July 23, 2011 Alexandria Bay NY

We were all up early, showered and shaved. We had spoken to Sari, a dock attendant at the municipal docks in Alex Bay the evening before. She told us that if we called her at 8:00 AM she would help us get a spot there. When we called she said the entire right side of the dock was open. We were docked there by 8:30. We had decided not to do two days of anchoring before we went to Clayton, NY, but instead to stay one more day here, but not at Riveredge where we stayed the past 2 nights.

Riveredge Resort is the most expensive place we have ever docked. It was also one of the most disorganized (remember our docking fiasco) and dirtiest. The rest room in the main lobby was filthy and hot. The boater’s showers were not clean, and never had towels. We will never stay there again. The municipal docks do not have water or electricity, (which is why we did not stay here originally) but are fun and are in a great location, right in the center of activity. Boats are constantly coming and going. We did find another place with docks, the Riverfront Cafe.

After we were settled we had breakfast at the Korner Restaurant. The food was good and it is air conditioned. It was quite hot yesterday and was the same today. We decided to tour Boldt Castle and the Yacht House after breakfast. Jim and I motored over in the Annie M while the others took the ferry. We were therein 10 minutes and waited for the others. Boldt Castle is an amazing place with a very interesting story. http://www.boldtcastle.com/visitorinfo/

Jim and I got back to Excalibur about 1 hour before the rest, who had to wait for 2 ferries and then walk from the dock to the boat. We made good use of our time enjoying a rum and tonic while waiting for Kerry and Jola. We had a mini happy hour with fruit and snacks when they returned.

Jim and Jola left about 5:00 to go to Kingston, Ontario where they will spend the next two nights before rejoining us in Clayton, NY. We shared pizzas with the Myers on Excalibur. By this time it had started to cool down, so Kerry and I sat on a dockside park bench and chatted with people walking the docks.

It was really hard to get to sleep. There was a very bad band playing very loud music until midnight, and then people walking up and down the docks chatting loudly until about 1:30. At least the place is alive.

   

Our sailboats were the only ones in the harbor the entire day, so they created some interest. It was funny to watch people walk up next to the boat and then crane their necks to look up at the top of the mast. They also must not see too many dingys here. Two girls walked by and one said that was a dink, and people did not ride on it. The other said "But it has a motor." One mother told her daughter that the little boat was there in case the big boat sank, and then we would get into the little boat. Tomorrow we will find another anchorage. It is supposed to be much cooler with NW winds.