Gananoque

ONE PARTICULAR HARBOUR – GANANOQUE

By Andy Adams

I know of no other boating location quite like the town of Gananoque in the Thousand Islands.

The graceful double-ended St. Lawrence rowing skiffs were a swift and effective way to travel through the area in the 1800s carrying cottagers to their islands, visiting millionaires to the fishing grounds and transporting all manner of goods through the beautiful and sheltered island area. Today, you still see St. Lawrence rowing skiffs as well as kayaks, sailboats ranging in size from dinghies to yachts and powerboats of all kinds from trailerable family-runabouts to super yachts and all the way up to Great Lakes freighters that are hundreds of feet long.

It’s a fabulous area for boating and summer recreation and the Thousand Islands still offers clean water for swimming and places to catch fish. There are numerous parks as well as all manner of hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfasts with truly, something to suit every taste and budget.

What I love best is the rich history of the Gananoque area. There’s so much to see and explore in both the greater Thousands Islands area and right into the quaint  Gananoque downtown.

We took the Gananoque Cruise lines sightseeing trip through the area just to get the expert commentary and we highly recommend that. Visiting boaters should make sure they have their charts out and handy. Coming into Gananoque can be a bit tricky in the dark with a keelboat but once there, there are marina facilities, repair yards in many places to dock your boat.

As a visiting boater, you can even tie up at the amazing Boldt Castle on Heart Island. There’s a customs office right at the dock. While you’re there, take the extra shuttle boat over to the Boldt Castle Yachthouse. It’s an American heritage property and is a simply stunning piece of architecture that any boater would appreciate.

This visit, we stayed at the Gananoque Inn and Spa which is right on the water on Stone Street in the oldest part of Gananoque. The buildings were originally the Gananoque Carriage Works founded in the 1870s and were converted into a hotel in June of 1896. It’s a charming and comfortable place to stay with an excellent dining room. The food was delightful and several of the dishes were decorated with edible flowers grown in the hotel’s own gardens. I couldn’t resist having the breaded pickerel!

Whether it’s your final destination or a place you are boating through, plan to spend as much time as you can in Gananoque. It’s a treasure!

Photos:

Photo 1:  The Gananoque Inn and Spa is right in the heart of historic Gananoque, within easy walking distance of the Gananoque Cruise Lines docks, shopping and many restuarants.

Photo 2:
You can tie up and tour fabulous Boldt Castle and the Boldt Castle Yacht House. This was the “Children’s Play House” in the late 1800s!

 
The marina is a short walk from the Gananoque Inn and Spa but the hotel has docks as well.
Edible flowers from the Gananoque Inn gardens decorated many dishes in the hotel’s Watermark Restaurant.

Related Articles

The Royal Victoria Yacht Club N48 27.2’ W123 17.7’

The Royal Victoria Yacht Club N48 27.2’ W123 17.7’

The Coast Mountain Range and the Insular Mountains that form Vancouver Island make it a truly unique geographical area. Generally it is a region of heavy precipitation, but the mild temperatures and long frost-free periods are the rule and that certainly doesn’t categorize it as Canadian.

Prior to the white seamen arriving in the area now known as the Uplands, some dozen or so native groups who all spoke Salish inhabited and played lacrosse on the sandy beaches that still remain on the coast from Sidney to Beecher Bay. These were coastal, seafaring tribes who always travelled by water, never land, and were, for the most part peaceful.

The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club

The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club

In 1791, a 36 foot sailboat from Spain, captained by Don Jose Maria Narvaez anchored off Point Grey and ventured into Burrard Inlet. The sailors noted several native settlements that were eager to trade and came close by in their dugout canoes. One year later, Captain George Vancouver arrived and set about surveying the coastline. After this flurry of activity the area remained undisturbed and it would be 70 years before the beautiful timber would be cut, sawmills built, and larger ships arriving in a steady stream. This, my friends, was the beginning of Gastown and its many drinking establishments. As the main transportation was by water, young men with time on their hands, when they weren’t boozing, built their own sloops.

 

Video Gallery

Pursuit S268 Sport CC

By Andy Adams

The Pursuit S 268 Sport centre console is a do-it-all kind of boat with a solid sense of style. Centre console designs have been developed for the southern blue water sport fishing enthusiasts (and this boat would raise fish with the best of them) but the Pursuit S 268 Sport centre console offers far more utility and enjoyment than just fishing.

Read More

Destinations

Bayfield Marine Turns 40 with Big April Events

(l to r) Holly, Adam, Pat, Ron, Shelley

Ron and Pat Reder started out in October 1984 across the road from where they are right now on the Bayfield River in Bayfield ON. The store front was about 10 x 20 and the rest of that side of the building was a stock room, wood finishing room, then behind that was more back stock and the lunchroom. Expanding every few years for the store front, then moving over to this new building five years ago, this year with Adam, Shelley, and Holly are carrying on the business.

Read More

Lifestyle