Camelot Island Kayak Camping

 Camelot Island

1000 Islands Kayak Camping

Note: click on images to see larger.

June 21 - June 23

My friend Pat and I decided a good way to celebrate my birthday was to do a two night camping trip to my favourite campsite of the 1000 Islands, namely site 1 on Camelot Island.   So we meet at Clark's Marina in Willowdale about 2 km west of Gananoque off Hwy 2.   I have used this marina many times over the years as a good place to leave our vehicles, parking is reasonable.  We unload the kayaks and set them at the outer edges of the ramp so hopefully not interfering with any power boat launches and begin the loading of gear.

Boat loading at ramp

 Boats loaded and our cars parked in the transient parking area we set off to follow the channel from Clark's down to the Bateau Channel which will lead us out to the Admiralty Island group SW of Gananoque.  Weather is hot with almost no wind so flat calm.   Before exiting the Bateau channel you cross the path of the Howe Island ferry which this day seemed quite busy.  After passing the ferry you are in the Admiralty Islands and we swing by Beau-Rivage a park island then the south tip of Lindsay island then around the north tip of Bostwick island home to Half Moon Bay where church services are held for island boaters.  Somewhere around here we pass a tour boat from Kingston in the design of a paddle steamer which is fake.

Kingston tour boat

From here we aim for Huckleberry Island then set our sights on the Navigation light at Barge island at which point we can see Camelot to the ENE of us at approx 1.25 kms distance.   On arrival at Camelot we pull the yaks ashore and begin the unloading then hauling the gear uphill to site 1 where we set up the tents and get our bedding organised.  I have a cot (Helinox Cot 1) which has made all the difference to the quality of sleep I get, in fact I think if I didn't have it I probably wouldn't be camping as I had found just sleeping on an air mat was way too uncomfortable and gave me a sore back.  Our camp set-up can be seen below.

Kayak landing at Camelot

Camp set-up site 1

First thing we do after set-up is have our lunch as we had been running a bit late we opted to wait until arriving on site before having lunch.  Then we purchase a bag of firewood and pay for 2 days of beaching permits which is over and above the cost of site rental.  Beaching permits allow you access to any of the park islands and is paid for on site.    No more paddling for today so we spend some time gathering twigs and prepping the fire for this evening and then it is time to make dinner, my responsibility for the first night and it is my old staple spaghetti with meat sauce and a ceasar side salad.  After dinner we light our campfire and sit around and just enjoy the evening.

Campfire

Then it is off to bed after a very pleasant day.  Before retiring I dump a pot of water on the embers just to be on the safe side, we certainly don't need any more wildfires there has been quite enough of them around this year!

A little tardy getting up, 7:40 but what the heck it's my birthday I'm allowed to sleep in!   Another lovely day and I'm making today's breakfast; pancakes with bacon and syrup plus O.J. and coffee.   After breakfast we will head out for a paddle.   With breakfast over it is down to the landing to stow some gear in the yaks before heading off for today's paddle.  Just before we leave our camp we have some surprise visitors, a gaggle of Canada geese with this year's young have come up to wander around the grass looking for something to eat.

Today's visitor

We decide to head NE towards the Fleet Islands and along the way we spot yet another of the many Osprey nests to be seen in the 1000 islands.

Osprey nest

Today's paddle

Our course takes us NE following the line of the Fleet islands passing to the east of Prince Regent Island before turning left through the Gananoque Narrows to go NW towards Gordon island which is a park island so we can land there and have our lunch.   I have never camped on Gordon as I'm not crazy about the layout there and the kayak landing at the SW corner is pretty crappy, not great for unloading a kayak.  We paddle around and check it out but decide we will land at the main dock on the east side.   This is quite high and requires a bit of effort to climb up, I then use my bow rope to tether my yak to the bridge to shore so I can't be charged for mooring.

Gordon Is. dock

Having found a suitable picnic table we sit and have a relaxing lunch.  After awhile we hear a boat approach and it turns out to be the parks boat checking the faciities on the island.  Of course the ask if we have beaching permits and we explain we are camped at Camelot and purchased the permits there.  As they had already been to Camelot they would have found our payment in the box so no problem.   With lunch over we head back to Camelot aiming for Sugar island then turning SW but keeping to the opposite side of the islands we passed on our way up to Prince Regent.   Arriving back at camp we prep the fire for the evening and then generally laze around and read for the rest of our afternoon.   There are a fair number of insects to be found on these islands including wood roaches and millipedes that can usually be found under groundsheets and bags but today we see an interesting one making its way up a tree.   Turns out it is called an eastern eyed click beetle and is about 2 inches long, see below.

Eastern eyed click beetle

Now today is Pat's turn to make dinner and she is making me a pizza for my birthday.

Ta da!

Not only that but I get carrot cake with cream cheese icing for dessert complete with candle!

Birthday dessert

Just room for 1

Chef boyardee at work!

So all in all a pretty good way to celebrate a birthday and we enjoy the rest of our evening sitting around the fire.  Weather for tomorrow is supposed to be cloudy warm and humid but no precipation until evening so just fine for our paddle back to Clark marina.  Morning comes and it is not too bad at all, cloudy as forecast but nice and warm with almost no wind. On waking we both begin to break camp, I start with packing up what's inside, sleeping bag cot and clothing then move to dismantle tent. So Pat makes breakfast with her version of egg McMuffin, fried egg and bacon on a muffin, juice and some strawberry/rhubarb fruit dish all very tasty.  The site is supposed to be vacated by 11:00 and I know it is booked for the weekend so after our hearty breakfast we haul gear down to the landing to start packing the kayaks.

Packing up the kayak

By about 10:30 we are ready to roll and our heading will be SW just outside of American waters to begin with, passing Netley island then Deathdealer island and no it's not in the U.S. but who knows maybe they had some inflence on it's naming😉.  We continue this heading to Jolly island where we do pass through some U.S. water but luckily no one shot at us!  At Jolly we turn right to aim for the top of Thwartway island (or Leek island) which is also a park island.

Pat in her Atlantic kayak

From the top of Thwartway if you look NW you can make out the sign for Half Moon Bay, a white crescent moon.  This is where a religous service is held for boaters/cottagers of the 1000 islands and has a pulpit and a wire around the inside of the cove where boaters can tether their boats while they listen to the sermon.  We use this landmark and head for it.

Heading to Half Moon Bay

Pat in Half Moon Bay

From here we retrace our course round tip of Bostwick island then skim past Beau-Rivage to head into the Bateau Channel and the turn off to Clark Marina and home.  Arriving at Clark we find a grassy area where we can drag out the yaks without using the main ramp as the owner was complaining about the time we spent on the ramp so this worked out fine.

Happy paddling!

from

KayakJock

Molly's Gut & Cole Shoal

 Molly's Gut

Molly's Gut

Note: Click on an image to see it larger.

Today I am heading upriver to a small sheltered bay known as Molly's Gut and perhaps a bit further to pass around 5 Mile Light at Cole's Shoal.   I will begin my paddle at St. Lawrence Park in the west end of Brockville; at the top of the"T" in Track oo1 above.

St. Lawrence Park

 My interest in this area peaked after first seeing a postcard depicting a sunken wreck then reading an article which described the raising and salvage of a private yacht called the "Morning Star"at Gananoque in 1948.  The article went on to say that it was possible the "Morning Star" had ended up as one of the wrecks at Molly's Gut as the person who raised her and towed her from Gananoque ran his business at Hillcrest in Molly's Gut.

 Raising of Morning Star 1948
Photo by Maude May
 Maude May/Guild/ Hennessy Fonds LTIarchives

Unfortunately to this day the final whereabouts of the Morning Star remains a mystery.  Still, reason enough for an investigative paddle to see what can be seen at Molly's Gut.  A little slow going as winds are from SW gusting 20k so fighting current which is considerable among the islands and a headwind.

Strong current

Sparrow Island

I go more towards the center of the river outside the islands to miss the Brockville narrows, a shallower area with fast current until I reach Sheaffe island where I swing right to head for Molly's Gut.

Entrance to Molly's Gut

Turning in at the first channel I go straight to an area that I thought I could see a shadow on Google Maps and sure enough there is some kind of wreck submerged here with even a small portion sticking out of the water.

Wrk1

Wrk1

I now decide to stop for lunch and head over to the smaller island which belongs to city of Brockville and has some docking attached  at the NW corner, this is where I tie up and get my chair out for lunch. The other island De Wattville is private.

Lunch break

After lunch I check out the island, it has a campsite at the south end with a possible landing at the SW corner although with low water levels looks kinda tight.

Possible landing

Campsite

After a quick look round its back to the kayak for another look for wrecks.  The east side of this island is where there appears to be a second wreck, also some strange looking submerged frame of considereable size, purpose unknown.

Wreck locations

Wrk2

There is one other location where I have been told there is another and also that location would be a good fit for the postcard I saw.  This is off the east side of De Wattville island almost south of the campsite mentioned earlier.   Unfortunately I could not see anything, it is deeper water and today is not the best as not enough sun and there is some chop from the wind so will need to check on some other visit.  With the stiff SW wind I decide not to paddle to Cole Shoal but head around De Wattville to a point where I might get a long range photo of it.   Cole Shoal is better known as 5 mile light due to its distance from Brockville.  A lighthouse was established there around 1856 along with 8 others along the river to aid navigation between Brockville and Kingston.  I seem to recall Mail boats ran between those two cities once upon a time.

5 Mile light on Cole Shoal

This historical landmark lasted until July 23 2018 when an electrical storm caused it's destruction by setting it on fire.  I memorialised this event by doing a pastel on canvas board shown below.

5 Mile light
pastel

Thankfully enough people were upset at this loss that money was raised and a new replica was built and maybe in a hundred or so years it will aquire similar character as the original😏.

So time to head home this time going downstream first passing the navigation light at Molly's Gut entrance then through the beginning of the Narrows and out to go around the outside of Sparrow and Stovin islands.  As I near the seaway channel I'm passed by the Federal Yoshino a bulk carrier enroute from Montreal to Cleveland.

Nav light

Federal Yoshino

Staying out closer to mid-stream I pass Refugee island before turning in to pass Skelton island beyond my take-out and carry on to Brockville before turning back to St. Lawrence park where a happy crowd was enjoying the beach and I can call it a day load up and drivc home.

St. Lawrence Park beach

Happy paddling!

from

KayakJock

Grenadier - Fall Colour

 Grenadier Island

Finally a perfect day to paddle and enjoy the beautiful Fall colours after several days of high winds and intermittent rain.  So ideal for a circum-navigation of Grenadier Island and being a weekday not likely to be much boat traffic to interfere with our enjoyment of the peaceful surroundings.   Arriving at the Parks Canada Mallorytown Landing boat ramp we are happy to find that we can park for free as the self serve machine has been taped up and is not in service, an added bonus!

Beach- Mallorytown Landing

Three of us today and we launch from the beach behind the visitor centre rather than use ramp thereby avoiding any boaters with trailers etc.  From the beach we head SE for an open water crossing of just over 2 km to reach the marsh at the NE end of Grenadier.  This is a rather pretty area where you might find Mute swans, ducks and the occasional marsh bird like Pied-billed grebe.  It is also fun to paddle through the marsh grass.

There are two distinct channels through the marsh, we take the right one which will angle over towards the bay leading to Grenadier East, one of several camping areas on the island.  Rounding the NE corner of Grenadier we will now travel SW along the outer shores of the island as we head to Grenadier Central the largest camping area where there is a beach and we can stop for a lunch break.

On this side of the island you are but a short distance from the international border and the shipping channel which lies just within U.S. waters.  About 1/3 of the way to our lunch stop we pass Sister island with it's lighthouse which almost straddles the Canada/U.S. border but actually is on the U.S. side.  Also of interest in this area is a wreck site in the bay west of Sister island, in calm water and the right light some of the long timbers can be seen from the kayak.  It used to be marked by a plastic bottle float which seems to have since disappeared.

Position approximate

Just after passing Sister island we get a good view of a vessel as it heads downstream, an oil/chemical tanker the Atlantic Spirit destined for the Netherlands.

Atlantic Spirit

Approaching Grenadier Central we are treated to a blaze of Fall colours and tranquill waters as we paddle in toward the beach to take out and have lunch.

Grenadier Central

In the summer this bay gets quite busy as many boaters choose to anchor here as being very shallow it is a great spot for swimming, but today thankfully we have it all to ourselves.

After lunch we continue with our SW travel until we round the end of Grenadier  through the channel past Little Grenadier and Buck islands before turning NE to once again follow the shoreline of Grenadier going back towards Mallorytown.   At this point to the west we can see the Ivy Lea international bridge and off in the SSW we can just discern the rooftops of Boldt Castle above the treeline.

Ivy Lea Bridge

In this channel we pass the docks of Grenadier West which has docking facilities but no camping just day use.  

Private property near Grenadier west

We will continue this course until reaching Squaw island which is separated from Grenadier by a grassy marsh which although very shallow can be navigated by a kayak.  Just before this is a large wheel in the water, not really sure what it is but it makes for an interesting photo.

Mystery wheel

Just shortly after passing Squaw island we set a new course northward which will bring us back to Mallorytown Landing to end our paddle.

Heading north to Mallorytown Landing

Happy paddling!
from
KayakJock