Paul Szmal: We're gearing up to celebrate America's 250th birthday on Saturday, but a popular tourist attraction in the Thousand Islands is celebrating a centennial. Here to talk about that and what they offer is Ron Thompson from Uncle Sam Boat Tours. Ron, good to have you aboard sir, uh pardon the pun.
Guest: Yes, thank you for having me.
Paul Szmal: Now I'm pretty familiar with the Thousand Islands region having lived up in Watertown for a little bit, but for people that don't know the Thousand Islands region of New York State, what can you tell us about it other than the fact that there are obviously a lot of islands in the St. Lawrence River?
Guest: Well the Thousand Islands were created actually during the last ice age, so it was carved out of the native granite and it starts up in Lake the mouth of Lake Ontario, Cape Vincent, New York and they end just down river from us in Morristown, New York. So it's a 50 mile stretch of the St. Lawrence River and there's 1,864 islands in that 50 mile stretch and Alexandria Bay is located right in the middle of them all.
Paul Szmal: Yes, as a matter of fact right across from Alexandria Bay is where Boat Castle resides and we'll talk about that in a minute. So you were telling me your grandfather actually started the Uncle Sam Boat Tours way back in the 1920s.
Guest: Yes, there were about 10 different boat lines in Alexandria Bay at the time. Each company had like one boat or two boats. So in 1926 two of the owners got together formed a new company called Combined Thousand Island Boat Tours and in the span of three years my grandfather and three other boat lines all joined forces. So there were a total of five different boat lines, ten boats that became one company. So that started in 1926 and it's gone through today. Back then the smallest boat carried about 49 passengers, the largest carried 96. They were all made of wood crafted right here on the St. Lawrence River by local boat builders and now we have seven boats but they're all steel, smallest one being 80 passengers and the largest carrying 400.
Paul Szmal: And those boats are out for various cruises throughout the Thousand Islands pretty much seven days a week in season, right?
Guest: We have a full schedule. We're in our full schedule right now. We have one hour tours, two and a quarter hour tours, three hour tour, lunch cruise, dinner cruises. We stop at Bolt Castle on every single trip. We have two trips that go down to Singer Castle which is just nine miles down river from Alexandria Bay. Makes for a very easy day trip out of central New York. Hop on the thruway, go to route 81 and we're only 90 minutes north of Syracuse.
Paul Szmal: So you have, you said, what is it, seven boats now?
Guest: Yes, that's correct. And one of those boats, the smallest one, that's a shuttle that goes directly from Alexandria Bay right across the river to Hard Island. That is where Bolt Castle is located.
Paul Szmal: That's correct.
Guest: We're the only company on the river that offers an unlimited stop at Bolt Castle. You can actually see Bolt Castle from our docks. So every trip that we have during the daytime stops at Bolt Castle at the end of the trip. So you can get off or if you don't want to see the castle, stay on the boat. But if you do get off, we have a boat in there every 30 minutes to bring you back to Alexandria Bay. So you can literally stay as little as 30 minutes or all day. The castle is quite an experience and about 160,000 people a year visit Bolt Castle.
Paul Szmal: We're talking with Ron Thompson from Uncle Sam Boat Tours here on FLX Morning on Finger Lakes News Radio. It's been a few years since I've been up there, but the last time I was, I did the full three-hour tour on the Uncle Sam Boat Tour line. For people that don't know what they can see in three hours, tell us a little bit about it.
Guest: Well, my grandfather and his partners called it the Two Nation Tour. And some people when they come up here, they don't realize we are right on the Canadian border. You can actually see Canada from our docks. So when you hop on one of our boats and go for our Two Nation Tour, literally half of the tour is in the United States. The other half is in Canada. So you can see both suspension spans of the Thousand Island Bridge system. You can see houses that were built back around the turn of the century, new houses that have been built just in the last couple of years. But we also have one of the cleanest, largest rivers in the entire world. It's not until you travel that you realize what we take for granted up here. The water clarity is like 70 to 80 feet. It's just an amazing, amazing river.
Paul Szmal: Is the Shortest International Bridge, is that still intact?
Guest: Oh, it sure is. That's called Zavakon Island. And what you have is the small island in the U.S., the larger in Canada. And it's probably one of the most photographed set of islands in the entire river. All the boat lines go by it. They all slow down, make sure everybody gets a chance to take a picture of themselves in front of the smallest international footbridge in the world.
Paul Szmal: Now, I'm sure maybe if you're listening and thinking about this and going, okay, I'd like to take a trip, but let's answer some of the frequently asked questions. Number one, even though it is a two-nation tour that does go into Canadian waters, you don't need a passport for this.
Guest: That's correct. You don't need any identification at all because we don't actually stop in Canada. So, the regulations are as long as you don't tie up to a dock, drop an anchor, you have not actually entered Canada. So, there's no identification needed whatsoever. Just come up, hop on the boat, and you're all set.
Paul Szmal: Now, the next thing would be, what if the weather is less than ideal?
Guest: Well, our top decks are all wide open. For people that like the sun, they can be up on the top deck. The lower decks are all glass and closed for all weather comfort. So, weather-wise, there's really not a problem. The only thing that keeps us at the dock is fog, and that happens probably once or twice a year, and the sun usually burns the fog off by 10 o'clock in the morning. So, really, because there are so many islands, it's very protected up here. Sometimes people are a little concerned about possible motion sickness, very little sense of movement on the boats. Again, because there are so many islands, the wind doesn't really have a chance to build big waves where we are. And if you time it just right on one of the tours, you may actually see one of the massive cargo ships that work their way through the St. Lawrence River system.
Paul Szmal: That's correct. We're on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Again, you can see the ships right from our main dock, and Bolt Castle is on one side of the St. Lawrence Seaway, and Village of Alexandria Bay, where we operate from, is on the other side. We're in an area known as the American Narrows. It is literally the narrowest portion of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Ships coming from all over the world that want to access the Great Lakes go right by our front door. They can go as far as Duluth, Minnesota, all the way at the end of Lake Superior.
Guest: Yeah, that is a pretty massive system, and some pretty massive ships make their way through.
Paul Szmal: You mentioned that not only are there the tours that are available and the stops at Bolt Castle, but also lunch and dinner cruises.
Guest: That's correct. We tell people, if you can do it on land, we can take you out on the water and do the same thing. So we have the very popular lunch cruise at 12 30 every day, and then we have dinner cruises three days a week at seven o'clock with live entertainment.
Paul Szmal: And there's also a fully licensed bar on these ships too, correct?
Guest: That's correct. So you can sit back, enjoy your favorite alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage, and enjoy the cool breezes off the river. We're in for a hot stretch coming up, and the nice thing is the river is still fairly cool from the winter months because the river freezes completely over. So it's nice to get a little fresh, cool breeze while you're out on the river.
Paul Szmal: Now for people that might be thinking about booking a tour, how late does your season run?
Guest: We actually run every day through October 31st. When you get past Columbus Day weekend, we have a limited schedule. We usually have one trip per day, but we operate May 1st to October 31st. And it's a good idea to go ahead and make reservations, buy tickets online. That'll save you a little bit of time and trouble once you get to Alexandria Bay itself.
Paul Szmal: How do people do that run?
Guest: Yes, we highly recommend that. And what you just need to do is go on the internet to usboattours.com. So that's US for Uncle Sam. Just usboattours.com. And check that out. There are plenty of options available for you.
Paul Szmal: If you've never made the trip before, it really is a very, very cool experience. Ron, thank you for sharing this morning. Much appreciated, sir.
Guest: Thank you for having me on. And smooth sailing to you going forward.
Paul Szmal: Thank you. Same to you.
