Tag: St Johns River

Hello mates and fellow adventurers!  We have several new virtual crew members who have joined us by following the blog.  Welcome aboard:

Denise and Fred Baldwin.  The crew met them on the pier at Ortega Landing Marina aboard their boat Wandering Star.

The skipper’s Aunt Karen.  Life is always good when Aunt Karen is in the mix.

And someone with e-mail address as aojckj@…. has come aboard.  Not sure who you are but glad to have you cruise with us.

The crew set off from Hontoon Island and continued south to Sanford, mile zero on the navigable waters on the St Johns River.  After having lunch in Sanford, the crew turned around and started back to Jacksonville, anchoring out two nights before returning to Ortega Landing Marina.

When the crew cast off on Tuesday, the port engine was running poorly.  The rpm’s were about 250 less than normal when at idle.  After leaving the dock and increasing the throttle, the port engine died.  Not a good way to start the day.  The skipper restarted the engine but it coughed a few times and then died again.  The Admiral took over the helm while the skipper went below to check out the engine room.

 

 

The initial check did not find anything abnormal.  Since the engine sounded like it was starved for fuel, the skipper decided to change the fuel pre-filter.  After changing the fuel filter, the skipper primed the fuel system and tried to start the engine.  No luck.  The skipper went back below and worked on priming the fuel system some more.  The engine finally started and began to purr like normal. By the time the skipper cleaned up his mess and got back to the helm the crew had already cruised about 8 miles.

With the engines running well the crew set sites on Sanford which is located at the south west side of Lake Monroe.  The marina allowed the crew to come in the west basin and tie up for a few hours while they got lunch.  The crew ate at Sanford Steak and Sea Food along the edge of Lake Monroe.  The fish-n-chips were good and made a great dock and dine.

With lunch complete it was time to head back north.  The plan was to go back past Hontoon Island and anchor in Alexander Spring Creek just south of Lake Dexter.  At the north end of Lake Monroe, the crew had to wait for two trains to pass before the bridge operator would open the railroad bridge.

 

After that small delay the crew continued north and eventually pulled into Alexander Spring Creek.  Unfortunately, there was a fishing boat where the crew needed to anchor.  The crew tried to go further up the creek but there was no spot to anchor.  The skipper decided to keep going north to find another spot.  However, the crew was running out of daylight and needed to find a place within the hour.

As the crew got North of Lake Dexter they noticed another boat anchored on the east side of Lungren Island.  The skipper checked the chart and decided that there was enough depth and room to anchor just north of the other boat.  The crew dropped the anchor at 1930 as the sun was setting over the river.

 

On Wednesday, the crew pulled anchor and headed for Lake George.  The Lake is about 10 miles long.  When the crew got about a third of the way across the lake, they turned left at red marker 10 and made a heading of 270 degrees towards Silver Glen Springs.  Upon arriving at the entrance of the springs, the crew dropped anchor in 5 foot of water.  They launched the dinghy and headed up the creek towards the spring.  This spring bubbles up 65 million gallons of crystal clear water a day.  The closer the crew got to the spring the bluer the water turned.  After spending two hours exploring the springs it was time to head back to the boat.

 

By the time the crew got back to the boat the wind had picked up and the waves were 2-3 feet.  Loading the dinghy was a bit tricky bouncing around in the waves but the crew finally were successful and headed north back to Murphy Creek for the night.  The crew dropped anchor about 1730 and grilled hot dogs on the sundeck.

 

On Thursday, the crew got an early start by pulling anchor at 0700 for the run back to Ortega Landing.  After passing north of Palatka, the river widens up and become very wide.  The skipper decided to run a test to see how the dinghy would ride at different speeds.  The wind was blowing about 15 mph and causing 2 foot waves.  The skipper began raising the rpms on the engines and watching how the dinghy was riding on the swim platform.  After reaching 15 knots, the boat was gliding over the water smoothly and there were no issues with the dinghy.

The crew returned to the marina about 1500 and docked back on the B Dock in slip 66.  With the wind out of the west the boat was being blown from the dock.  A guy down the dock came down and helped secure the boat to the dock.  Good thing because the crew was having troubles maneuvering the boat close enough to the pier to allow the Admiral to jump off and tie up the boat.

While completing this 290 mile round trip river cruise the crew saw many birds along the way.  Bald Eagles, Osprey, Sand Hill Cranes, Ibis, Egrets, Herons, Belted Kingfisher, Anhinga, and Cormorants.

These last two birds are often confused with each other.

The Anhinga has no oil glands so his feathers are not waterproof.  He becomes heavy when wet which enables him to dive and chase fish underwater.  Sometimes when he swims his head sticks out of the water and he looks like a snake.  After a swim you will see the Anhinga with his wings spread to dry in the sun.  His beak is pointed for spearing fish.

The Cormorant also dives underwater to feed on fish.  While swimming on the surface, the Cormorant’s body stays above the water.  The beak of the Cormorant is hooked for grasping its prey.

The crew will lay over at the marina for a week and then head for Norfolk via the AICW on Thursday.

Hello mates and fellow adventurers!

Eric here reporting on the travels of Still Waters II and crew on their south bound journey up the St Johns River.  Yes, you read that right, up river.  The St Johns River is a rare north flowing river.  The river starts in central Florida near Vero Beach and runs north 310 miles to the Atlantic Ocean.  It is a slow moving river because there is only a 30 foot elevation drop over the 310 mile journey to the Atlantic.

The river was first named by the Spanish in the early 1500’s as Rio de Corrientes, River of Current.  Seems to be a silly name since it is a ‘lazy’ river with little current.

In 1562, the French established the first outpost on the river at Fort Caroline.  The French named the river La Riviere du Mai, because they arrived there on May 1.  The Spanish were non to happy about the French fort, so the Spanish marched north from St Augustine and captured the fort.

The Spanish renamed the river San Mateo to honor a saint whose feast followed the day of the capture.  The Spanish renamed the river once again to Rio de San Juan after a mission near the river’s mouth.  After the English took control of Florida in 1763, they anglicized the name to the St Johns River.

The history of the river has a strange connection to our skipper.  Seems a Mrs. W.F. Fuller who lived along the river in the 1880’s, travelled to New Orleans in 1884.  She attended the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition and obtained a South American plant, hyacinth, as a gift from the Japanese.  When she returned home she planted the hyacinth along the shore of her river home.  Within 10 years the plant covered an estimated 50 million acres of the river.  Oooopppps.

 

In 1998, President Clinton designated the river an American Heritage River.

The navigable part of the river is made up of three distinct areas: Lower – Atlantic to Jacksonville, Middle –  Jacksonville to Palatka, and Upper – Palatka to Sanford.

The crew left Ortega Landing Marina after partaking of a fine breakfast at the Metro Diner.  The crew shoved off about 1015 and cruised 65 miles on Tuesday, March 29.    After passing under the Palatka Bridge it was visibly obvious that the river had changed.  The river narrowed from 1 – 2 miles wide to only hundreds of yards wide.  The crew found a spot in Murphy Creek to drop anchor for the evening.

 

On Wednesday, March 30 the crew put in another 60 mile day and made it all the way to Hontoon Island State Park.  The river continued to narrow the further south the crew travelled.  The crew also crossed Lake George which is Florida’s second largest lake.  The crew spotted four gators along the shore before arriving at the park.  The park has two piers with about 20 slips available for boaters.  However, it is first come, first serve.  Still Waters II needed to be out on the T-dock and the crew was hopeful that nobody else was already tied up in the spot. The skipper was caught a bit off guard when he approached a bend in the river and realized that the State Park was just around the bend.  The skipper had to tell the Admiral to hang up the phone and prepare for docking because the Admiral was engaged in a lengthy conversation catching up on grandkid stories from the Easter weekend.  Luckily, as they rounded the bend, the crew could see that the T-dock was available so they made way for the spot and got tied up at 1730.  Nothing like last minute preps to get ready to dock.

 

 

Shore Excursions Hontoon Island State Park – The park is an island with no vehicle access.  The park service runs a small 6 passenger ferry boat named ‘Island Bridge’ from the main park entrance to a parking lot across the river.  Folks come park their car and then take the 150 yard ferry crossing to the park.  The last ferry runs at 1830, so after that the crew pretty much had the island all to themselves.

 

This changed on Friday however.  There were a steady stream of campers coming to the island for the weekend. The campers load their stuff in park provided wheel barrows.  Then load up on the ferry.  Once on the island they push the wheel barrows to one of three vans.  They get one trip to the camp ground using the van.  The campgrounds are about a mile from the ferry landing.  On Sunday, this ritual reversed as people were moving their gear back to the parking lot.  At one point Sunday afternoon, a long line of campers and their gear were patiently waiting on the ferry.  It was about 1930 before the park service got everyone back off the island.

Thursday, March 31, the crew launched the dinghy and took a two hour ride on the back side of the island.  The crew saw lots of birds and turtles but no gators.  That evening though the gators came out to play around the boat and were putting on a good show as they were feeding on fish in the river.

 

 

Friday, April 1, the skipper got up early and kayaked around for about two hours.  The skipper saw three more gators in the water.  After returning to the boat, the crew borrowed a motorized dinghy to make the 10 mile loop around the island and visit Blue Springs State Park.  The loop took them down Hontoon Dead River to Snake Creek.  Snake Creek wound around and eventually came out on the St Johns River.

Heading north the crew went to Blue Springs State Park and enjoyed a swim in the 72 degree spring waters.  The springs are the winter habitat for about 200 manatees, but they were already gone so the crew did not see any manatees.  After floating down the springs and cooling off, the crew made their way back to Hontoon Island to complete the loop.  After returning the dinghy, the crew went to dinner with Greg and Leslie.  The couple took them to a local restaurant, Shady Oaks, where the skipper finally saw a manatee swim by.

Saturday, April 2, the crew took a two hour hike around the island and visited an ancient Indian mound.  On the way to the mound, the crew took some time to find seven geocaches.  One cache was a little more exciting than it should have been.  A snake was guarding the path to the cache.  With a little persistence the crew finally made the “find” and escaped unharmed from the snake.

Sunday, April 3, Greg and Leslie invited the crew to the Deland Art Festival.  The crew spent Sunday afternoon walking around the Deland Park admiring the art work and listening to good music.  One musician was named Jack.  He was strumming his guitar and singing old country tunes.  When his set was up he sang “Hit the Road Jack” as his last song and then exited the stage.  How appropriate.

 

On Monday the crew will prepare for the next leg of the journey and prep the boat for cruising.  The crew will leave Tuesday and head south to Sanford.  Plan to eat lunch, then head back north and anchor out.  Wednesday they hope to visit Silver Springs and then anchor out in Murphy Creek.  Thursday they should arrive back at Ortega Landing to re-provision.  They plan to leave on Monday, and start their journey up the AICW to Norfolk.

Ahoy Mates!

Eric here providing an update on the crew of Still Waters II.

Every Thursday, the crew gets a Cruiser’s Weekly Update from WaterWay Guide.  The Update provides new navigational alerts, cruising news, and Marina & Harbor Events.  The skipper noticed that the Captains Club  and the Jacksonville Sail and Power Squadron were hosting the annual Blessing of the Fleet on Palm Sunday.

 

Blessing of the Fleet is a tradition that was started many centuries ago in Mediterranean fishing communities.  The vessel, captains, and crews were blessed to ensure a safe and prosperous season. The tradition is now held in coastal fishing communities throughout much of the world, including in a number of coastal cities in the United States.

The crew decided to throw off the dock lines and make the hour cruise to downtown Jacksonville.  The crew arrived at the staging area east of the statue at 1330 and joined about 50 other boats.  The Master of Ceremonies came on Channel 72 at 1345 to give instructions and inform the boaters that they would start as soon as the Padre arrived.  Seems he was running late, something about his service running long due to Palm Sunday.

Amazing enough, the Padre arrived a few minutes later and the procession of boats made way to the Lone Sailor Statue for their individual blessing.

After all the boats passed the Padre, the official boats formed a wheel in the middle of the river and performed a wreath laying ceremony.

 

Click the Padre pic to watch a 40 sec video of Still Waters II Blessing.

 

STILL WATERS II

PRAYER

 

Keep our engines

cruising around

Keep our boat

from running aground

 

Keep our lives

in YOUR care

Keep us safe

everywhere

 

Bless our guest

Who come aboard

May they leave

Refreshed and restored!

Author.

Skipper Dave