Alexandria Bay, NY – Kingston, Ontario Canada - July 6, 2008

We left our anchorage in the United States this morning at 8:10 and were tied up in Rockport Ontario at 8:45. Only the captains are allowed to leave the boat to clear customs and you are supposed to fly a yellow flag until the process is complete. By 9:10 both L’Attitude Changer and Bellissimo had been cleared. While cruising in other countries it is customary to fly a small flag of that country. We are both flying our Canadian courtesy flag.

While in Rockport Darrell and Bob bought Canadian fishing licenses. A seasonal license for Lake Ontario was only $42. Margaret and Beth are looking forward to many good walleye meals.

We left Rockport at 10:00 on our way to Kingston. The scenery is absolutely beautiful. There were so many islands, some very rugged looking with granite outcroppings. Others with trees everywhere and more that are just chunks of rock.

Canada operates 21 parks in The Thousands Islands of the St. Lawrence River. Most of these parks are an island, accessible only by boat. They have docks, restrooms and picnic areas. There is a small fee to use, $0.70/ft per night. We went past several and most of them had boats docked. There are also several beautiful places to anchor.

Water depth varies dramatically. We saw some sailboats tied up to a granite wall of an island and lighthouses in the middle of the lake indicating only 2’ of depth yet 20 ft away the water could be 150 ft deep.

We passed the town of Gananoque, the Canadian Gateway to the Thousand Islands. The St. Lawrence River becomes much wider here as it opens into Lake Ontario.

We arrived in Kingston Ontario at 2:00 and were docked at 2:15. The Kingston City Marina is huge and is located in downtown Kingston. It is right next to a very nice park and the Visitor Center.