Cape Vincent and Clayton

Cape Vincent and Clayton 

With the wind at our backs we left with the sun for Cape Vincent at point where the St Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario. After tying up at the Village Dock we biked out to the Tibbetts Point Lighthouse for a foggy view of the lake.  Fortunately the weather did not descend until after we arrived – it was indeed strange to be unable to see the lake we had just left. The lighthouse is still a working light although the fog horn is no longer used.  Apparently it made too much noise! We did watch and listen to one of the lake freighters enter the river sounding his horn every 30 seconds or so in the fog.  We made our early start so we could spend the day in Cape Vincent, but it turned out to be the best weather for our travel as well when that fog dropped and then the rain kicked in.

Our next stop was another boater friendly town, Clayton, a few miles up the river with a handy municipal dock in the heart of town.  We lucked into visiting on the annual FREE family day at the Clayton Antique Boat Museum – a world class facility with more than 300 vintage boats. In our wandering through the fascinating exhibits, I think we may have seen all of them from canoes to speed boats.  In the display honoring long trips in small boats we discovered Nathaniel Bishop’s voyage of the paper canoe. He might be considered the first looper since his 1874 and 1875 canoe trips from Quebec City to the Florida Keys and Pittsburgh to the keys nearly complete our own circumnavigation of the eastern US. His descriptions of the hospitable people he met well over a hundred years ago resonate with our own experiences as well.   His trip along the east coast clearly demonstrated in the late 19^th century the feasibility of a protected inland route along that coast. Thanks to the Gutenberg Project anyone can download his book and experience his journey for free.

 looks like a looper map?

We also took a short cruise on the river in the Zipper, a 1928 wooden boat designed for commuting to work on the Detroit River. Although it was designed in 1928 it was not built until the 1970s making it a vintage boat built with modern techniques. The museum is one of the very few places where the wooden classic boats are available for regular visitor cruises.

 

Our visit also included a tour of the Gilded Age houseboat, La Duchesse, built by George Boldt of Boldt castle fame – more on that in the coming days when we visit his famous castle.

For our added amusement the Dock Dog Competition was being held on the waterfront. Dogs leap off the platform into a pool and are judged by how far they can jump. While most of the dogs flew – at least a few yards, one poor beast balked and only after repeated urging stumbled off the platform. The commentator elaborated on his belly flop but the crowd cheered with lusty sportsmanship.  It was almost as much fun to watch the handlers and spectators as the dogs – nearly perfect free entertainment.  We hardly noticed the chilly temps and cloudy skies.