stay here is great . Water temps are really nice now and the weather is certainly hot enough . I am Not specifically familiar with INDIAN POINT , that used be the name of the area just east of the city off the old  psch center grounds near the bridge and chimney point drive . Is ur bro  on THAT stretch of the River or am i mistaken ?

Hey Warp; Indian Point is the same turn off of Rt 12 as Kring Point, but you take an immediate right hand turn on Kring Point Rd, which brings you over to Indian Point. The weather was perfect, and we had the river to ourselves after Sunday.

Happy to hear you guys had a great time , River Rat lifestyle is pretty chill . And THANKS for the geography lesson  definitely didn't know about THAT Indian Point !