June 29, 2025 Returning to Clayton - A delightful town

Sunday June 29, 2025   Cape Vincent, NY to Clayton, NY    16.5 miles and 2.3 hours 

The reservation for Clayton Municipal Marina says arrival time is 1 PM, so that gave us time for a leisurely breakfast before needing to head out.  Untied the lines and started our departure at 10:30 and was immediately greeted by 3 boats heading downriver. We assumed correctly to Clayton.   Fell in line behind them.  A relatively short and uneventful cruise.  Canada on your left with all their wind turbines on Wolf Island.  America on the right with waterfront "cottages" and the actual border running down the middle of the river.  

Canadian scenery - we know it will only get better

A small boathouse for a "cottage" on the US side

Overcast when we started but clouds were breaking up as we approached Clayton.  Had to idle for about 1/2 hour for my turn to actually dock as the other boats got settled in.  "Head on a swivel" as they say with all the local small boaters buzzing around us.  A Lurssen built 212-foot superyacht, the Elysian, was sitting on the town bulkhead getting lots of attention from the locals although I never saw a single crewmember.  Built in 2014 it accommodates 12 guests. Has a swimming pool, helicopter landing pad, 16.5 knot top speed, 11' draft. The owner - John W. Henry - is an interesting guy. Now lives in Connecticut.  Made his fortune developing and managing a commodities trading program back in the 80's.  Currently into various sports team ownership including the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool Football Club, part owner of Jack Rouse Racing.  Also owns the Boston Globe Newspaper. 

Safe in our slip along with several other new loopers

The Elysian at the town bulkhead

But, back to Clayton.  We stopped here when doing the Great Loop back in 2019 and really enjoyed the town.  Can't believe it's been almost 6 years to the day since we were here.   Still nice as ever.  Beautiful newer marina with floating docks right in front of a resort hotel and adjacent waterfront park.  Quick walk to downtown and its myriad gift shops, galleries, restaurants, bars, etc.    Several blocks of well-kept older houses.  Some nice old churches and parks. Grocery store just 1/2 mile away out on the main road. Even the wood fired pizza and brewery in an old historic home is still here along with a nice bakery, an impressive cheese shop and an amazingly versatile hardware store.

Downtown maintains its character with original late1800's buildings

Big ships pass regularly during the day and night.

Clayton history is based on tourism dating back to the gilded age.  The Thousand Islands area beckoned the rich and famous for the summer season.  Massive houses/castles built by wealthy barons of the time who came for trophy muskie fishing and lavish parties.  Tourism, fishing, boating and partying still are the industries keeping the town going. A big tourist draw here is the wooden boat museum. We visited last time so skipped it this time, but their collection is pretty spectacular.

A classic wooden boat from the museum taking tourists for a cruise

Wedding at the resort had the newlyweds getting pictures taken
 on the dock as the sun was setting

Made for a nice end of the day

 

Journey for June 29, 2025

June 27, 2025 Onward to the St. Lawrence River

Friday June 27, 2025,  Sackets Harbor to Cape Vincent - 24 miles and 2.75 hours

Forecast is calling for a wind and rain event to develop later today and continuing into Saturday.  But things look good for moving this morning so off we went at 7:30 for a short cruise out the last of Lake Ontario and onto the start of the St. Lawrence River.  Heading to another small town we've never visited - Cape Vincent.   Easy cruise with overcast skies, light winds, and a very minor chop on the water.

Heading off Lake Ontario and to the entrance of the St. Lawrence

Tibbetts Point Lighthouse protects the entrance to the St. Lawrence River

Cape Vincent has a new town floating dock with water and power. Suggested docking donation of $20/day with a 3-day limited stay.   QR codes on the dock lets you pay online or leave a donation in the box at the ramp.  Very convenient payment system.  Cape Vincent is directly on the river but has a break wall to minimize wakes from passing ships.  Still has exposure to NE and NW winds but we'll be getting S and SE winds forecasted at 20-25mph with gusts to 40.  While we hoped to have wind protection provided from the town and trees directly behind us, passing ships still managed to leave a few surging bouncy waves. 

As You Wish and a classic wooden Chris-Craft on the town dock

Large ocean-going ships pass by outside the break wall

We arrived early enough Friday to get in a good walk of the town before any winds or rain arrived.  Pretty small town but locals seem quite proud of it.  Downtown consists of just a few gift shops, post office, ice cream shop, 2 restaurants, a brewery/pub and a combination grocery/gift/hardware/fishing tackle store all lined up across the street from a nice village green.  Learned of a presentation at the library Saturday at 10 AM by an Erie Canal staff member discussing "Immigrants and the Erie Canal" and also there would be a band playing at 4PM on the village green.  In between those activities we decided to explore the aquarium and learning center at the NY State DEC (Dept of Environmental Conservation) building. Made for a nice second day and even the weather cooperated.  Rain moved out early providing a nice sunny 70 degree day although still a bit blustery.   Decision to stay 2 nights was prudent. 

Downtown with brewery and general store

Ship passing by the town

DEC building and research vessel Seth Green. Building has an interesting history. 
 Originally a grist mill, then a lumber mill, eventually bought by Feds in late 1800's.
 Used as a fish hatchery for many years before being turned over to NY State 

Saturday music on the Village Green drew a good crowd. 
Interesting mix of original music and everything from the 40's to today.

There was an old wooden fishing boat called the Anna which sat forlorn and neglected beside the road leading into town. Subject of several artists work in the local gift shops.  Apparently, it had just recently succumbed to age and fell in on itself. Created quite a dialogue with the locals on Facebook wondering why such a landmark hadn't been saved.  Was thinking about it on Friday as I passed several wood boats lined up outside this building so grabbed a picture.   A bit disheartened to pass them again the next day.

Interesting collection of old wood boats

Always wondered where old wood boats went to die - now I know - the dumpster.

Sunset over Lake Ontario

Journey for June 27, 2025

June 25, 2025 Finally Starting the Down East Loop

 Wednesday. June 25, 2025.  Brewerton NY to Sackets Harbor, NY   74 miles and 10 hours

We made the decision last year when putting the boat up for winter storage here in Brewerton, NY that we would be coming back in 2025 to do the DECL (Down East Circle Loop). Spent many nights during our off time reading up on this more adventurous trip which will take us out the St. Lawrence River, around Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, then across the Bay of Fundy to Maine, down the New England coast, through Long Island Sound and completing the circle in NYC.  Our plan has us back to NYC and heading south by early October before it starts getting too cold up here. 

Map of the Down East Loop

Displaying our DECL burgee as we prepare to start

Day one of our trip started after spending a month here at Ess-Kay yards. Great owners, wonderful boat neighbors and loads of fun. Lots of projects big and small as well as several car trips including a quick drive home to pick up more stuff and do a final closing up of the condo. FINALLY, today we tossed our lines at 7:30 to make the first opening of Lock E-23 at 8AM.  After 9 months of no boating, we're going to make it a long boating day today.  

Departing Ess-Kay Yards as we start out trip.
Picture thanks to Liz and Steve on Shingebiss

 We arrive at E-23 at 7:55 only to find two boats already in the lock and getting locked down.  The lockmaster is obviously too eager and efficient - starting work early!  No problem. He quickly turns the lock around for us as we idle nearby.  We catch up to Madi Hati and Big Wave before arriving at Oswego Lock 1 and we all stay together through the series of seven Oswego locks.  (Oswego locks are numbered one through eight, but there is no lock #4). Timing is perfect as each lock is waiting for us with the gates open and green light on to proceed in.   Nice day to be on the water - sunny, nice breeze, temps in the 70-80's and no other boaters out slowing down our progress.   By 1:30 we have passed Phoenix, Fulton and Oswego and completed another transit of the Erie Canal system (this year celebrating 200 years since the opening of the original canal) and head out past the breakwaters onto Lake Ontario.

Beautiful morning to be starting our trip.

Passing Phoenix and entering Oswego Lock 1

Our locking buddy boats Madi Hati and Big Wave lead us into lock O-7

Exiting Lock 8 and out into the open waters of Lake Ontario

Passing the lighthouse guarding the entrance to Oswego Harbor

We picked today for our big water cruise since winds were finally easing up a bit with forecasted waves of just 1'.  Forecast is correct. Not dead calm but just rolly enough so that by the end of the trip we're still feeling "the motion of the ocean" despite being tied firmly to a dock. Four hours of open water crossing.  No other boats in sight the entire time.  Otto, our autopilot, does all the hard work for us driving a long straight course line.  We did get a few moments of excitement when the radio lights up with the Coast Guard hailing As You Wish.  Apparently, they saw us on AIS and were concerned after having found a floating lifejacket a few miles outside the Oswego Harbor entrance and wanted to verify it wasn't ours and also know if we had seen any other boats or activity when we left.  Not any help with either so listened to repeated Pan Pan Pan calls for mariners to be on the lookout. 

With the DECL burgee on the bow, we opted to mount our AGLCA and MTOA burgees
 on either side of the bimini top.   Lake Ontario crossing conditions in background. 

A big part of this year's adventure is exploring new towns and so rather than heading straight for the St. Lawrence River entrance we detoured a bit and made Sackets Harbor our port of call.  We tied up at Navy Point Marina by 5:30. Tired and hungry we're satisfied with our first day of travel. Did a test run now that I've got the trim tabs working properly after replacing the pump.   WOT reached 2800 rpm and even with our full load of fuel and water we still hit expected 23mph top end speed.  

Ending our open water passage, we pass the aptly named Stony Point.

Overcast, cool, windier and some rain Thursday as we explore Sackets Harbor.  Claim to fame came during the War of 1812 when the US Navy made Sackets Harbor a shipyard and the headquarters for the Great Lakes Region.  A series of 6 forts were built surrounding the town and harbor - Ft. Tompkins, Ft. Kentucky, Ft. Virginia, Ft, Chauncey, Ft. Stark and Ft. Pike. There are currently no remnants of any of the forts although the Commandants and Lieutenants house and the sail loft and icehouse dating to the 1830's on the Ft. Tomkin's property have been restored. Eleven naval vessels were built at the shipyard providing American control of the area.  British forces coming from Canada battled twice to gain control of the harbor. Once in May 1812 and again in June 1813.  Both attempts were unsuccessful. Due to the heavy military presence in town during this time period it was the third most populous town in NY after Albany and NYC.  Nowadays it's a quaint, small, well-preserved town proud of its history with a nice collection of historic buildings, gift shops, a few restaurants, and a brewery downtown. The naval yard is now the marina and the battlefield a state historic site.

As seen when leaving the harbor. The sail loft and icehouse on the waters edge.
Commandants house on right and Lieutenants house on left at site of old Ft. Tomkins. 

Journey for June 25, 2025