SVJoli: Tough Anchoring near Iroquois Lock, Ontario

7/12/19 - By the time we left the Inner Harbor at Kingston, it was 1:00, so we decided to go down the river about 10 - 15 miles and then anchor for the night. It was cloudy when we left Kingston but turned into a beautiful day after a couple hours. At about 3:00, Bryan spotted some sailboats anchored in a nice looking bay, Brakey Bay on Wolfe Island. We ended up anchoring there with about a dozen other Canadian sailboats and spent a very peaceful, relaxing evening.

7/13/19 - The anchor was up and we were motoring down the St. Lawrence River by 10:00 am. This part of the river is the Thousand Islands area, and it definitely is! Once we made it into American waters, it seemed like every little island had a cottage, house or large mansion on it. The water levels were still very high and we saw some homes that were closed up with water right up to the house. We made it under the Thousand Islands Bridge and through the American Narrows quickly as the current was pushing us to 8 - 9 knots. What a water playground this area is! Houses line the shore on both sides, some with docks and every water toy imaginable. We also passed a couple freighters in the narrow area - really close!

Our goal was to get near the Iroquois Lock and anchor for the evening. Bryan had identified a good anchoring spot between Presque and Toussaint Islands. The cruising guide said there was good holding and it was close to the lock. There had not been much wind during the day, but as we approached our anchorage, the wind built to 25 knots. Sheesh. It was a pretty narrow area between the two islands and the high water had made the south west slot pretty wide. I couldn’t loosen the windlass so I steered while Bryan set the anchor, not our usual anchoring method. The anchor was skidding across rock, probably because the high water and current had scoured the dirt off the ground. We got it set and learned some lessons about anchoring with this new, great big anchor. It was not a very restful night as there were storms in the area and we were a little worried about the anchor dragging. There was not a lot of time to recover if it did drag. Finally, at about 1:00 am, the storms had all passed and we did get some sleep.