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Summary:

When: Summer 2010

Where: St. Lawerence River (Gananoque - Beau Rivage Is. - Gordon Is. - Endymion Is. - Beau Rivage Is. - Gananoque)

How: We rented houseboat 'Omega' (probably sign that this is our last houseboat journey) from the company Housboat Holidays Ltd. in Gananoque, Ontario and went down St. Lawrence River (east). Our most eastern point was Gordon Island where we were promised good fishing. All islands belong to St. Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada and have dockings where we stayed overnight and spent daytime as well.

Why: See these pictures and you will fall in love to this place as we did.

Who is who:

George, Valentina, Anton, Natasha, Eugene

Crew Members:

George
captain
New York, NY

Valentina
cook,
camerawoman
Parlin, NY

Natasha
senior mate
Fort Lee, NJ

Eugene
first mate
Fort Lee, NJ

Anton
second mate
Marlboro, NJ

Abstracts from the Diary.
Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Day 1 – July 19, Monday
	We woke up before the sun could even shine a ray of hope onto our vacation. As experienced travelers we made a new route to the St. Lawrence 1000 Islands from Parlin, NJ. Traveling in the early morning starting 6a.m. The crew drove along the Garden State Parkway - Rt. 287 - Rt. 80 - Rt. 380 to Rt. 81 where we stopped along the way to Syracuse. From the grand-...-grand-child-home of the great Archimides, we traveled towards the Canadian/American border, passing the town of Watertown where a misfortune would occur in the next 7 days. We reached the town of Gananoque at around 1p.m. where we resupplied our milk and eggs under the cook's command. With no time to waste, we loaded our luggage onto Omega, the boat that we would live on for the next week. George had talked to the manager and signed all the needed paperwork, where he proudly refused to buy insurance for the boat; trying to save $70. This was the first big mistake George made that whole week. We sailed to Beau Riveage, our beloved island which we came to love last year. As Valentina set the table for dinner (bottom left) Eugene scouted the island and found a ring screwed into a rock which can be used as a docking bollard during a storm(bottom right). We unpacked all of our luggage and ate a hearty dinner. Eugene and Anton got the water guns ready for an attempt to mutiny the ship the following day!
Day 2 – July 20, Tuesday
	The second day we decided to stay on the same island. We conducted a basketball tournament in our own "backyard" by jumping offf the roof of our "house", Anton and Eugene slam dunked into the water. As Anton performes his signature move, the crane (top right), he leads Eugene 3-0. Then Eugene steals the ball. Anton helplessly waddles to recover the ball, but Eugene shoots... and misses!!!(top left) Number nine dives in for a rebound (bottom left) and ties the game 3-3, right before lunch time. With the game "tied" at lunch time, will the Knicks or the Lakers win by dinner time? See video1 and video2.
Day 3 – July 21, Wednesday
	Today was the day when a very special woman was born. Her name is Olga Rotach. To wish Anton's mom a happy birthday, we had to sail into American waters where we could call her. Our navigator plotted a course towards the island of Camelot, where we would call Olga, where Natasha would call unemployment and where we would dock for the night. We were searching for the At&t service other than the Rogers Wireless service Canada, which should not be confused with Jolly Roger which was hanging out the poop deck . This plan was decided upon by the crew, mostly though by George and Eugene, who would soon mess up their carefully thought out plan. On our way to the island of Camelot , our encounter with the strong wind blew us off course. We ended up far away from our destination point, but nevertheless we ended up in American waters. (If you look at the map above, our planned route was to be taken from 5 to 7 to 8 but instead we sailed from 5 to 4 around Grindstone Island and towards Clayton). We decided to make the best out of our mistake so we refueled at the Clayton Marina; where we encountered very strong winds, so strong that we could not even fill up our tank all the way (the wind made the boat/gas tank bobble so by the use of physics, it would not be possible to fill up our tank all the way). As the great navigator he is, Eugene improvised around the mistake that was made. He made course for Gordon Island, which involved going around the gigantic Grindstone Island. After a while, Anton cried out "LAND HO!" when he spotted the bright green sign which read Gordan Island. The island was a key point of our adventure because we knew that the fish made camp here. Anton and Eugene awaited this day since the start of the vacation, having their own BassMaster Competition. Last vacation in 2008, Eugene won the competition by catching a 14in. smallmouth bass. Would the competition change this year? Or would Eugene hold his trophy for one more year? Only time will tell.
Day 4 – July 22, Thursday
	Have you ever waken up at 5:30 in the morning? Yes, it is a huge pain in the neck. The men of the crew had to wake up early in order to feed the rest of ship. While George pumped up the rubber boats, Eugene set up all of the proper fishing equipment which was needed. Although waking up was a burden, the outcome certainly wasn't. We rowed to a marsh area about 1.0 mile from our docking point and the crew caught over 20 fish. Most of the fish were small (6in. or less) but we did have one trophy prize. Eugene had caught an 11.5in smallmouth bass. It was the biggest fish that would be caught during our journey this year. Today was the day that disheartened our journey. Rowing back to our docking point, we awaited the dreaded task of cleaning the fish. Everyone dislikes cleaning fish but the 'fun' part hadn't even started yet. We undocked from Gordon Island and sailed to the nearest marina: Gordon Marina. We easily maneuvered to the gas station where we filled up our tank. As the red haired gas station server pumped our gas, we watched as a beautiful, yet small, yacht docked in front of us to refuel. The boat was about 20 feet in length but it still looked pleasant. We were in no rush to go anywhere so we decided to be safe and wait for the boat in front of us to leave before we would go anywhere. From our past experiences, it is very difficult to maneuver well in strong winds so we did the smart thing. But the gas station server had other thoughts. He wanted to push us out in order to free up some space on his tiny gas station docking board. We reluctantly agreed to leave and so the red-haired pushed us out. There was one problem. The wind was too strong. We sailed to Camelot to find a docking place for the night, but we found a spot at Endiymon (a neighbor island). There was a nice bay to swim in but no one was in the mood for a nice game of water basketball, so instead everybody just went for a dip. I was satisfied that the day was over because our troubles were done.
Day 5 – July 23, Friday
	When Anton and Eugene woke up this morning, they noticed that our boat was the last ship left at the docking station. This seemed strange because last night the docking station was full. The crew decided to spend their last days at the island which everyone came to love, Beau Rivage. The crew sailed through the windy waters and reached their destination without tracking off course. The bad weather wouldn't ruin the crews vacation. Captain Eugene Blackburned and First Mate Anton Drake Jr. stole one of the two lifeboats. Sir Cold Blood would not let a mutiny happen under his watch and on his vessel. He took off with the last lifeboat, chasing Captain Blackburned and the FirstMate Drake Jr., armed of course with Fully Loaded (it is a type of water gun which we named 'fully loaded' last year). Little did Sir Cold Blood know that no pirate would ever abandon ship without some sort of protection. Sir Cold Blood was fooled by the cunning Captain Blackburned where his crew turned over their vessel, pretending to have drowned. At the instance that Sir Cold Blood approached the 'sunken vessel' Captain Blackburned and FirstMate Drake Jr. attacked Sir Cold Blood and threw him overboard. The pirate crew now had 2 lifeboats and commanded the biggest fleet in the Iles Admirality Islands Waters. Sir Cold Blood was left on tinyl uninhabited island to starve to death...
Day 6 – July 24, Saturday
	Text here
Day 7 – July 25, Sunday
	Today was the last full day of our houseboat adventure trip. Staying on the wonderful island of Beau Rivage became a bit tedious. The team played a game of basketball where the ornate Anton showed Eugene what true payback really meant. Today the weather was sunny as opposed to the day before so the crew went fishing. Anton and George caught a lot of small fish but we decided not to go through the same trouble twice. Eugene, on the other hand, had ALMOST caught a bigger looking fish. Tip of the pros: always have a fishing net ready. The crew ate lunch and dinner outside today in celebration of the good weather. The sunset glowed a bright orange color and the full moon shined with its reflection on the water. It was a sight for sore eyes.
Day 8 – July 26, Monday
	Time flies when your having fun. Today was the final day of our vacation. The crew woke up early in order to arrive into Houseboat Holidays at 9a.m. They quickly undocked and sailed past the car ferry of Gananoque, which has always been a symbol for the end of their trip for 3 years now. The crew quickly unpacked their luggage and said their good-byes to Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet and probably the last houseboat adventure they would have again.