Cruise on a Great Lakes freighter Episode 3

With the loading of the stone complete, the ship took off up river back to Hamilton. As luck would have it, the first four or five hours took us through the 1000 Islands portion of the St. Lawrence Seaway in daylight on a warm Sunday, which translated in many interesting sights. Along this portion of the river, one can find many interesting houses, mansions, even castles, as well as interesting landscapes. All pleasure boat traffic adds another dimension.

After half an hour or so, the town of Brockville, Ontario popped up along the shore. It is not often in North America that you see a skyline so dominated by church steeples. Seems to me though, that all this effort building separate churches would have been better spent in building houses for the poor and old folks. Wouldn’t one church have been more than enough? Oh wait, I digress.

Then there is Boldt’s Castle, talk about excess. But at least it is unique. Built by a wealthy industrialist eager to show off his fortune, it dominates the river’s shore for a good little while. This is one of the “outhouses” belonging to the castle, added on later.

The other extreme of living on the river is this:

 

But at least there isn’t a lot of grass to cut.

Lots of boat traffic must have meant a real headache for the captain and his crew.

 

Seadoos are a dime a dozen when the weather is right.

Cormorants make the most of a dead tree. I bet they are saying, ‘Finally a friggin’ tree without leaves. Now I can see properly. Why don’t they build more of these?’

And the Cayuhoga plowed forward, piloted by Duane, the first mate, who knew every nook-and-cranny on this sometimes very narrow waterway.

The company’s motto is displayed on the flag:

Actually, it says don’t give up the ship. I think I shot about 10 shots trying to get it right. Failed. What else is new….

And the company’s flag:

After the bridge at Gananoque (leading to the US), the river becomes wider and a little less interesting.

Once we exited the river and were back out onto Lake Ontario, we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

To be continued…