Military History & Murder Mystery
Chimney Island
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Chimney Island
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For today's paddle I plan to look at a couple of local historic sites as well as a modern castle. I will be launching from a spot off the 1000 Island Parkway very close to my first stop enroute, The put-in is a bit muddy especially with lower water level and is almost totally hidden by shore growth of reeds so one might need to rely on their gondoleer skills to reach sufficient paddling depth.
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| Heading for open water |
Chimney island also known as Bridge island was instrumental in protecting our supply route, the St. Lawrence river during the war of 1812 with the Americans. The British having built a fortified blockhouse in 1814 armed with an 18 pounder canon. The island provided shelter for supply boats and gunboats also mustered there. Today the island is privately owned and the prominent chimney is modern, the original having long disappeared. The island also had a gory history prior to its militarisation in the story of a wealthy frenchman who lived there with his beautiful aboriginal wife. This couple were known for their generosity, providing refreshments to travellers on the river. Then one day the frenchman was found murdered in his canoe but no sign of his beautiful wife who was never seen again. There could be several interpretations but one notes that even today indigenous women are frequently victims of crime, disappearing and sometimes found murdered.
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| Chimney Island |
Dark Isle & Singer Castle
Leaving Chimney island behind I head east then SE for my next location Singer Castle on Dark Isle. I do this by hopping between some small islets, basically big rocks, roosts to 100's of Cormorants and covered in droppings which can be detected at some distance. This way I have roughly 1km open water between islets rather than make one long open water crossing. First up is Griswold then Gull before reaching Dark isle.
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| Griswold Island |
Singer Castle built in 1905 by Frederick Bourne, 5th president of Singer Sewing machines inspired by a novel of Sir Walter Scott's. This at a time another famous castle was being built up river:Boldt Castle. As one approaches from the Canadian side your first view is of the massive boathouse where millionaires can keep their luxury yachts and in Bourne's case a steam powered vessel. Bourne was an aficionado of fast cars and boats and today some of his boats can be seen at a museum in Clayton N.Y.
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| Boathouse |
As I paddle around to the front I can now fully appreciate the architecture of this elegant structure with its turrets and crenellations. Like all good castles this one was designed with secret passageways and even a dungeon. Apparently the passageways were so that "the help" could move around catering to the owners and guests without actually being visible. Perhaps the dungeon was for those who contravened the rules?😏
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| Castle east facade |
This castle is very different from Boldt castle which I have toured and is probably worth a visit someday post pandemic but having seen what I can from the water and having no invitations from Rapunzel this prince is getting back to Canadian waters "tout de suite" as they say in Quebec having no wish to encounter U.S. border patrol again.
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| No Rapunzel😢 |
Adelaide Island
From Singer I head SW for approx 1.5km to Reach Grape island then S just over 1/2km to the start of an archipelago that runs NE from Grenadier island. Now I follow this string of islands to my next destination Adelaide island one of the 1000 Islands National Park islands. Passing between Peel and Robert islands I spot a group of 5 common Mergansers all female, likely in migration.
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Common Mergansers
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Between Peel & Robert Is.
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This is one park island I have never visited and my decision to visit was made when I learned the picnic shelter on it is designated as a historical place. Its design reflecting an aesthetic developed by the National Park system in the 1920's when the 1000 Island National Park was created to open up wilderness areas for the enjoyment of Canadians and tourism. First off I notice there is no docking which I know was there in past years and no boats anchored at mooring buoys still extant. I find a narrow gravel beach beneath a tree that allows me to get the kayak half out of the water and scramble up to higher ground with my chair and lunch. Settling down to eat by the self-serve payment box it looks like the island may be temporarily withdrawn from service, no forms in the box and everything looking a bit overgrown. I suspect the dock was likely damaged or destroyed either 2017 or 2019 the years of high water and severe flooding in the 1000 islands.
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| View from my perch |
I sit on my folding chair having lunch overlooking where I believe the dock once was, the picnic shelter is still there as is some picnic tables and a toilet.
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| Adelaide picnic shelter |
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| View toward Grenadier East |
With lunch over I'm back in the boat and heading home taking the channel through the marsh at the SW shore of Adelaide and then directly across river towards Mallorytown Landing where I'll turn NE and follow the shoreline back to my put-in opposite Chimney Island. As I paddle through the channel I see a gap in the reeds leading to an area enclosed by reeds, so I quietly sneak in hoping to surprise some wildlife. Sure enough I spot a Pied-billed grebe before he spots me. Often hard to see as once they get wind of you they dive and being excellent swimmers will only resurface somewhere out of sight.
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| East Grenadier marsh |
It was another perfect paddling day on the St. Lawrence, till next time.
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Happy paddling!
KayakJock |
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