Lake Ontario, Bay of Quinte, Kingston, and 1000 Isles. Latest Water Level Reports

Island Time Buffalo

Active Member
Aug 19, 2014
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Grand Island, NY
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380 Sundancer 1999.
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7.4 Horizons
We normally head up to the Canadian side of Eastern Lake Ontario, Bay of Quinte, and into the 1000 Islands the first 2 weeks of August. I see that most of the major marinas are operating, but what are people seeing relative to general boating conditions, facilities, general navigation, etc. ?

We do have about 5 weeks before we go, but I'm trying to get a measure of progress. We may decide to go the other direction and visit Put-in-Bay, OH instead...... where I probably last left my liver..... but we really prefer Ontario.

Thanks
 
VERY interested to hear the same. Planning August 5-15 to go Irondequoit Bay -> Fairhaven -> Sackets Harbor -> Clayon /Alex Bay and then a similar route home.

We're on irondequoit bay and spent last weekend in the genesee river at the Port of Rochester Marina. Both places are serviceable, and the water is slowly dropping for our home marina. No issue with debris on the lake until we reached the mouth of the genesee where it was a mine field. I had my wife go to the bow and watch while we idled into port.

Sodus also looks like it's emerging from the depths. I should be out there July 1-3 so I can report what it is like in there. I do know both Irondequoit and Sodus have 5mph speed limits throughout.
 
So, I'm finally in at Wilson, 2 Fridays ago. Levels are still damn high. The guys at my place (Wilson Boatyard) on the East end of the bay were able to raise their fixed docks, and the floater that I'm on is no longer in danger of ripping away from the breakwall. So we're pretty well business as usual.

Bootleggers Cove (Sunset), Moyers, and a couple of others still have a lot of their fixed stuff under water, not watered or powered.

I haven't been out on a cruise yet, still sorting out some odds and ends, but plan on heading somewhere Saturday, then later in the season, 2 other trips, one up the Trent to Peterborough, and another over to Sodus.
 
Friends of ours (we're actually still considering it depending on sodus) are going to Wilson July 1-5. Would you say the harbor in general is "visitable", as in restaraunts/bars and such are open or is it still pretty dead?
 
Yeah, Wilson is still hopping pretty well. There are the two main restaurants on the bay. Wilson Boathouse (I'm docked right there) on the East end, and Sunset Grill (towards the West) are both still pretty busy. I haven't taken a recent look at the docks at Bootlegger's Cove (surrounding Sunset Grill), but last I looked, they were still in rough shape, mostly under water.

If your friends (and possibly you) are doing transient dockage with Wilson Boatyard (Kevin), then no problems at all. Those docks are high enough. Plus it's generally a bit more lively over there.
 
Oh, also, if you want to keep an eye on things there, here's a link to a still webcam (takes a shot when you click the link)

http://www.wcecinc.com/harbor-cam-live

My boat is facing the camera, far right
 
Cool! Thanks. I'm thinking it's going to be Wilson if we can still get a slip, I'll probably call tomorrow. Katelynn marine in sodus informed me that the fireworks are cancelled, no power on the docks, and you'll get wet walking to the boat. Not exactly my idea of a vacation
 
Ok cool. If you don't already have a place here, call Kevin at 716-863-1001. Just spoke with him on the phone. He's tight that weekend but it's possible. He'll know for sure Friday
 
Ok cool. If you don't already have a place here, call Kevin at 716-863-1001. Just spoke with him on the phone. He's tight that weekend but it's possible. He'll know for sure Friday

I'll do that, thanks again. Once I know for sure if we're going I'll let you know so I can walk down and give you a beer as a thank you for all the info
 
Just an update on Wilson, we decided to just do a night at Sodus Marina because my wife is only free for one night. Seemed silly to go all the way to wilson for a night, so we'll do it later in the year.

I did talk to someone who has a cottage in clayton yesterday and they said the water is very high. He wasn't positive on the marina situations but his dock which is normally 2-3 feet above the water is still 1 foot under. There is also a no wake zone 800' from shore on both sides. They mentioned many of the channels run closer to shore than the limit so you're forced to putt along when going through the river. Could make a very long trip for us to get into alex bay.
 
And on pretty short notice, we're heading your way with some friends this weekend. Staying over at Port of Rochester Thursday through Saturday nights. Heading to Sodus for the day Saturday.
 
And on pretty short notice, we're heading your way with some friends this weekend. Staying over at Port of Rochester Thursday through Saturday nights. Heading to Sodus for the day Saturday.

You'll love the port. They did really good things with that new marina and the facilities are nice. Plenty to do on the river now too. If our boat is back in the water (blew a drive up) and we're in the area I'll pop in. We stayed at Sodus Marina for the night over that July 4th weekend. Rick is great and was able to get us on a floater, also a fantastic facility. At the time the only place pumping gas was Arney's though, so if you need to fuel up out there I'd probably head there first and then to wherever you're staying / dropping anchor.
 
We normally head up to the Canadian side of Eastern Lake Ontario, Bay of Quinte, and into the 1000 Islands the first 2 weeks of August. I see that most of the major marinas are operating, but what are people seeing relative to general boating conditions, facilities, general navigation, etc. ?

We do have about 5 weeks before we go, but I'm trying to get a measure of progress. We may decide to go the other direction and visit Put-in-Bay, OH instead...... where I probably last left my liver..... but we really prefer Ontario.

Thanks

Pulled into Clayton Municipal Marina yesterday, of course floating docks but I have not seen any fixed docks around town underwater. Harbormaster here says the water is about 10" to 12" higher than normal right now, no big deal. Water is it's usual crystal clear. No navigational issues. If this was my first time here, I wouldn't know the difference. We're staying in the area 8 or 10 days, if I see anything that would make me not want to be here, I'll post it here. Good to see that things are returning to normal.
 
Ok, it's been a few days, as stated above, no problems in Clayton. RJ Marine is selling fuel 24/7 as usual. Dockage at The River Edge in A Bay, no problem. We do not stay there (too much $) but we saw many boats there on our way to the A Bay town dock. A-Bay town dock has installed temporary floating docks alongside the main fixed dock to accommodate boats. Bonnie Castle had no vacancy, docks apparently fine. We don't stay at the Canadian National Park docks but it appears they are all full as usual. In Gananoque now and no problem at the Municipal Marina. The TI Theater dock is right at water level with waves lapping over. Many cottage owners docks are under water, so all cruising through both "millionaires rows" are no wake. I took a bunch of pictures but Wi-Fi here not good enough to download them. 3 below show River Edge and dock built up on the dock at the castle. Private vessel docking has reopened at the castle. Private cottage
 

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Cool, thanks for the 1000 Islands update. Definitely want to do that next year.


You'll love the port. They did really good things with that new marina and the facilities are nice. Plenty to do on the river now too. If our boat is back in the water (blew a drive up) and we're in the area I'll pop in. We stayed at Sodus Marina for the night over that July 4th weekend. Rick is great and was able to get us on a floater, also a fantastic facility. At the time the only place pumping gas was Arney's though, so if you need to fuel up out there I'd probably head there first and then to wherever you're staying / dropping anchor.

You're right, it's amazing. The people are fantastic, the facilities are state of the art. I love the movable cleat system on the docks. We were on the first transient dock on the left as you come into the marina. Hell, they'll deliver ice to you. That's cool in itself. Had great view of that 4-lane launch. Always a good time.

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hahah that launch is a beauty. Looks like you had a nice spot, the cleats are fantastic and the docks are so stable even though they're floaters. Any debris at the mouth of the river? It was ugly when we were last there 3 weeks ago
 
hahah that launch is a beauty. Looks like you had a nice spot, the cleats are fantastic and the docks are so stable even though they're floaters. Any debris at the mouth of the river? It was ugly when we were last there 3 weeks ago

We even got to see actual sparks at that launch ramp.

Yep, floaters were stable enough so that I could put together a breffus burrito bar together Saturday morning after last shots were served at 2:30am (nice that we were the only ones at that particular area that night).

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Few floating alligator-looking things around when we did a river cruise, but nothing crazy.
 
Can of you Wilson guys recommend any marinas for a weekend aside from Wilson boatyard? Wanted to go Thursday-Saturday/Sunday or so this weekend but they're filled up (I waited too long to call) @bracketracer
 
That's a tough one, since Bootleggers docks, Moyers, and most other fixed dock marinas are still under water. Let me see what I can do. Stay tuned...
 
That's a tough one, since Bootleggers docks, Moyers, and most other fixed dock marinas are still under water. Let me see what I can do. Stay tuned...

Damn I wondered about bootleggers looks like a nice place now, don't kill your self over it we can stay local for the weekend I just wasn't sure if there were others I didn't know about. Thanks man
 

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