After an ordeal of de-weeding and straightening the anchor swivel fitting which had gotten twisted, we finally left the anchorage by Boldt Castle.
We continued past the north end of Wellesley Island and the Summerland Island group and then the Malomar island group, which are just off the New York shoreline. We also saw two lighthouses along the way.
After these series of islands the St Lawrence River widens with fewer granite islands dotting the seaway and to the east, the New York shoreline is more visible with less islands just off its shore. One of these Islands is Dark Island, named originally for the dense forest that did not let the sunlight hit the ground. One of the northernmost Thousand Islands, Dark Island has an interesting past and it’s own castle.
Dark Island was purchased by Frederick Bourne, the fifth President of Singer Corporation in 1900. Over the next two to three years, Bourne’s castle was completed using the stone masons and carpenters and engineers let go after Boldt ended the building of his castle. The castle design was inspired by Sir Walter Scott’s book Woodstock. The 4 story castle is made of granite with 28 rooms, secret passage ways and stairs, a four story bell tower, powerhouse, ice house and two boathouses- one big enough to house his steam powered launch.
Many conveniences were incorporated into the home early on - electricity, radiators, telephones with a switchboard, film projector, record player and lamp that attracts and catches flies and an electric light therapy box, which Bill had to try!!
On the grounds are tennis courts, indoor squash court, outdoor shooting area and canoe launch.
Marjorie Bourne, daughter of Frederick, took possession of the property when her father died and lived here every summer until 1966. She was an avid skier, motorboat racer and sports car driver. She sold the property and then the property fell into disrepair. Today the castle is owned by a German who collects castles, Farhad Valdi, who by chance was staying at the castle. We had to the chance to chat with him and thanked him for restoring and opening the castle to the public.
After the tour we talked with the boat operators which ran the ferries to Singer Island. Always good to have local knowledge of the waters. They reconfirmed that the anchorage we chose was good, so we pulled our lines and headed one half mile east to anchor behind Cedar Island State Park.
Cedar Island is in Chippewa Bay just off the New York shoreline. Half of the island is privately owned and the other half is a state park, with docks, rest rooms, and primitive camping sites. We walked the Island and enjoyed listening to a church youth group kids who were camping on the island and obviously having fun.
Enjoyed a beautiful sunset.
Also we’ve cleared the ARRIVE Can app which is required for crossing into Canada. Wish us luck getting through customs tomorrow.