The 2011 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

[jserb]

Updated August 7th 2011: fellow boaters! We have completed this trip! The documentation and photos all start on page 3, we look forward to your comments!!
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Well I am planning my next great adventure for 2011 to the Thousand Islands in NY! We are going to trailer the boat to Oswego NY and then shoot across Lake Ontario to the St Lawrence Seaway. I am planning on spending a week in a cottage on one of the many private islands. Problem is; I can?t really find anything on the web as far as a place to stay?I mean it?s the 1000 islands, and I see hundreds of photos to which each island is littered with beautiful cabin?s?.SO WHY WHEN I SEARCH ONLINE CANT I FIND A PRIVATE ISLAND TO RENT FOR THE WEEK?!?!?
I am looking for an island ONLY accessible by boat?.
(want to utilize the boat as much as possible).

All these places can?t just be solo private residents can they?!

If anyone on here knows of a listing or how to get ahold of some of these beautiful cottages please let me know!!

We are looking to spend around 3000 to 3500 for the week.

If you also have tips on places to see and things to do please let me know!!!! We are going to be spending a week in the 1000 islands and from what I have read theirs plenty to do, but a few suggestions from you all would be helpful! Thanks for you input everyone!


Lastly- tips on Lake Ontario and what to expect going between 0swego and the St Laurence sea way, things to expect, conditions, depths, any tips you can provide me with the better!

 

[cimy3]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

If you are going from Oswego to the St. Lawrence, then make sure you are watching the wind forecast. A wind from the East should be ok (depending upon boat size), however, a wind from the west, or north is calling for trouble. The waves can build quickly on this lake. Have you looked at launching out of Sackets Harbor?

For a place to rent...check the following out...

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rentals/new-york/thousand-islands/r6389

scroll down and I think there are some houses that fit your description.

I hope you are referring to a vacation for 2011....might be chilly this time of year.

 

[green anchors]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

We keep our boat in Sackets and make the run up the river several times a season and can not think there is a better place to cruise! We especially like the Canadian side as they have a lot of islands that are empty except for docks for the day tripper or overnight stays. It is .90 a foot for overnight which we don't mind paying at all(honer system). If you are leaving from Oswego do mind the weather, we have been on the lake and seen 2' waves turn to 8' quickly. If the weather is good it is not a long crossing and you should be fine. The Main Duck island is on the way and a great place to stay(limited docking, may have to anchor depending). There are a lot of marinas that have dockage that offer cabins but individual island I don't know of any. I would spend some time online and see what you can find. The Canadian Govt has a good site that offers a decent map of the park islands. As always and especially on the St. Lawrence bring charts...

 

[jserb]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Thanks guys for the great responses, this is exactly the info im looking for. Regarding the trip from Oswego to the St Laurence, yeah 80% is weather dependant; we will be able to gauge the weather before we head out. I like to leave early morning around 730 8AM?.however with this trip its hard to say?we might leave later in the day around 4 or 5PM. And we ALLLLL know it?s a different animal at that time of day, regardless ifs conditions are bad, we will stay shore side and wait it out. But aside from that, has anyone traveled this route before? Just wondering will you see land the entire trip or do you lose sight of land at some point. (makes no difference to me, I?d prefer no sight of land, but since im trying to learn EVERYTHING I can before I go on the trip, I think it?s a fair question to ask?)

If you are going from Oswego to the St. Lawrence, then make sure you are watching the wind forecast. A wind from the East should be ok (depending upon boat size), however, a wind from the west, or north is calling for trouble. The waves can build quickly on this lake. Have you looked at launching out of Sackets Harbor?

- the reason we are leaving from Oswego is because we want to somewhat ?cross / conquer? Lake Ontario. A nice 50 mile cruise is what we are looking for; we really want to experience the Lake. We live on Lake Erie and have that Lake in the bag, we did Michigan ? Chicago Lake Michigan Crossing in 2009 and now we plan to do Lake Ontario. For 2012 It will be Lake Huron through the Soo Locks up onto Lake Superior (to float over the Fitzgerald)?.but we are getting ahead of ourselves..

So if anyone can continue to search for cottages to stay at on private islands in the St Lawrence Seaway please send the links on?cimy3 gave me a great link, but the more the merrier.

Lastly things to do, places to see, suggestions on some of your favorite things to do in the 1000 islands?..were only going to go once and we need your help to do as many things as possible?..

Thanks boys, this is going to be a LIVE post?don?t let me fall down to the 3rd page in this forum??..If you want to see our trip to Chicago and how I documented it search in this forum ?Michigan to Chicago Trip?, you can miss it!

 

[Dick Sorensen]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Jserb....didn't you do the Chicago run this year? Are you planning this cruise for 2011? Superior in 2012? Just checking....you know those fumes get to you deep water sailors!

 

[jserb]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

**** you are right, i edited the post, i had my years all messed up. Im going to the 1000 islands in 2011

 

[lncoop]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

http://www.vrbo.com/search?q=thousand+islands

I've found this to be an excellent resource. I've used it to find rentals everywhere from Florida to Cali. I really enjoyed your last adventure thread and look forward to this one even more. I'm also jealous.

 

[jserb]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

http://www.vrbo.com/search?q=thousand+islands

I've found this to be an excellent resource. I've used it to find rentals everywhere from Florida to Cali. I really enjoyed your last adventure thread and look forward to this one even more. I'm also jealous.

You know i have to tell you i really appreciate the complement on the last tip....its not the easiest thing to summarize your entire trip you been planning for 6 months into a 2 or 3 page trip summary with photos, so thank you for that!

On the other hand...no need to be jealous, your about 8 hrs from the gulf and id LOVE to be able to take a long weekend and drive down their and do some exploring!

Incoop, you know we gotta use em while we got em...there's always the "bus factor" right? - Tomorrow you could wake up and get hit by a bus....-can i hear an AMEN!?

 

[lncoop]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

AMEN BROTHER! You can pick me up on your way to the gulf some time. I promise not to foul the inside of your vessel with my seasickness. Never had a problem with it until a few years ago. Not sure what happened to me. Getting soft I guess.

 

[mr 88]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

As mentioned before charts are a must there. It goes from 100' to 3' in the space of a boat length, I found out the hard way, luckily we were trolling. It also helps in indentifying Islands that are named and getting "lost" in them. Besides the excellent suggestions from the other replys Craiglist in the Watertown or Syracuse listing may have some listings, although at this time of the year it may be sparse.

 

[eastont]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

What size of boat will you be using to cross Lake Ontario? I've boated on Ontario, Erie, Huron and Georgian Bay, and I'd say the most fickle and hardest to predict waves etc., is Lake Ontario. This past summer we were leaving Cape Vincent to go around to Kingston and the forecast was for waves less than a metre, so we headed out. No sooner had we reached the point of Wolfe Island and the waves were at least 2 metres and getting worse, and there is no where to run for refuge once you're out there. Coming from Oswego I guess you could do what many do and stay at Main Duck Island, but that in it's self can be scary as there are a couple for shallow shoals and depending the time of year could be real shallow.

But not to put you off, we love boating the 1000 Islands and there are hundreds of places to see...boat museum in Clayton is not to be missed. Alexandria Bay is one of the busier places, with lots of bars/shops etc. On the Canadian side there is Brockville and Kingston for 2 of the better places with a water front.
If you are going to take a 1000 Islands cruise, go from Alexandria Bay if only because the narrative is in English only. And keep in mind that each time you "land" on either US or Canadian soil you must check in with customs and then check back in when you get back to either shore. It can be very simple, or extremely difficult if you don't. And if I can give you one piece of advice.....never, ever claim to have bought and alcohol or tobacco and brought it into, or taken out of either Country. Smuggling is a huge issue around here because it's so easy to do.

As for an island, there are a few but they are pricey. That link from cimy3 is a good one, but if you Google 1000 Islands rentals, you could find some ads from private islands and not via an agent and their mark up.
I'm presuming you are only looking for US islands. If not Parks Canada owns and looks after many islands and the outhouses are the cleanest you'll find anywhere. They are composting toilets, so no smell.
You can stay tied up to the dock for up to 3 days before you need to move to another island, but if you want to use your boat lots, you probably not want to stay more than one night on an island because in one week, you'd barely see half of them.
Here are some links:
http://www.visit1000islands.com/visitorinfo/
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/lawren/index.aspx
http://boating.ncf.ca/stl.html

 

[jserb]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Yeah, as for the charts and the shoals you are all talking about...consider it well noted...
This is exactly why i started this forum to have you people tell me what to expect. I cant believe some of these people who go on these long trips into unknown waters and expect to be safe and prepared...whats more amazing is they often fail to speak the wisest people a novice Capitan (to the area that is!) can talk to: THE LOCAL BOATERS!
On the boat we have a Garmin 520 so i plan on using a Chip with the charts on it to help use as a navigation aid...(speaking of which before i go buy a $250.00 chip if anyone has a Garmin V2 chip for the 1000 islands that i could borrow for a week, id be more than happy to pay a $100 "rental fee" to the owner!!). Aside from the GPS plotter, i will purchase all the required charts and study them extensively months before the trip (kind of a hobby anyway).


EASTONT!!! - oh man oh man, what kind of a boat do i have?!?!? It just so happens to be an Iboats Special!!!! Search under my user Id and you will find "HUGE PROJECT SCARAB SPORT OVER HAUL!" (under Projects and Restoration) - the guys on this site piratically built this thing with me the entire way!!
- But thank you VERY MUCH for the tips on the lake....as you know each one is different and i need to know what im up against. Thanks EastOnt-keep the "thing to do" list comin!!

 

[eastont]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Well I would think that you'd be okay on Lake Ontario in your Scarab...nice looking boat. A friend has a 30' Scarab that he doesn't like taking out when the water's rough....hates the ride. And I guess that's why you're looking for an island to rent, it's not the most comfortable boat to "live" aboard. While discussing next seasons boating plans, I got to telling my neighbour about your plans and he mentioned he thinks there is a small cottage/cabin that can be rented near Rockport. It's about a 1,000 sq/ft cottage on a 3,000 sq/ft rock.

If it's the one I think he was referring to, it's a rather cool place to look at. It's completely surrounded by a dock and I think it's probably quite basic inside.
If you're interested I could ask him to look into it.

 

[jserb]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Well I would think that you'd be okay on Lake Ontario in your Scarab...nice looking boat. A friend has a 30' Scarab that he doesn't like taking out when the water's rough....hates the ride. And I guess that's why you're looking for an island to rent, it's not the most comfortable boat to "live" aboard. While discussing next seasons boating plans, I got to telling my neighbour about your plans and he mentioned he thinks there is a small cottage/cabin that can be rented near Rockport. It's about a 1,000 sq/ft cottage on a 3,000 sq/ft rock.

If it's the one I think he was referring to, it's a rather cool place to look at. It's completely surrounded by a dock and I think it's probably quite basic inside.
If you're interested I could ask him to look into it.

ABSOLUTELY!
please ask, i am very interested in your description..

 

[jserb]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

This is the planed route....Anyone know of a nice place to stay for a nice in Oswego???

 

[cimy3]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

When I fish tournaments out of Oswego, I like to stay at the Captains Corner (Best Western). It is on the river/harbor.

 

[jserb]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

where do you put in at?

And do you know if i can leave the truck and trailer there for the week?

 

[cimy3]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

I launch using Wright's Landing....

http://www.oswegony.org/ABOUT_marina.html

You might want to check with them about parking for the week because usually it is no overnight parking for those that do not slip their boats. There are two lots. One for day use and one for people that slip there boat. People that slip there boats leave their trailers in the main (day use) parking lot and park in the slipped area overnight. I would contact them and tell them your plans.

Ray

 

[jserb]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

So how about somethings to do while we are there for a week. Keep in mind we will be using the boat all weekend to get around. We wont have a car and things we will visit will need to be accessible by water.....Come to think of it is their a grocery store out their that is accessible by water? How about a Movie theater accessible by water? what have you guys done in the past that you really liked....

 

[eastont]

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

Re: The 2010 Great Adventure to Lake Ontario - 1000 islands!!

jserb, that cabin/cottage/island I mentioned has no amenities other than a compost toilet, and propane lights/stove etc. It is 3 rooms. One with a double bed, one with 2 sets of single bunks and the main room which is kitchen etc. The rent is $750 per week Saturday 2pm until Saturday noon.
I can arrange the rental confirmation for you if you wish. The only problem is............it's booked until 2012. I could hardly believe it when he told me. Apparently the same people rent it year after year. Must be pretty good income.