St. Lawerence River - Upstate NY / Canada

Anybody on here familiar with this location? We just spent a weekend up there visiting family and had a great time!!

The seaway is fascinating to me. It is also a lot of fun watch the big ships come through. Once we ran out in a 20 pontoon boat to get a good luck at one up close! Amazing! Didn't get out on the boat this weekend as the water was pretty rough.

Also ran over to Kingston Canada and checked out the locks on the Rideau Canal system. Old locks that are completly operated by hand! The were really neat to watch. I could have stayed there all day!!

Weekends are way to short! Oh well, back to work now just to make it through to next weekend again!

Re: St. Lawerence River - Upstate NY / Canada

Over the US /Canada border there are several very large lakes that are "parts" of the 10,000 Islands chain - Charleston and Rideau Lakes are two that I've been to. Beautiful lakes that seem to go on forever with many islands, coves, big rocks, etc. fun swimming and usually good fishing too.

Re: St. Lawerence River - Upstate NY / Canada

Yeah, you have that right. It is such a beautiful area! I love spending time in teh 1000 islands area! Planning on another weekend trip sometime in Augast!

Re: St. Lawerence River - Upstate NY / Canada

I live about 20-30 min from the seaway, massena ny area. never been there, but planning on it maybe next summer. my wife and I have been talking about making the journey to montreal just for the heck of it.

You dont want to be out in the seaway after dark in the hogansburgh/cornwall, ontario area though. lots of drugs and cigaretts being run across the river...

Re: St. Lawerence River - Upstate NY / Canada

I have a summer house right on St. Lawrence River in Alexandria Bay, New York, The Heart of 1000 Islands? Beautiful place?.Boating is absolutely great?. Never get board?.. See you on Water.

Re: St. Lawerence River - Upstate NY / Canada

My old stamping grounds, never went too far but lots of things to see.
Cottage on eel bay, Picton granite quarry and 3 state parks. Canadian side has,Half Moon Bay(church services by boat) beautiful islands/channels,cottages.Lake of the isles,International rift, littlest international bridge.Boldt Castle in aAexandria Bay(We used to explore at night in the early 60s),Devils Oven (we used to dive and jump off)Antique boat museum in Clayton,puts on the best antique boat show in the world.Alex bay "a quiant little town untouched by commercialism"lol.Many shoals are well marked but charts are recommended for any exploring.

Re: St. Lawerence River - Upstate NY / Canada

The 1000 Island area is some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen. Would have never known of it except for my daughter's husband being stationed at Fort Drum, NY. Agree on Wooden Boat Museum at Clayton. Mostly old Chris Crafts and a lot of them. My wife finally had to pull me away.

Re: St. Lawerence River - Upstate NY / Canada

If you get a chance take a weekend and go up through the locks on the Canadian side. You can take the Rideau Canal through the Ontario countryside all the way right up into Ottawa.
I've never done it myself but I've heard its really a nice trip with lots of places to stop including the end point, Ottawa which is a beautiful city.
Just do a google search for Ontario parks or Rideau Canal/Locks etc you will get lots of good info on it.
You go through several locks on the way through and you will probably have a lot of American company on the way.
There is some real cool history regarding the digging of the Rideau Canal that you will get a kick out of, it relates to Canada/U.S relations at the time...I'll save the story for now but its somewhat ironic and humourous.
Enjoy!!
BP

Re: St. Lawerence River - Upstate NY / Canada

Hey everyone!!

We will be back up visiting some family in about 3 weeks! Looking forward to it! We won't be bringing the boat though but the family we are visiting has one

Flying Sushi said:

I have a summer house right on St. Lawrence River in Alexandria Bay, New York, The Heart of 1000 Islands? Beautiful place?.Boating is absolutely great?. Never get board?.. See you on Water.

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Looks like a neat place! We plan on doing the 1000 island boat tour while we are up this time. My wife loves walking all around boldt castle!

steelespike said:

My old stamping grounds, never went too far but lots of things to see.
Cottage on eel bay, Picton granite quarry and 3 state parks. Canadian side has,Half Moon Bay(church services by boat) beautiful islands/channels,cottages.Lake of the isles,International rift, littlest international bridge.Boldt Castle in aAexandria Bay(We used to explore at night in the early 60s),Devils Oven (we used to dive and jump off)Antique boat museum in Clayton,puts on the best antique boat show in the world.Alex bay "a quiant little town untouched by commercialism"lol.Many shoals are well marked but charts are recommended for any exploring.

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I really want to see the antique boat muesum this time! I have heard lots of neat things about it and am hoping our schedule will allow for it this time!

Bigprairie1 said:

If you get a chance take a weekend and go up through the locks on the Canadian side. You can take the Rideau Canal through the Ontario countryside all the way right up into Ottawa.
I've never done it myself but I've heard its really a nice trip with lots of places to stop including the end point, Ottawa which is a beautiful city.
Just do a google search for Ontario parks or Rideau Canal/Locks etc you will get lots of good info on it.
You go through several locks on the way through and you will probably have a lot of American company on the way.
There is some real cool history regarding the digging of the Rideau Canal that you will get a kick out of, it relates to Canada/U.S relations at the time...I'll save the story for now but its somewhat ironic and humourous.
Enjoy!! BP

Click to expand...

We checked out some of the locks on the Rideau canal the last time we are up! They were really neat and I kept thinking about how much fun it would be to travel up though them! The people I talked to seemed to have a great time and really enjoyed there trip through the locks!

We are really looking forward to it! This time my sister is bringing along her fiance for the first time so we have a lot to show him! It should be a blast!

Re: St. Lawerence River - Upstate NY / Canada

We'll be visiting Butterfield Lake on August 15th for a week. It's in the town of Redwood which is about 15 minutes from Alexandria Bay. Planning on visiting Boldt Castle while we are there. I have not decided if I'm going to boat on the St Lawrence or leave it in Butterfield for the week. I've heard there are many uncharted rocks, but I'd like a second opinion.
The only person I know that tried to boat there went thru 3 props in a single day. My very cheap uncle just went out with a cheap depth finder and hit a rock. He was able to get to a marina where they sold him a new one. He was boating and 2 hours later hit another rock. Limps back to the same marina with another new prop. As he is just taking off he hits another rock no farther than 200 feet from the marina. He hasn't been back since and that was over 12 years ago. The funny thing is he has a cottage 12 miles from Alexandria Bay on a small lake and refuses to boat in the St Lawrence.

Re: St. Lawerence River - Upstate NY / Canada

I do not think navigation is bad around Alexandria Bay area. There are many rocks and shoals around but they are typically well marked. I would recommend to have a GPS as well as chart since they will be a big help. You will notice the most of boats around the river is bigger than 22? footer since the water can get little rough here. I do not think rock is your issue. Water surface condition especially on weekend will be little tricky here. Anyway I hope you will have a nice trip to ?Islands?

Re: St. Lawerence River - Upstate NY / Canada

If u plan on boating on the St. Lawrence, u need a depth finder, GPS, compass & maybe some charts. Get out of the main channel & u can end up on a shoal in a hurry, not to mention getting lost as there are hundreds of bays & coves. I talked to an old timer up there a few years ago who has lived & boated there all his life. He said he still doesn't know all the river & never will. The St. Lawrence offers the most beautiful scenery you can imagine, but go prepared. A spare prop is a must have. And if u plan on fishing, don't get caught on the Canadian side without a license, or u will find yourself in big trouble. I've heard of cases where boats & gear were confiscated by Canadian authorities for lack of a license. And since 9/11, Big Brother is out in full force, so make sure u have all the proper safety gear. Someone mentioned tankers. Well, give 'em wide berth. I once saw some fool get to close to one in a runabout & almost get sucked under the tanker's prop. I love the river, but don't get there often enough. Just be safe & prepared, you'll love it.