A Superb, Historical Sunset Cruise of Discovery in the 1,000 Islands

proudly presents:

A Sunset Cruise in

The 1000 Islands. Brockville, Ontario, Canada.

written & photographed by: Fergus JM Ducharme,

assisted by: Roselyn J. Parrenas & Jessica Ducharme-Gauthier.

2

Now, I hadn’t been on a 1,000 Islands

Cruise in over 30 years when I was the

General Manager of one of Canada’s

leading tour operators. Things haven’t

changed that much since my last island

tour.. We, all four of us, Roselyn,

Jessica, Granddaughter Alexandra and

myself were brimming with joy and

excitement at what we could discover in

Eastern end of the famed 1,000 Islands

She Who Must be Obeyed # 1 &

She Who Must be Obeyed # 2.

It’s couple of days before we start the homeward bound trip to Iloilo after a

magnificent vacation visiting with family and friends. She Who Must be Obeyed

had never had the opportunity to do a 1000 Islands Cruise and we all decided that

today was to be the day. So, here is Roselyn’s 1000 Islands Cruise, we hope you

enjoy it as much as she did!

The Fair Jean is

docked in Brockville’s

inner harbour.

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I say that ‘we’ decided that today would be Roselyn’s opportunity to see a part of the

1,000 Islands for the first time. The ‘we’ refers to Jessica and Alexandra, my daughter

and granddaughter.

Contrary to popular opinion there are not 1,000 Islands in this section of the St

Lawrence River. There are actually over 1,800 of them. Now, the Canadian

Government definition of an Island is important to remember while visiting this region.

It states that an island is a piece of ‘land’ which is at least 3 feet above water level

and has no less than 2 trees on it…

Here is an example of one of the islands which is solely inhabited by a flock of

cormorants, who have actually taken over the island and have become a ‘pest’.

Repeated efforts to control them have failed and there seems to be little or nothing that

can be done about them. They apparently reproduce as fast or faster than rabbits, their

guano causes a pervasive stink over the island and surrounding waters and they eat

over 2.5 times or more of their weight in fish every day. That has local commercial and

recreational fishermen extremely concerned about the fishery in this section of the river.

As we get underway we leave the harbour and head towards the east. We head towards

the : “Three Sisters” which are three small islands that officially mark the beginning of

the 1,000 Islands, which as we mentioned consists of over 1,800 islands between the

“Three Sisters Islands” at Brockville to the “Two Brothers Islands” immediately east of

Kingston at the mouth of Lake Ontario.

These are “The Three Sisters” Islands, two of which are uninhabited except for the

Cormorants we talked about moments ago and the third has a small cottage and an

outbuilding…

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The only inhabited of The Three Sisters Islands, across the channel facing the town of

Morristown, New York


Facing The Three Sisters Islands along the Ontario shore, almost immediately across

the River from Morristown, NY is what is called Brockville’s Millionaires Row, featuring

several heritage homes built on the 1800’s by the then multi-millionaires of the region.

One of the most interesting of these homes is the Fulford Mansion which was actually

built by Fulford who made his fortune by manufacturing and selling: Dr William’s Pink

Pills for Pale People. The home includes over 20,000 square feet of living space. We’ll

have a more extensive visit in the coming weeks.




A look back towards Brockville

city as the tour boat turns to

head west, you are impressed

by the view of the skyline which

appears to be dominated by

church steeples…there are

actually four churches that

dominate the skyline.

Some of the historical buildings in Morristown, NY



Summer homes along the Canadian side of the St Lawrence






One of the over 1,800 Islands in the 1,000 Islands Group















A cemetery along the St Lawrence River in the 1,000 Islands














































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A Superb, Historical Sunset Cruise of Discovery in the 1,000 Islands