At our last posting, we had managed to make the journey as
far as Ortega Landing in Jacksonville on the St. Johns River.
While we have been home from the Loop, Nan Ellen lost her
mother very unexpectedly on October 4. Ethel did not come to breakfast and when
Nan Ellen went to check on her, she found Ethel deceased in bed. Ethel had
experienced a normal day the day prior and there was nothing to suggest
anything was wrong. I left that morning about 6 am to work out at the YMCA and
did not notice any activity or see any light from the Terrace Level where Ethel
lived. This was not unusual since she usually awoke and came to breakfast
around 7:30 to 8:00 am. Nan Ellen had been working in the office that morning
and noticed that Ethel had not come to breakfast, so Nan Ellen went to check on
her just before 8 am. She found Ethel in her bed and called 911. I arrived home
nearly the same time as the Emergency Crew. It was apparent that she had died
sometime during the night or early morning. This was very sudden and quite
unexpected. She had no known co-morbid conditions that usually are experienced
by others in her age group. She had memory issues that were progressively
getting worse, but nothing to suggest anything else was wrong. She had been to
see her doctor only a week earlier. She was 87 years old and we were very
fortunate to have her live with us for 9 wonderful years. This will leave a
hole in both our lives – Nan Ellen’s especially since she is an only child –
that will never be filled.
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| Heaven has another Angel |
About a week after the memorial service, we attended the
AGLCA (Americas Great Loop Cruisers Association) fall Rendezvous in Rogersville
AL. This allowed us to rekindle old friendships and make a few new ones. It was
great therapy to be around old and new friends. It also allowed me to complete
my required Vessel Safety Checks to retain my Coast Guard Auxiliary
qualification as a vessel examiner. The past four years, Nan Ellen and I have
performed Vessel Safety Checks for AGLCA members attending the Rendezvous.
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| Looper Boats at Joe Wheeler State Park |
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| L-R Anita and Don Gulseth, Dave, Nan Ellen, Jade and Woody Williams |
We attended various seminars and paid very close attention
to those that cover our next leg from Jacksonville to Norfolk. We also participated
in several other “side” seminars of interest. Probably the most fun we had was
at the concert at “Longing for Home” Bed and Breakfast. The first act was
“Appleton Road”, a trio of twin 13 year old sisters with dad on the guitar. The
girls play string instruments – bass, banjo, guitar, mandolin, etc. and they
sing! We first saw them a couple of years ago and they have improved with age.
One of the girls told a story about one of the boys at school wanting to be
with her and she told him that he could drive their tour bus when they hit it
big! Wow – that’s confidence and a great way to tell the boy who really is the
boss!
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| Dad, Katie and Lindsey Konig - "Appleton Road" |
The headline act was the KGB. Not the Russians – but the
Kerry Gilbert Band. They are a very versatile group who not only play great
music across all genres, but they tell pretty good jokes and put on a great
show. Their leader, Kerry Gilbert, is undergoing treatment for cancer and was
only able to perform one song. I had the fortune to talk to him during the
concert while his band played. What a wonderful man with some real reasons not
to be optimistic. He is either the best liar I have ever met, or the most
humble and God fearing man on the planet. He is confident that his cancer will
be cured. Nan Ellen and I bought two of his CDs- one of which was done by his
friends as a benefit with 100% of the proceeds going to pay his medical bills.
Unfortunately, being a musician, he does not have insurance and his treatment
will put him in a serious financial hole. It’s rare that you meet someone so
warm and appreciative of all he has in spite of what he is facing. If you can –
look him up and buy his CDs to help him out financially. He has some pretty
good music too!
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| Kerry Gilbert |
|
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| The KGB |
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| The KGB |
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| Jim Emshoff joins the KGB for "Amazing Grace" |
For the final number, fellow Looper Jim Emshoff on “Sea
Fever” played his signature rendition of Amazing Grace on the keyboard with the
KGB. What a talent – and one he repeated the following night after the
conference ended when a group of “musically inclined” Loopers got together to
play a few tunes. They had an audience of around 40 other Loopers listening and
singing along (with song sheets handed out) to help those of us who are not so
talented. I mostly kept quiet as no one wants to hear my singing voice. I can’t
even carry a tune in a bucket! It was another fun time and was just what we
needed after Ethel’s memorial service a week prior.
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| L-R Eva and Ron Stob (AGLCA Founders) - ? - Jim Emshoff |
The government shutdown re-arranged our Coast Guard
Auxiliary travel schedule and made us scramble to attend to the re-scheduled
fall meetings and elections for my area of responsibility. We left Rogersville
to return to Atlanta to unpack our bags and then repack our bags to switch into
Coast Guard Auxiliary mode for the coming weekend. We finished the day by driving
to Savannah and checked in the Marriott on the Savannah River in downtown Savannah.
To say it was a long day in the car is an understatement! We walked about a
half mile to dinner at the Chart House along the river. On the way there, I had
noticed some ring buoys with line attached to them in several strategic
locations, but did not really think about why they were there – just the mental
note that they were there. After a nice dinner, we leisurely walked back to the
hotel. Along the way, Nan Ellen and I both noticed what appeared to be two individuals
in the water about mid-stream. Not 20 minutes prior, a 1000 foot freighter had
passed by and there was a 150 foot triple decker tourist boat coming upstream
right for them. In Savannah, a 9 foot tide is common and the current flow is
about 5 MPH. This makes anything but directional control nearly impossible for
someone in the water. Fortunately, the tourist boat saw them, stopped, and put
a spotlight on them (10:45 PM) as they continued across the river.
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| Triple Decker Tourist Boat coming upstream in the Savannah River |
I ran back to the nearest ring buoy and gave it to Nan Ellen
to throw to them, but the line was tangled and I struggled to untangle it. I
finally got enough line to reach them and the guys in the water grabbed on and
we brought them over to the walkway. There were no ladders and it became
necessary for me to lift them out of the water and up on shore. I was able to
lift them one at a time with great effort and had bruises on my arms and hands
where we gripped each other to get them up and out of the water.
After both of them were safe on shore we asked them what
happened – did they fall off a boat and was anyone else in the water? The
answer caused our jaws to drop to the ground. These two “idiots” made a
conscious decision (or maybe that should be unconscious decision) to jump into
the water on the South Carolina side of the river and swim across to Georgia.
They then planned to take the ferry back across!!!!! All of this happened at
10:45 at night with an outgoing tide moving at over 5 MPH and commercial
traffic constantly going by!!!! What were these guys thinking?
They told us they were “water people” and were canoe and
kayak guides. I’ll make sure they don’t lead me on any trips – we would
probably get eaten by alligators with these guys in charge. The risk versus
reward part of their brains was not fully developed or had been damaged by too
many “substances”, but neither of them appeared to be under the influence of
anything but adrenalin. I can tell you that I barely slept that night after my
adrenalin was pumped up by rescuing these idiots. Had we not been there at just
the right time, they would have been swept further downstream into who knows
what hazards and could have ended up getting run over by a boat or getting
caught on a structure or dock on the river.
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| "The Idiots" |
We have used our boat as sort of a floating condo while
traveling for Auxiliary business. As part of the Daytona trip, we were on the
boat during my 60th birthday on October 25 and used the occasion and
perfect weather to explore the Ortega and Cedar Rivers by using our dingy –
“Little Waci”.
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| The Birthday Boy going exploring |
The Ortega River continues west for a mile or so before
turning south and at that intersection, the Cedar River turns north. The Cedar
continues for about 2 additional miles through a residential area and finally
comes to an end in a narrow swampy area where we saw a few partially sunken
boats and a 5 foot long gator along with turtles and ducks. Not much scenery on
this river and the low bridges limit the size of boats that will fit. Our boat
would only make it under the first bridge, but water depth was still about 4 feet
all the way to the very end, so depth is not a problem.
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| Home on the Cedar River |
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| Reflections of the Swamp |
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| Our First Gator Sighting |
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| Honey, Let's Buy a Boat! |
After we turned around
and came back to the junction of the Cedar and Ortega, we continued south on
the very wide Ortega River past some beautiful homes before the river narrowed
and we really left visible civilization and it was back to nature again. It is
hard to believe that you are inside I 295 and inside the city limits of
Jacksonville. You would swear you are in the middle of the Okefenokee Swamp in
southeast Georgia.
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| Naval Air Station Jacksonville is close by |
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| Navy Orion P-3 Submarine Hunter |
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| A different kind of bird flying overhead |
It is exceptionally beautiful and as the narrow river winds
around another bend, you are greeted with spectacular views of flowers, odd
shaped trees, logs, Spanish moss in the trees, and glass like water to reflect
the light creating a nearly perfect mirror image on photos.
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| Hard to believe you are in the middle of the city limits of Jacksonville |
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| More mirror like water in the swamp |
Eventually, you
come to a bridge that halts your progress south unless you are in a kayak. We
were unable to cross under it in our dingy due to a pipeline on the other side
of the bridge. There are some homemade navigation markers on the other side of
the bridge, so I am certain the locals use it for kayaking.
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| End of Navigation of the Ortega River - Collins Road close to I-295 |
On the way back out, I was distracted with looking at the
motor on Little Waci and was not paying attention to where I was going. Nan
Ellen yelled out to get my attention about 2 seconds before we ran into the
bank and a tree. No damage was done to anything but my ego. Now that we have
run aground in Tip Sie Waci 3 on the first day of the trip, and have run into
shore (not technically aground) in Little Waci, we have that behind us. I read
somewhere that you will run aground at least once on the Loop, so hopefully, we
have gotten that out of the way with BOTH boats.
You can take your boat up to the sign that says no skiing,
but probably not much further due to the narrow channel width. This trip
requires a dingy or kayak to appreciate and see the best parts.
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| Home on the Ortega River |
After returning
to the boat, we later went to dinner in the Avondale neighborhood – a lovely
community with some terrific restaurants – which is only a couple of miles from
the marina. We found a favorite restaurant in Biscottis, with an excellent
menu, wine pairings, and a truly decadent desert display case to indulge anyone
with a sweet tooth. We took half the desert back to the boat with us to finish
the next day. It was far too much to eat after dinner, but was just as good the
next day. German Chocolate Cake for my 60th birthday – what a
treat!!!
After a return back to Atlanta for more Coast Guard
Auxiliary business, we had a nearly two week window of opportunity on our
calendars to explore the St. Johns River in early November. We drove back to
Jacksonville on Monday, November 4 and then used Tuesday to prepare the boat
for our trip.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
When I checked the sea strainer on the air conditioner pump,
I noticed that the bracket that mounted the strainer had broken. Since I needed
to talk to our welder about our davit repair anyway, we took the broken bracket
to his shop and he made up another for us while we waited. Then it was off to
Pep Boys to replace a defective battery filler bottle (for the inverter
batteries) and to Total Wine for elimination of the pending wine emergency.
Next was Costco for a few items and then our final stop was Publix for our
provisions for the trip.
After stowing everything on the boat, we took some snacks
and a bottle of wine over to B dock and Tom and Patsy Conrad’s boat for dinner.
There, we rekindled an acquaintance that we made two years ago with Leslie and
Greg on Amalia. Like Patsy and Tom, they had just arrived at Ortega Landing a
few days prior. We had a wonderful conversation followed by an even more
wonderful pot roast dinner that Patsy had been working on all day long. This is
the kind of friendships made on the Loop that we truly treasure.
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| L-R Tom Conrad, Lesie and Greg Marsh (Amalia), Dave, Patsy Conrad (True North) |
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
The adventure is about to begin...
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| Leaving Ortega Landing Marina |
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| Ortega Bridge headed out to the St. Johns River with Downtown Jacksonville ahead |
Thursday, November 7, 2013
We set the alarm for 5:30 am so we could get an earlier
start due to our planned 48 miles because of a slight change in our plans from
an anchorage to the free dock in downtown Welaka. After shutting off the wake
up alarm, I started the generator so we would be able to use the toaster oven,
microwave, and the electric stove to cook breakfast. We had a semi-leisurely
breakfast and finally cast off our lines about 8 am. When we came in off the
main river channel, we went through a mine field of crab pots, and of course,
we had to navigate the same mine field for a second time.
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| Crab Pot Float - not always easy to see as this one - some are black |
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| Local Crabber and Crew |
|
We made it through
without a problem, but were very surprised when we ran into another crab pot
minefield just south of some range markers marking a particularly narrow
section of the waterway. They were right in the middle of the fairway where you
would be if following the range markers. If a commercial tow were to transit
this area, they would have no option but to run right over them. Fortunately,
the water was deep enough and we went out of the channel to avoid the crab
pots.
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| Range Marker - line them up to stay in the channel |
Eventually, we made it to Murphy Creek and a possible
anchorage. This is essentially another channel of the river, but it is very
crooked and is more “back to nature” than the main channel of the river. Active
Captain lists several good anchorages in this creek, but with the width being a
little tight, I am not sure it would be good idea to anchor here as there is
nowhere to go “off the channel” and out of the way of passing boats. We saw a
number of birds and turtles sunning themselves. We saw one gator sunning itself
on a log and estimate its length around 8 or 9 feet.
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| Murphy's Creek Gator getting some Sun |
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| More Reflections of the shoreline of Murphy's Creek |
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| Heron on a Log |
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| Sunset in Welaka |
When I searched for local TV stations, we were only able to
get the University of Florida PBS station and a church channel. We opted for an
hour of a PBS series on absolute zero physics. We then ate the carrot cake and
went to bed about Loopers midnight. It’s a slightly shorter day on Friday when
our destination will be Hontoon Island State Park and Blue Springs across the
river.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Today’s destination is 44 miles to Hontoon Island State Park
in DeLand, FL. The day started early at 5:30 am with a trip up the hill and a
couple of blocks to the community recreation center and the showers. Welaka is
a great little town with a concrete floating free dock that is practically
brand new. Add in some very friendly locals and a free hot shower (pretty clean
too) and it is a must stop if on the river.
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| Eagle soaring above us |
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| Birds following us across Lake George |
It was a cold and very windy morning. Nan Ellen was
concerned about our crossing of Lake George – a 12 mile long and 5 mile wide
lake oriented north and south. The wind was out of the north and could have
made for some big waves by the south end of the lake due to distance and
shallowness of the lake – mostly about 10 feet deep. The potential existed for
some waves, but since we would be having following seas, I was not concerned.
About 2/3 of the way down the lake, we turned to the west to take a look at
Silver Glenn Springs which is one of our planned destinations on this trip. It
is very shallow about ½ mile out from the entrance and requires local knowledge
to transit, so without a guide today, we decided to just look through the
binoculars.
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| Birds in the River south of Lake George |
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| Blackwater Inn at Astor |
We have fellow Auxiliarists Bob Elliott and Beth Gallagher to
be our tour guides when we return to the area as we head back north and visit
the springs next week. They live in Astor, just a few miles south and are very
experienced in these waters. South of Astor is the Lake Woodruff National
Wildlife Refuge and a lot of nature for several miles.
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| Birds in the Refuge |
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| Small Eagle |
Since this was a Friday,
we expected to see more traffic on the water and we did. The majority of
vessels we encountered were fishing boats, but we did see one group of kayakers
who likely had just visited a popular spot for kayakers just south of Astor.
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| Kayakers south of Astor |
We
finally came to the Deland area – Nan Ellen’s old stomping grounds when she
attended Stetson University in the 70’s. She said she remembered having a beer
or two (probably more than two) at a bar facing the river. Déjà vu all over
again???
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| East Dock at Hontoon Island State Park |
We finally arrived at Hontoon Island State Park about 3 pm
and were lucky to secure a spot on the end of the dock where we used the wind
to help us land the boat on the dock. There were several other boats already
there and had several hands to grab our lines and help get us secured. We
checked in at the Ranger station and paid our $20 per night for 2 nights. Then
it was back to the boat for conversation with our neighbors (all members of the
Palatka Yacht Club) and docktails. After a couple of phone calls and checking
on the days e-mails, it was time for dinner. I grilled a pork tenderloin and a
red pepper just before the mosquitos appeared. We had been warned by our dock
mates about the unwanted guests that joined them the previous evening, and they
made an encore appearance just as the sun set. We will be ready for them next
time!
After dinner, I wrote the daily update for the blog and
downloaded the photos from the camera. We will edit (delete) unwanted photos
from the over 300 photos taken so far on this trip. That task will likely take
several hours and almost always results in tensions between Nan Ellen and me.
This is always the most stressful part of keeping a blog – determining what to
keep and what to discard. Then comes the second hardest part – determining
which photos to post for y’all to see. There is not nearly enough space to post
them all, so we have to limit them to our narrative and yet tell the story. I
will never be a professional writer or an editor.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Today was a day to explore nature and what a day it was!
After breakfast, we launched Little Waci – our dingy – while we left our boat
on the dock. This plan REQUIRES a dingy with a motor as it is a long way -3
miles to Blue Springs and 3 miles back. It is not possible to dock your boat at
Blue Springs and you must dingy ashore and beach your dingy to visit the park.
The docks at Blue Springs are only for the two commercial tourist boats. There
are some anchorages nearby, but not in good locations out of the river channel.
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| Turtle on the back |
There is a Paddlecraft concession at the junction of the spring run and the
river and they do a very brisk business renting canoes and kayaks to tourists.
The whole area is heavily traveled by all forms of Paddlecraft including stand
up paddleboards.
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| Canoe and Kayak rentals at Blue Springs State Park |
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| Stand up Paddleboards |
Being on one of these in these waters after viewing the
wildlife we had already seen would not be for me! I imagine that the majority
of tourists renting these have no idea what wildlife is out there and if they
did, they might reconsider and rent something a little bigger with a motor.
The plan was to go around the back of Hontoon Island on the
Hontoon Dead River. Trust me – it is anything but dead!! Wildlife abounded from
birds and turtles too numerous to count to our first gator sighting in this
part of the river with a small one lying in the floating hyacinth near the
bank.
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| Small Gator (our first one today) |
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| Wild Turkey on Hontoon Island |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Anhinga - sometime called "Snake Bird" |
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| Larger Gator sunning itself |
Later, we saw otters and wild turkeys on the Hontoon Island shoreline. We
saw a couple of other boats and finally one of the eco-tour mega pontoon boats
bringing the tourists to a side of nature you rarely see anywhere else except
maybe the Everglades.
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| Tourist Boat |
As we wound our way through the natural river, we finally
came to a man-made canal that allowed a short cut back to the St. Johns River. Part
way down the canal, boaters had hung bird houses from the trees overhanging the
canal. We found out later that local authorities take them down occasionally to
help “preserve” the natural habitat, but local boaters keep putting them back
up.
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| Bird Houses in Canal |
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| Black Vultures looking for a handout or are they trying to tell us something? |
We then made a left turn in the St. Johns River and came
back north about a mile to our destination for the day at Blue Springs State
Park. This is a winter vacation spot for manatees and you are guaranteed to see
several of them here. There is a wonderful elevated wooden walkway along the
half mile of the spring run where you can look down and see the large amount of
fish life and the manatees. We were fortunate to visit just before the
“official” manatee season begins on November 15.
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| Little Waci beached at Blue Springs |
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| Small Manatee |
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| Alligator Gar Fish |
The reason this is important is that they allow Paddlecraft
to proceed up the spring run up to the point where swimmers are allowed in the
spring. Because of redundancy of propulsion on board (a set of oars) we were
allowed to raise the motor to the tilt position and row up the spring run.
Before 11 am and after 5 pm, they allow Paddlecraft all the way up to the
spring boil where over 100 million gallons of crystal clear water flow out of a
hole in the ground about 10 feet underwater. Since we were after 11 and before
5, we only were able to go half way. With this much water coming down the
spring run, it takes MUCH more effort going toward the spring than it does
going back toward the St. Johns River.
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| Paddlecraft on the Spring Run |
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| Head Spring with Divers and Swimmers |
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| Spring Run headed back to the River |
On the run back to the river, we moved over to an area where
we had seen manatees earlier. One of them came over to greet us and nuzzled up
to the starboard (right) side of the dingy. Perhaps the gray color of the tubes
made it think it was a new relative coming to visit. Who knows what it thought,
but it did rub up against the tube and the bottom of the boat for a minute or so
before moving on. What a thrilling close encounter!!!
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| Manatee Camera |
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| Our "close encounter" |
After rowing the rest of the way to the river, we brought in
the oars, lowered the motor, and off we went northward (downstream) back toward
our boat. There is an idle zone extending for about a mile on either side of
the spring run as manatees are almost always in these waters feeding on the
vegetation. The spring gives them warmth, but has no food for them. They must
go to the river to eat, and then come back to the spring to warm up. We spoke
with a Park Ranger who said there are more manatee deaths each year from cold stress
than from boat collisions!
On the way back to the boat, eagle eye Nan Ellen spotted the
best photo opportunity gator we saw on the entire trip. We have seen bigger
ones, but this one posed for us with its mouth open while sunning itself.
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| Posing for us! |
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| 5 Turtles on a Log |
We went past Hontoon Island State Park and
our boat to check out the gasoline prices at Pier 44 marina back at the Highway
44 Bridge. After finding it more expensive than where we plan to buy fuel in
Sanford, we motored across the river to Shady Oak Fish Camp Restaurant
(formerly known as Otis’s in the mid-1970s) for a late afternoon snack of some
catfish and a beer.
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| Tying up to the dock at Shady Oak Fish Camp |
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| Does not look like much, but the food was good and the beer was cold |
This is essentially a biker bar on the river, but it only
had a handful of bikers. Most of the patrons were Stetson University alums in
town for Stetson University’s first Homecoming Football Saturday in over 50
years. They were pretty easy to spot wearing green Stetson shirts (and the
absence of biker headbands and leathers). Nan Ellen is also Stetson alum, but
did not recognize any of them. I suggested that after a few more beers, she
might recognize some of them since this is the way she would remember them in
the fog of alcohol. She was not amused by this comment!
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| Are they getting College credits for this???? |
 |
| Returning to Waci 3 after a long day exploring the area |
Somehow, all of the rowing, and sitting on the tube of
Little Waci must have pinched a nerve in my left hip and I was barely able to
walk or even climb back on the boat. Once we returned to the boat, I downed a
couple of Tylenols, (probably needed something stronger) answered a few
e-mails, and wrote this daily update.
Nan Ellen made a batch of chicken salad, plus grapes and
crackers to accompany this quick and easy dinner. It was soon time for bed to
rest and hopefully my hip will be much improved in the morning.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Since today’s mileage was short (24 miles), we were not in a
hurry to leave Hontoon Island State Park. We had our showers and then a
leisurely breakfast before saying our goodbye’s to the Palatka Yacht Club
members we had spent the last two nights with on the dock. This is a fun and
friendly group of folks and we hope we cross paths with them again. My hip had
improved overnight, but I was not back to normal just yet.
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| Palatka Yacht Club |
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| More Palatka Yacht Club Members |
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| Farewell! |
As we proceeded south towards Sanford, there was a marked
increase in the amount of boat traffic. No wildlife today unless you count the
wildlife on board the many boats we passed and those that passed us. You could
tell it was a Sunday with both the amount of boats and the degree of discourteousness
we encountered. There were two boats that passed us within one boat’s length
and throttled up just beside us causing a hole in the water we fell into. There
was not room or time enough to turn into the wake (hole in the water) and we
got jostled unnecessarily twice. If these in a hurry boaters would have given
us more room or waited until they were a boat length ahead of us before
accelerating, we would have had a more pleasant experience. I used a few choice
words for the captains of those vessels and Nan Ellen almost had to throw a
bucket of water on me to cool me off.
 |
| Railroad Bridge at Sanford |
As we approached Sanford and Lake Monroe, we had to wait
about 15 minutes at the railroad bridge for a train to pass so the bridge
tender could raise the bridge for us. Finally on our way, we motored south to
arrive at Monroe Harbour Marina and proceeded to fuel up and pump out. After
that task was complete, we went to our slip and tied up. The dockmaster
recommended a new restaurant across the parking lot – “The Port” and we went
over for a late lunch. They had the “Boggy Creek Band” playing on the sidewalk
with Lake Monroe in the background. Not bad for a band and the food was good
too.
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| Barbara Lee - a Tourist Paddleboat on Lake Monroe |
 |
| Boggy Creek Band at "The Port" restaurant |
Back to the boat once again and Nan Ellen started laundry
while I downloaded pictures and updated this narrative for the blog. I also
cleaned up my e-mail as we have good internet service here.
 |
| Monroe Harbor Marina dock east basin |
As dark approached,
we walked to dinner about 4 blocks away (my hip was feeling better) at Marco
Dino’s, a traditional Italian restaurant with rather large portions. We split a
risotto meatball appetizer (which was almost a meal itself) and then split an
Osso Bucco (pork roast) and brought about half of each back to the boat as
leftovers. On a previous scouting trip to Sanford, we ate at the German
Restaurant – The Willow Tree. All three restaurants we tried in Sanford were
great and are highly recommended if you visit. By the time we came back to the
boat, it was nearly Loopers Midnight (9 pm) and time for bed, so we watched a
little TV before turning in.
Monday, November 11, 2013
As this was a planned long day (51 miles) with a stop at our
friends and fellow Auxiliarists Bob Elliott and Beth Gallagher’s home in Astor
along the river, we wanted an early start. The alarm was set for 5 am and we
set out for the showers in the dark. When I started my shower, I was the only
one there, but by the time I finished, there were 4 guys waiting on two
showers. This marina has a pretty large population of live aboards and it was a
work day. I cleared out as quickly as I could so we could get back to the boat and
have a bowl of oatmeal before casting off our lines. We ate quickly and cast
off just as the sun was coming up to make it safe to navigate. The railroad
bridge tender told us on Sunday when we arrived to be there early to avoid a
long wait as they had several trains scheduled for Monday morning. We arrived
at the bridge about 7:30AM. The bridge tender promptly raised the bridge for us
and we were able to pass right through and get on our way. We motored north and
were soon at Blue Springs and then Hontoon Island State Park where some of our
former dockmates were still there. We stopped but did not tie up and said goodbye’s
once again before moving north through the Deland area.
We had to lower our antennas to get under the Highway 44 Bridge
so we did not need an opening. Before long, we were at Bob and Beth’s home just
south of the Astor Bridge on the west bank of the river. After tying up at
their dock, we moved to their screened porch to catch up a bit and then they
drove us to lunch at Castaway’s right on the river at the Astor Bridge.
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| Castaways and their barge (extended outdoor deck) permanently moored with motor |
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| L-R Dave, Nan Ellen, Beth, Bob at Castaways across the river from the Black Water Inn |
After lunch, we drove back to their home and they got in
their Yamaha jet boat to show us the way into Silver Glen Springs. We would
never have successfully gotten in there without their help, but now know the
way. Someone stuck some PVC pipes painted red and green to match ATON (Aid to
Navigation) markers. There are a couple of fixed signs on posts that are used
for initial course navigation, and then you follow the PVC pipes to the
entrance. When you pass the PVC pipes, the depth gauge reads 1 foot, but it is
reading the weeds and the actual bottom is about 5 feet. Once inside the
markers of the spring run, the depth improves to about 6 or 7 feet all the way
to the end of where boats can go.
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| Bob and Beth in their Yamaha Jet Boat |
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| Follow the Leader through some VERY shallow water |
There is a sand bar in the middle of two channels where you
nose in with the bow leaving the props in deeper water. Since the water level
was higher than normal, our boat floated over the entire sand bar without
hitting the props. We set both a bow and a stern anchor to hold our position. While
Nan Ellen splashed around while walking chest deep over the sand bar and
talking with Bob and Beth, I started scrubbing around the waterline and took a
look under the boat. We had some hard growth (small barnacles) and some algae “hair”
growing on some surfaces. I knocked off the algae, but did not have the proper
tools to take off the hard growth. It was not bad and better than I thought it
would look since we have only had the bottom scraped twice by divers since we
had the bottom job done about a year ago. Obviously, we will have it done again
before we leave Jacksonville on our next leg of the Loop in the spring.
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| Looking back out into Lake George |
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| Two channels with a sand bar in the middle |
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| Bob on the sand bar |
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| Six inches to spare over the sand bar with high water levels |
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| Crystal clear water!!!! This is 4 feet deep and looks like inches!!! |
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| Lots of wildlife around the spring |
After about half an hour, the 72 degree water chilled me to
the point I was ready to get out and dry off. I put on long pants and a
sweatshirt to warm up. Bob and Beth took off about that time to get back home
before dark. We watched several laughing ducks (yes, they laughed) and other
birds and jumping fish. We were alone with no one else around which is only
possible on a weekday – weekends there are packed conditions. When it gets dark
here, it is really dark! We started up the generator to warm up leftover Marco
Dino Italian dinner and it was just as good warmed up as when we had it the
first time.
After a quick check of
the weather forecast, we changed our plan from two days at the spring to just
overnight. There is a big cold front coming that will drop the temperature and
pick up the wind. We do not want to be on the south end of a big lake and have
to travel into a north wind and potentially some big waves. Again, it was early to bed because of a long
day planned for Tuesday.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
It’s 5 o’clock somewhere and the alarm say that it is that
time once again – AM that is! I started the generator to make tea and to cook
breakfast. Soon after daybreak, we pulled the anchors and were on our way.
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| Marion County to the left and Lake County to the right |
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| Foggy morning |
It
was a bit foggy with ¼ mile visibility and we proceeded back out into Lake
George the same way we came in. We had no problems, but were soon in yet
another mine field of crab traps. Since it was foggy, we were proceeding slowly
anyway.
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| Birds following us across Lake George in the fog - they do show up on radar! |
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| After the fog dissipated, we saw another Eagle |
We plotted a course over safe water back to the channel and northward
back out of the lake and into the river channel. It was a fairly uneventful
trip as we motored toward Palatka and our planned rendezvous with fellow
Auxiliarists Ted Schneider and two crew members Sherlock Holmes, and Chris
Bonnevier at Corky Bell’s Seafood restaurant. We arrived just as they arrived
by boat.
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| L-R Ted Schneider, Chris Bonnevier, Sherlock Holmes (no kidding) |
After tying up, we walked up to the restaurant for lunch. Just as we
were finishing, fellow Auxiliarists Kathy Fisk and Dusty Cooper came in and
joined us. Ted and his crew departed to resume their patrol and Nan Ellen and I
briefly spoke with Kathy and Rusty as they ate their lunch.
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| L-R Kathy Fisk, Dusty Cooper, Corky Bell's mascot, Nan Ellen, Dave |
We walked down to
the boat to give them a quick tour and then departed to move north to be in a
better position to return to Jacksonville due to incoming weather expected over
the next couple of days.
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| Palatka Pavilion - no time to stop this time around |
In order to reach our
destination before dark, we throttled up to 25 MPH instead of our usual 8 MPH,
and soon enough, we made the additional 30 miles to our destination for the
night. We were back at our first stop overnight on this trip – Six Mile Creek
and the Outback Crab Shack dock. We tied up, did a little work on the computer,
and then went to dinner as it got dark. No messy crabs this time – just a crab
cake and fried shrimp. After the meal, we came back to the boat and Nan Ellen
called in on her WebEx meeting with one of her Flotillas. I took advantage of
the time to call one of my Division Commanders to discuss some issues. When you
are in a leadership position in the Auxiliary, you are never far away from your
duties. Fortunately, cell phones, computers, and WebEx software allow us to
stay in touch most of the time. Our experience is that most marinas have pretty
lousy internet service, so we rely mostly on our hotspot and cell phones while
on the water. I have a conference I am hosting on Thursday night and we will be
back in Jacksonville at Ortega Landing with their great internet service in the
clubhouse for that meeting. Not as good as being at home, but a pretty close
second. Loopers Midnight came quicker than anticipated and with the weather
forecast for Wednesday; we needed to get an early start at first light once
again. Today’s mileage was the longest so far on the St Johns River – 65 miles.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
It’s 5 am again and time to fire up the generator for
breakfast and to warm things up. It was a bit cold and was expected to be windy
and cold all day. We were anxious to get back to our slip at Ortega Landing and
wanted to try to beat the expected 30 plus MPH winds predicted after lunch.
Just after 6:30, it was light enough to pull away from the dock at the Outback
Crab Shack to finish up the last 25 miles back to Ortega Landing. On the way,
we needed to stop at Doctors Lake Marina for fuel as they had the best price in
the area.
As we came out of Six
Mile Creek and proceeded toward the river, we had about 6 inches more water
than we had going in the previous day due to a difference in the tide. We made
it over the bar without difficulty and proceeded through the crab trap mine
field to reach the main channel. As we turned toward the north, we came out of the
wind shadow created by the shoreline and trees as the wind picked up to around
20 MPH. At this point, the waves were less than 1 foot, but due to wind
direction and the direction of the channel, we knew bigger waves were ahead of
us. This prophesy came true and the waves steadily built to 2 to 3 feet with an
occasional 4 footer. Even though we planned to go 8 MPH, the wave height and
direction made that decision easy – no 25 MPH up on plane boating today – just
slow and steady to get the best ride possible AND be able to see the mine
fields of crab traps that are nearly impossible to spot with waves this big
until you are right on top of them. As we turned towards Doctor’s Lake and the
marina for fuel, I had to go past the entrance and make an abrupt turn to port
of about 120 degrees in order to have the waves on the stern of the boat. When
these size waves are on the beam (side of the boat) we tend to roll around and
it is uncomfortable. We try to have the seas either on the bow or on the stern
to make for more comfort and less of a roller coaster ride.
As we went under the US 17 Bridge and the approach to the
marina, the water calmed substantially and made for a more controlled approach
to the fuel dock. This marina has a narrow channel leading to the fuel dock and
there is no room to turn our boat around, so after pulling in straight, I had
to back up straight for about 1500 feet. This turned out to be a very big
challenge as I had to alternate dropping one prop in and out of gear to
maintain course. Near the end of the narrow channel, a gust of wind carried the
stern and Little Waci (our dingy) into some pilings. Thank goodness it is an
inflatable and it simply worked like a big fender to push us away. I quickly
recovered and we got out into open water without further problems.
Back out into the channel, the waves again picked up to 2 to
3 feet with an occasional 4 footer. We had no waves over the bow, but did have
on the wipers continually to deal with the constant spray caused by the bow
cutting through the waves and throwing out water that was picked up by the wind
and deposited on the bow and windshield. After passing the I-295 bridge, I
expected the waves to become larger due to the more open area of the river, but
as we passed the Naval Air Station, the waves died down to 1 to 2 feet. I am
not sure why this happened except that the wind may have changed direction more
of an East-Northeast direction from due north and this cut down on the fetch
(time and distance for wind driven waves to develop).
I used the same technique to approach the Ortega River
entrance as I did at Doctors Lake earlier. I traveled north beyond the entrance
and turned back about 120 degrees to port to have a following wind and seas.
The waves remained at 1 to 2 feet until we reached the Ortega Lift Bridge, and
it was very difficult to spot the crab traps in the mine field that guards the
entrance to the Ortega River. We made it through without incident and the
bridge tender was able to lift the bridge for us with no delay. I did not even
slow down to idle speed until we made it under the bridge as I wanted better
steerage control with the following seas.
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| Back in our slip at Ortega Landing |
Idling to our dock about a quarter mile away, Nan Ellen
secured the dock lines to the boat to get ready for pulling in the slip. The
wind direction was ideal for actually pulling in the slip as I would be backing
straight into it, but the fairway leading to the slip was 90 degrees to the
wind and I was concerned that we might get blown sideways before we reached the
slip. I put on a bit more power and did not have difficulty. I simply brought
the boat to a stop, rotated 90 degrees and backed straight in without touching
anything. Nan Ellen secured the stern line before going to the mid ship cleat
to get control of the forward half of the boat. We successfully landed without
touching anything in a 30 MPH plus wind! There was some skill involved, but
also a fair amount of luck with wind direction making it easier than it looked.
After securing the rest of the lines and hooking up the power and water, we set
off by car to have a hot lunch as we did not feel like cooking anything on the
boat and were cold after being out in less than ideal weather for the previous
several hours.
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| L-R Dave, Nan Ellen, Jan and Bill Sekeres |
After returning from lunch, we hit the showers and then to
the marina clubhouse to catch up on a few e-mails. Before long, it was time for
dinner and we went out to dinner with fellow Auxiliarists and Division
Commander Bill Sekeres and his wife Jan. We went to one of our favorites in the
area – Biscottis in Avondale. After a nice meal, good conversation, and some
VERY decadent deserts, it was back to the boat and bedtime. Thursday is
clean-up day and time to make preparations to leave the boat and return home to
Atlanta.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
The wind had died down overnight, but it was still too cool
to work outside, so we started in the cabin with administrative work. After
doing a few e-mails, recording engine and generator hours, pump outs, fuel
mileage and the like, it was time to get busy with the main job of the day
–cleaning up the boat. We started in the engine room with a check of fluids. I
added about a pint of oil to the starboard engine and about a pint to the
generator. When we cleaned out the sea strainers, the air conditioner and both engines
were relatively clean. However, the generator strainer was packed with sea
grass. We are not sure where we picked this up as the engine strainers were
clean. It probably came from Silver Glen Springs or for 6 Mile Creek as these
were the only areas when the generator ran and the engines were not running.
After finishing in the engine room, it was time to sweep out
the cockpit (it did not need scrubbing) and shaking out the carpets. Once this
task was done, it was time to get wet and scrub the outside of the boat. There
was some spider and bird residue that we had to scrub extra hard and used Spray
9 cleaner in addition to our regular boat soap to get it all off, but after a
couple of hours, it looked nearly new again. We certainly will need to wax it
again in the spring before we leave Jacksonville. We scrubbed Little Waci and
left the cover off so it would thoroughly dry. After all this activity, my hip
pain flared up again, and now, my shoulders hurt with all the scrubbing. I
can’t wait to get back home to resume my regular workouts at the YMCA and get
rid of this pain caused by using all the different muscles. The alternative is
to pay someone else to clean up the boat for us (hmmmmm….. there’s an idea).
Before long, dusk was upon us and it was time to go to
dinner again, this time to a restaurant close to the Marina named Terra. It is
within walking distance. I wish we had more time to enjoy it, but I had to rush
back to conduct a WebEx meeting with 7th District Auxiliary
Leadership. The clubhouse at the marina has great internet speed – fast enough
for video and that makes for a successful video web conference. Unfortunately,
I had to host the meeting from the outside deck due to the Marina hosting Movie
night at the same time as my meeting. Fortunately, the weather was better and
Naval Air Station JAX was not conducting operations during my meeting time.
After the conference ended, it was back to the boat and bed as we need to make
final preparations to return to Atlanta on Friday morning.
Friday, November 15, 2013
As is usual for us, we wanted to get an early start so we
hit the showers before 5:30 am so we could get back to the boat for breakfast
and start the process of getting ready to leave the boat. Once the bed sheets
were stripped off, we took the spare set of sheets and made the bed. We cleaned
up the head, wiped down the cabinets, the counters, and put up all the dishes.
Nan Ellen cleaned out both refrigerators and we took inventory of our food
stores on board. We packed all the open food on board to take home with us.
Since Little Waci had been cleaned up the day before, we left the cover off to
allow it to dry and we had to lower it to put the cover on. After securing
Little Waci, not much else remained on our task check list. We loaded all the
gear in two dock carts for the final trip up the dock to load the car.
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| Daybreak on our last day |
On the way out of town, we stopped at West Marine to
exchange a defective 12 volt fan that had been popping breakers every time it
was plugged in. Once this task was done, we ate an early lunch and got on the
road for the 6 hour drive back to Atlanta. We stopped for dinner just before
getting home and once we arrived home, we started the unloading process. I went
to turn up the thermostats to warm things up and discovered that the furnace
had quit working. A quick call to our heating and air conditioning guy set up
an appointment for Saturday. We brought up an electric heater from the basement
to warm up the bathroom and went to bed under additional blankets.
Summary and thoughts
about the St. Johns River as a Great Loop side trip - One more leg of our
adventure is now behind us. The statistics from this trip are 282 miles
traveled in Waci 3 over 9 days of travel time. Additionally, we traveled 28
miles in Little Waci on the Ortega River, Cedar River, Hontoon Dead River, the
spring run at Blue Springs, and the St. Johns River making a total of 310 miles
for this leg. This makes our Loop total 2281 miles to date. As you might expect, Little Waci gets MUCH
better gas mileage (2 gallons for 28 miles = 14 MPG) than Waci 3, but it is not
nearly as comfortable! Looking back, the
real attractions for the St. Johns River are Blue Springs State Park and Silver
Glen Springs, plus all the nature you see along the way. For us, getting to see
old friends and socialize with new ones formed along the way are always high on
our satisfaction list. Sanford is a nice town (now that an infamous former
resident once on trial and in the National news no longer lives there) and has
good facilities with good restaurants, but there really is no compelling reason
to visit other than saying you traveled as far upstream as safe navigation
allowed. All the towns along the way are charming and each has a flavor all its
own. There are multitudes of friendly folk everywhere and with a mixture of
free docks, great anchorages (also free), and some pretty inexpensive marinas,
what’s not to like about this part of Florida? Anyone contemplating a side trip
off the Great Loop to do the St. John’s would miss a great deal of beauty if
they passed it up. Our recommendation is that YOU MUST DO THE ST. JOHNS RIVER!!!!
We plan to leave the boat in Jacksonville at Ortega Landing
until spring when we hope to resume our adventure by moving north. Hopefully,
we will have some additional opportunities to visit the Jacksonville area over
the next few months and get to spend time on the boat and on the St Johns
River. We plan to make the spring AGLCA Rendezvous in Norfolk, VA in early May
of 2014. I will probably do an occasional post to update what is happening with
us before we resume the adventure in the spring.
All kind of picture are so natural... and beautiful
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