Boat Trip 2014 - July 12, 13

Yesterday, July 12, we left Beau Rivage to take a slip at the Gananoque Marina for Saturday.  We wanted to replenish our food supplies, do laundry, go to the Playhouse, get a pump-out, top up with water, and go to church today.  But today when we got up, the weather was so miserable - very high winds, much rain - that we decided to stay put for another day.

We saw a musical romantic comedy at the 1000 Islands Playhouse, called "She Loves Me".  It is based on a 1937 Hungarian play called "Perfumerie", similar to the 1997 movie, "You've Got Mail".  It was well done, and lots of fun.

I loved this cute little boathouse/cottage, which was squished in between the Playhouse and the next house.

The weather cleared, though the wind only diminished a little, late this afternoon, so we went for a nice long walk - with the camera of course!  The town is filled with these beautiful hanging baskets.

There is a lovely little park straddling the Gananoque River, on the site where there used to be a shovel factory - they made the shovels for digging the foxholes for the 2nd world war.  There were lots of sculptures in the park, including this life-sized heron, and much larger than life-sized oak leaf.

There was also a pair of beautiful swans swimming in the river.

This is a MUCH larger than life-sized heron, with a fish in it's bill.

The swans seemed to be enjoying being in the spray from the fountain - blown by the wind.

Gananoque's town hall was built in 1831/32 for the family of John MacDonald.  It stayed in the family until 1911, when it was given to the town for a town hall.

Arrrrgggg, this weekend has been Pirate Days in Gan, and we have seen pirates all over the place.  Some little pirate must have lost his hat, and I persuaded  Paul to put it on for a picture. You can see that he was thrilled, but he did it!

This is Grace United Church, where we went this morning.  We chose this one because we became acquainted with the organist on Beau Rivage this week, then met another couple this morning who came to shore to go to that church as well.  The female lead from the play we saw was the guest soloist - she sang "It's Amazing The Things That Float".  ?????

This clock tower, built in 1903, used to be a tower for drying the hoses from the nearby fire department, which is no longer there.  It was donated to the town for use as a clock tower, and rings the hours from 9 am til 9 pm every day.                                                                       




Every time I see the roof on this gorgeous Catholic Church, I am amazed!  It's made of slate, and is beautiful!

Well, it's not a bee, but close enough!

I couldn't believe the colour of these lilies!  I trespassed to take the picture!

There are a lot of big boats in this marina, and most of them have QC on them.  There are also a lot of smaller boats from Quebec here.  Apparently it's cheaper to keep them here for the summer than in Montreal.  Then you can just drive up for the weekend or whatever and take them to an island.  The Quebec construction holiday has not started yet - we may have trouble getting a spot on the islands when it does.

Boat Trip 2014 - July 11

Another glorious day in the islands!  We even got into the water today, briefly - long enough for a bath.  It's pretty cold, but the warm air makes it easier.  Again, it was nice and calm and we went for about a 2 hour ride in the dinghy.  I'm calling Paul "Rudolph" - he's had a little too much sun on the nose.

 
We zipped around between islands where we could never go in the big boat - this was not much wider than we were.

I had one major disappointment!  We saw a pair of swans with babies, but as we got closer to them, they disappeared into these reeds, and we never got to see them up close.

But as we rounded a bend, there was a loon.  We didn't get too close til he dove, but it sure was nice to see him.

And as we looked around for his mate, there she was with junior.

This was one of my favorite places to see with the big stone chimney and all the other stonework.

I couldn't believe the size of the house on this small island - the gardens at the back were really nice as well.  And get a load of the size of boat they have!  $$$$$

And here is the opposite extreme.  Now, who do you think is happiest?  It would be interesting to know, wouldn't it?

"The wise man built his house upon the rock...."  Such a neat little spot.   Man, there are so many lovely places.  So many islands!  There's gotta be a 1000 of them!  :-)

 This appeared to be a family out kayaking together.

We LEARN from OUR mistakes!  Ran out of gas again, but THIS time we were prepared!

Some sailboats come to docks, many anchor out or tie to mooring balls.  I like this one - it looks old, don't know if it is.  Heron flying by.

This is the little bay that we are docked in on Beau Rivage.

 This is the surf Jet that I was telling you about in an earlier post.  It belongs to a Jewish furrier from Montreal, and he just loves his toy! 

We have minks living on the island - in the rocks right across from our boat.  There are at least 3, Paul thinks he saw 4.  Our furrier friend says it would take a LOT of them to make a coat!

And one more look at a lovely snake!  Not sure what he had in mind here - he was right behind the boat.  Thinking about getting in?

What a beautiful day it has been here.  Started out pretty cool, but has been sunny and warm for most of the day.  It was so calm that we decided to go for a ride in the dinghy.

Dawg Daze and the little pup.

 This tiny island is too small for a cottage, but the owners built a dock, and tie up a houseboat.  Clever!

This place is absolutely gorgeous - afraid the picture doesn't do it credit.  All red flowers, white and green buildings and bridge.

 After touring the islands for awhile, we went in to Gananoque.  This little fellow was having such fun at the splash pad.

There is a lovely riverside park right by the public docks, and this band shell is part of it.

 This garrison was built here during the War of 1812.  Gananoque was a strategic point on the St. Lawrence River, as all supplies had to pass through to support British and Canadian troops west of here. 

In 2012, this tribute was made for the contribution made to the War of 1812.

LUNCH!

 A lovely waterfront inn and restaurant.  Bev, do you remember when you and Shirley and I stayed there?  And ate there?

 As we were walking along, Paul spotted 4 minks running along near the water.  These 2 were having a tussle over a fish.

 Not sure if these were youngsters or not, but they seemed to be rough-housing like "kids" would.

We seem to be seeing a few of these Eastern Hog-nosed snakes around here.  They are apparently endangered and harmless.


We had an eventful trip back to the island.  Guess we spent too much time snooping around the islands before going to Gan.  We ran out of gas.  :-(  We took turns rowing until we got to one of the park islands, where there were quite a few boats around, and we begged to buy some gas from the first person we saw.  He not only filled our motor, but would not take anything for the gas - we are to "pay-it-on".  Boaters are amazing people!  These boaters got more exercise today than they planned!

Boat Trip 2014 - July 9

We had a rough night last night on the windward side of Beau Rivage!  I kept expecting the cleat to pull out of the side of the boat!  The wind has still not let up today.  Because we were having battery problems yesterday, we went to Gananoque this morning, parked at the public docks, and took our bikes to Canadian Tire for a new one.  Oh yes, we had breakfast at "Tilly's" on the way.

This is at the town park by the public docks.

 This adorable little dog lives on one the boats near us.  I think he uses his tail for a propeller.  He's a miniature dachshund, and so cute!

These people have a machine that I've never even heard of - a surf jet.  It's like a surf board with a motor on the back.  You can stand on it to ride, or sit.  He had the dog with him, so was sitting this time.

 When we returned from the mainland, we opted for a quieter night, so went to the leeward side of Beau Rivage, where there is a very protected little bay.  We eased into a very tight spot, but one that gives us our own private (sort of) deck!

 This lovely fellow swam under our dock - hope he stays there!

When a tree falls on the park islands, unless it is across a path, it stays where it falls, and is left to rot.  We are not supposed to gather any of it for firewood either.

It's amazing how flowers grow right out of the cracks in the rocks.

Fungi seem to just pop out of the ground after a rain!  So pretty!

When I see a tree like this, I expect a raccoon to stick his head out of a hole, but they never do.   Apparently there are aggressive raccoons on this island, so we will be sure to not leave any food up top in the boat at night.  We have had them on board in previous years a few times.

 This lovely heron seems to hang around this island a lot.

We call this a jigsaw rock.  It's good evidence of what happens with water and frost.  It's powerful stuff!



Well, we are expecting to have a much more relaxing night tonight, sheltered as we are in the little bay.  Though I might not get rocked to sleep!  It's supposed to be pretty cool tonight, and that's not such a bad thing!