Thousand Islands boating – part of the joy is watching the huge ships on the river. Ships are amazing to watch, and in the 1000 Islands between the U.S. and Canada, you can see them close-up and personal, even if you’re not there. In today’s post I’ll show you how!
Due to the St Lawrence River’s length, these amazing vessels pass close to many towns and parks, and share the same navigable waterways that pleasure craft use. I recall watching 1000 Islands shipping around Clayton and Alexandria Bay in New York state as a kid. Back then, they were coal-powered and had to stop at coal refueling docks like this. Amazing stuff.
Clayton 1000 Islands coal dock, summer 1967, family photo
© 2016 1000islandssteelking.com
If you never had a chance to experience ship watching, it’s a lot of fun and not hard to do. All you have to do is be at, or on, the St Lawrence River.
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Or do you?
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Here’s the secret – you can see these ships all season long … via Twitter
Just follow any number of St Lawrence River ship watchers. You’ll really appreciate the time they spend taking and posting pictures, and you can tell they have a love for the hobby and a sense of connection to these vessels, their cargo, and their journey. What kind of ships will you see? All kinds! St Lawrence River cruises, cargo ships, tour boats, military ships, tugboats, barges, and many more.
Let me show you a few examples to get started:
One of my latest Twitter discoveries serves up a regular feed of photos, definitely worth a follow. I recently reached out to @SeawayNNY, since several recent tweets featured ships passing by my favorite spot (Clayton NY and Calumet Island), and asked if I could share some photos with you. Thankfully the answer was “yes”.
Here are a few of the great shots from @SeawayNNY:
Having spent so many years of summers on the St Lawrence watching ships pass by Clayton and up close from our family boat, I really enjoy the detail in these shots. These photo tweets really capture the beauty and working nature of these busy vessels.
Want more? You got it!
There are several other Twitter accounts I follow that serve up wonderful 1000 Islands ship pictures. Each day I see some amazing shots and it keeps me close to the place I spent a lot of time at as a kid, and still love today. Give them a follow, too!
@TallShipsBV
@IslandLifeMag
@theShipWatcher
@scubadiver5
@EdHuckMarine
@BobMondore
Whether you call it the Thousand Islands or the 1000 Islands, it’s a great place. Beautiful islands, great boating and fishing, relaxation, and ships. All shapes and sizes of ships.
It’s fun to check out the ship names and very often spot interesting cargo. One of the most fascinating cargo loads I’ve seen was a deck full of huge wind turbine blades. Yeah, via Twitter! Visiting one of the St Lawrence ship tracker websites or Twitter accounts keeps you tuned in to a lot of interesting shipping activity.
Thanks again to @SeawayNNY, and if you have a favorite source of 1000 Islands ship pictures, I’d love it if you would leave a comment below.
Also, if you enjoyed this article, please share it on social media!
[ctt template=”7″ link=”O2A8D” via=”yes” ]I just found this awesome article on #1000islands ship watcher photos – here’s the scoop! @1000islandsboat[/ctt]