2012 Cruise up the St John's River

Plans have been made for a three week cruise south to the St. John's River in Jacksonville, FL and then up to it's head waters in Sanford. Check in after February 22 when we will head out. Claria's calendar continues to be very full, so one of our neighbors on Distant Island is a delivery captain, and his wife is going to be out of town during the week of February 20, so Jim will join me to "deliver" ODYSSEE to Palatka, FL, where Claria and Diane will drive down to meet us. We dropped the lines at our dock at 6:45 on Wednesday, February 22, and headed out on a light wind day. With the light breeze forcast at least through 14:00, we made the decision to run outside as far as we could. The day went pretty well as predicted, with the wind increasing from the SW to about 15 knots at 14:00. We put ODYSSEE up on a plane and headed for Doboy Sound and went inside to the ICW. Put the anchor down in the north end of the Frederica River at 18:00, with 105 miles under our keel. The outside route saved us 35 miles, about 4 hours of run time. The wind was forcast to blow for the next three days, so we were glad to have been able to run outside on Wednesday. We pulled the anchor at 7:40 on Thursday, fueled up in Fernandina Beach, FL and tied up to the Fort George Park dock, just 6 miles from the St. John's River, at 16:35, putting another 73 miles under the keel. On Friday we cast off at 8:20 and headed back to the ICW, turning south towards the St. John's River. By accident, we timed our entrance on the St. John's River perfectly with an incoming tide, and got a push all the way to the Out Back Crab Shack, our planned stop for the night. We arrived about an hour earlier than our plan because of the great push we got all day, sometimes as much as 1.5 MPH. The Out Back Crab Shack has a 1,500' face dock for boaters to use and spend the night if they buy dinner at the Shack. We did have dinner, a 1/2 order of the crab platter, including crawfish, shrimp, clams, snow crab, corn, potatoes, and broccoli. The 1/2 platter could have fed 4! On Saturday we only had 30 miles to go to get to the marina in Palatka, FL where we planned to meet the girls. We cast off at 9:20 and arrived at the dock in Palatka at 12:20. Claria and Diane arrived at about 18:00, we went to dinner, and settled down for a night on the boat. After a relaxing breakfast on the boat, Jim and Diane left to drive our car back to Beaufort and we continued south up the River. The River north of Palatka is pretty much a large lake, but south of Palatka the River narrows down and winds through the cypress swamp. Birds of all species, ducks, allagators, turtels, and manatee become common sightings. We got 46 miles up the river and anchored just north of Astor, FL. It rained most of the day, but with our hard top over our drive station and a windshield make running in the rain a non event. Today, Monday, we arrived at Sanford on Lake Monroe, a suburbe of Orlando. As the river approaches Sanford, several large springs line the river. These springs of pure water bubble from the large Florida aquafur beneath. There water is at a constant 72 degrees which attracks the manatee. As northern Florida towns, Georgia towns, and Hilton Head, SC draw their domestic water from this aquafur, the flow from the springs deminish, and the river level drops. Years ago, steamboats left Palatka and took passengers to Sanford and up the Ocklawaha River to Silver Springs. Today the Ocklawaha is barely navigatable. The Ocklawaha River was going to be part of the Cross Florida Barge Canal connecting Jacksonville with the Gulf of Mexico. Two locks were built, the Buckman lock functions today raising boats about 15' up into the Rodman reservoir. The second lock, at Eureka was completed but never flooded. The Cross Florida Barge Canal project was cancelled in the Nixon administration. Interesting to look at these structures on Google Earth. While we've been in Sanford, we've had a chance to see several friends. On Tuesday Alyre and Jeanne, a Canadian couple we met in 2009 in Richibucto, NB while on the Down East Loop, came over for a visit and lunch. They spend their winters in Port Orange, FL, not far from Sanford. Today Bill and Kathleen Root came over from Yalaha, FL for a visit and lunch. We see Bill and Kathleen every time they come through Beaufort on their 54' Hatteras. Tomorrow, Thursday we will head back down river to the north. Another Canadian couple, Al and Marilyn Smith from Huntsville, ON will be on the boat with us to Palatka, a trip of three to five days, depending on where we stop to see the sights. For sure we will stop at Blue Springs State Park, Hontoon Island State Park, Silver Glen State Park, Murphy Creek, and possible through Buckman Lock into Rodman Reservoir. We'll be without internet service for several days so don't look for an update until we get to Palatka.

We're in Palatka Sunday afternoon, March 4. We've had four interesting days. Thursday afternoon we anchored outside of Blue Springs State Park and ferried everybody to shore in the dingy. This spring bubbles 104 million gallons of water daily from the norther Florida aquafur. The water is a a constant 72 degrees so many manatee spend the winter here. The river has just warmed to about 70 degrees so just one day before we arrived about 200 manatee had left the warm spring pool.

The water flowing from the spring to the deep brown river water is crystal clear. We were able to row the dingy into the creek most of the way to the spring. Marilyn is in the dingy with Chuck. we spent the night at Hontoon Island State Park marina three miles further down the river.

Friday morning we took a walk on the nature trail at Hontoon before we departed. Before continuing down the river, we took a side trip up the Hontoon Dead River, a narrow creek that ran up the back side of the Island. Once we were back on the river we went about 4 miles down the river to the "fancy" Shady Oak Restaurant for a local cat fish lunch. On the way up the river we had passed this place with a parking lot full of cars and decided it must be good if that number of locals come!

The plan for the night was to try to get into the anchorage at Silver Glen Springs, about 1/3 the way down the west shore of Lake George. As we came onto Lake George we hit something in the middle of the channel, virtually on the exact same course we had used crossing Lake George on the way up just 6 days ago. Nothing was visable and there was no vibration in the boat, so we continued. When I inspected the props the next day no damage was noted. The water level in the St John's River is about 2' lower than normal so I was concerned we may not have enough water to get into the Silver Glen anchorage. As we approached the entrance channel, there was a 27' SeaRay anchored outside of the entrance, that was a bad sign for we were sure he had an IO drive and should have been able to get in. We followed the instructions we had on how to find the deepest water and proceeded slowly, watching the depth sounder approach 3.5', our draft. In another few feet the keel hit the soft sand bottom. We backed off, mover to the north about 50' and tried again, only to hit the bottom again. So we moved about 100' to the south, tried again with the same result. The forecast was for a light westerly wind thoughout the night, so we anchored in 4.5' of water and had a peaceful night.

Saturday morning after breakfast, we lowered the dingy into the water to ferry us into the spring. The motor didn't want to start, and as I was analysing the problem, a Sea Doo showed up wondering if he could tow the dingy in. After some discussion, we agreed, and three of us went in, Al on the Sea Doo and Marilyn and I in the dingy, with Claria taking pictures of the whole event! Turned out Logan, the guy with the Sea Doo owned a houseboat that was anchored in the lagoon near the spring, with a Volvo IO drive that didn't work. He was planning on towing the houseboat with his Sea Doo about 3 miles to the north to a marina where he would put the houseboat on a trailer to take it to get the IO drive fixed. The wind was starting to build, so I suggested that we could tow the houseboat north on the lake to help him out. OK. So after we had viewed the spring we towed the houseboat out to ODYSSEE, tied up a tow line, and proceeded north up the lake. After letting Logan go we continued north to an anchorage behind one of the Seven Sister Islands for the night. A strong storm front was predicted to come through about 4:00 AM in the morning, so we set two anchors, the second to hold us at the new wind direction. Then storm came through right on schedule, blew at least 40 MPH.

Sunday morning brought sun and some wind from the NW. One thing I wanted to try on this trip was to go through the Buckman lock into Rodman Reservior, all built as part of the Florida Barge Canal. Construction was started in November of 1964 and finished December 1968. This lock functions 4 days per week, Thursday thru Sunday from 6:30 AM to 2:00 PM. Their normal water level is 18', but with the drought it was at 11' at the end of February. Starting March 1, they were drawing the level back up to 18'. I called the lockmaster and learned the current level was 12.5', which ment we would have 4.5' of water over the upper sill, and we could get through the lock. This lock has a 600'X84' chamber with a 65' clearance bridge over the channel for SR19. We locked up at 11:00, and found we actually had 5.3' over the upper sill. We went 7 miles up the canal to the Rodman Reservior, turned around, and locked down at 2:00. The Eureka Lock and Dam was also built from 1965 through 1970. The earthen dam was never closed and flooded and the lock has never operated. The entire project was cancelled during the Nixon administration. Had the second dam been completed, and the lock opened, rather large boats could have transited the Ocklawaha River from the St. Johns River to the Silver River and possible all the way to Lake Harris. Two more smaller locks function on the upper Ocklawaha River. We finished the day in Palatka, tied up at the Quality Inn marina.

On Monday we drove Al and Marilyn back to their car in Sanford.

Tuesday came with a strong eastery wind, which made getting off the dock very difficult. We tied a midship line to the end dock post to give us a line to pivot the boat into the wind, once there, we released the line and pulled it onto the boat. Our destination for the day was the Outback Crab Shack to meet up with Neil and Peggy King from EARLY OUT. They showed up at about 5:15, we had some cocktails on board and went in for a sea food dinner. The Crab Shack allows you a free overnight stay on their 1,500' face dock if you have dinner with them.

On Wednesday we intended to get through Jacksonville and down to the ICW. The only possible hang up was the RR bridge in Jacksonville. This bridge has been having some major maintenance work, and the bridge is on a restricted opening schedule. Per the official Notice to Mainers, the bridge will be opened dailey from 11:30 to 12:30. I had called the bridge tender earlier in the week and learned that the contractor has some parts shortages, so some days the bridge is open all day. As we left the Crab Shack dock, I again called the bridge tender and learned they were working and the bridge would be open from 12:00 to 13:00. The wind was again very heavy from the east, and depending on how the tidal current was running, we were going to arrive at the bridge at about 13:00. We decided to put ODYSSEE up on plane to pick up 15 minutes on our arrival time. As we approached Jacksonville, the tide was falling and the tidal current was building as we approached the bridge. We passed under the bridge at 12:40 and started down the river with a 2.5 to 3 mph push from the tidal current. Remember, the wind is blowing hard from the east, and the river at this point flows east, big wind against rapid current builds BIG, SQUARE, waves, 5'-7' on our nose. As ODYSSEE splashed them into the air the wind caught then and threw them in our face. Have we told you before how glad we are to have a hard top over our heads and a windshield in front of us! We were snug as a bug with the windshield wipers working overtime. Sure glad we weren't under canvas with an isenglass enclosure in front of us. We made it to an anchorage just south Fernandina Beach for the night. Every time we come through this section of Florida we see large flocks of white pelicans.

On Thursday we intended to stop at Fernandina Beach for a visit to Bristly Thistle needlepoint shop and a nice lunch ashore, and then go onto St. Mary's, GA for the night. As we always do crossing into a new state, we hoist the state curtesy flag on our port yard arm, here the Georgia flag goes up. We arrived at Langs Marina in St. Mary's, GA at about 15:00, giving us time to walk around their three square block historic area. The big event in town was filming of "Love Town" for the Oprah Channel. St. Mary's was originally settled by Spain in the 1500's shortly after St. Augustine was established. For 200 years the French and Spanish fought for control, until finally the English arrived in 1700. Today the Navy has a large sub base, Kings Bay, on the Cumberland Sound. When this facility was built in the 1980's, P&H installed a large number of overhead cranes. St. Mary's is also the headquarters for Cumberland Island National Park. Cumberland Island was the summer residence for the Carnegie family. The ruins of their mansion at Dungeness with almost 60 bedrooms and their cottage at Plum Orchard are open for viewing. Plum Orchard is pretty well restored, has 24,000 sq. ft., some 30 bedrooms, running water, indoor plumbing, DC powered lights, ice maker, and Otis elevator.

On Friday we took ODYSSEE out to Plum Orchard on Cumberland Island to see this "cottage". The condition of this building was remarkable and the technology that was used in these island homes was way ahead of their time. The wind had finally dropped, but a cold front was due to cross the reagion during the night. We anchored in a small creek for the night, set two anchors in anticipation of a strong NE wind near gale force before morning. The front came through about 8:00 PM, before we went to bed.

This morning, the wind was a steady 25 kts. with gusts to 30. We had to cross St. Andrews Sound between Cumberland Island and Jekyll Island, with the outside turning bouy beyond the coast line. This was going to be a rough ride, and several others traveling on the ICW had elected to anchor for the day and hope for less wind tomorrow. There is an alternate channel that runs inland through some shallow, narrow, creeks. High tide was at about 11:00, was 8', so if we timed things right and hit high tide at the inland turning mark we could ride the tidal current in, go through the shallow spots with an extra 8' of water, and ride the tidal current back out. We timed it perfect, and had a pretty smooth ride. We ran into the worst waves coming onto the Brunswick River from behind Jekyll Island, where they were 3-4' for a short period until we could turn down wind and head west into Brunswick, which is where we are for the night.

Sunday, another day with high easterly winds. When the tide current was coming in, waves weren't too bad, but when tide was running out, waves were BIG. Both Sapelo and St. Catherines Sounds were rough. We put ODYSSEE up on plane to handle the waves crossing both sounds. In St. Catherines sound we took a hard left turn up into Medway River to Sunbury, GA and dinner and a night at Sunbury Crab Co. Wonderfull dinner!

Monday we left Sunbury for an 83 mile run home. The wind was light and it was a beautiful day. We pulled up to our dock at 6:20 PM