Crossing Over the Saint Lawrence River to Visit Clayton, New York

Clayton, New York is Home to the Antique Boat Museum

Clayton, New York, and the Thousand Islands area, on the Saint Lawerence River between New York State and Ontario Canada, are places we’ve always wanted to visit. We knew we’d have to cross the border again to dock on the U.S. side of the river. We would have to cross back again to Canada to resume our trip to Montreal. The border crossing felt seamless as we used the new mobile app from the Department of Homeland Security, called CBP Roam, to check into Clayton.

One highlight of visiting this small town is its maritime history.

Clayton is home to the Antique Boat Museum (ABM), therefore the main draw for us to visit. Clayton, an old shipbuilding community founded in 1833, is nestled among the Thousand Islands. We couldn’t wait to see some of those old beautiful wooden boats.

Upon leaving Canadian waters we checked into the U.S. via CBP Roam. We had to register by first filling out an online form and sending photos of our passports. Then I opened the CBP Roam app, answered a few questions, and several minutes later I received a notice approving us to enter back into the U.S. Next stop was to top off our fuel tank and empty our holding tank before docking.

The Saint Lawrence River begins at Lake Ontario and stretches 1,000 miles to the Atlantic Ocean. The Thousand Islands make up the first sixty miles of the waterway with Ontario Canada on the north side of the river and New York to the south. The international border is drawn through the middle of the St. Lawrence River, weaving around islands placing roughly half on the Canadian side and the other half on the U.S. side. In the late 1800s, people, from the northeast United States headed north to St. Lawrence to escape polluted, overcrowded cities.

Since we arrived later in the day, we took a quick tour of downtown Clayton. Then we walked back to the boat to do laundry, which had been piling up for some time during our trip down the Trent Severn Waterway.

Our main goal in visiting Clayton was to visit the Antique Boat Museum.

To get the most out of the visit we went early the second morning. The museum is considered the premier freshwater boating museum in North America, sits on 4.5 acres of waterfront property, and has over 300 boats, marine artifacts, and much more. This is all housed in five or more buildings, including a large in-water, covered mooring building, and a couple of restoration shops. If you love old boats and maritime history, we’d recommend a visit to the ABM. If you plan to go, check the months of operation, they are closed during the off-season.

First, we toured the La Duchesse, a 106′ houseboat. George Boldt built this magnificent summer residence in 1903.

Seeing all these relics of nautical history was fascinating! ABM has an incredible collection of wood boats.