Green Cove Springs and Jacksonville Landing

From Deep Water Creek we headed to Green Cove Springs, eventually anchoring near the mouth of Governors Creek. We met up with Herb and Margie, folks we had run into a couple of times while they were cruising the river on their Grand Banks. The four of us walked to the heart of the town, visiting this amazingly preserved church that was built in the 1800's. All the side windows had small fire exit doors under them.

Yesterday we headed to Jacksonville, spending the night at Jacksonville Landing. We did a quick tour in the afternoon, riding the elevated across the river to check out the micro brewery, then walking back on the older lift bridge. The 223' Kismet was in town to meet us.

We enjoyed a nice evening checking out more than one of the nice restaurants on the landing.

Before daylight this morning we were awakened by some schlep throwing a large wake in the no wake area, causing our binoculars to crash to the floor and self destruct... Today we headed south, stopping at Palatka to find the town dock is no longer encouraging boaters to stop for the evening... We are now anchored in the Little Sister Islands, planning on heading to Acosta Creek Harbor tomorrow, hauling out on Friday and heading home.

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Lazyboy!

Prior to our 2011 winter cruise Cathie came up with a simple solution to the too short v-berth. This winter she came up with another use: my lazyboy!

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Go ahead, back up!

On Thursday we took the free ferry across the river and hopped on our bikes for a 12 mile bike ride to DeLand for provisions. Friday we got together with one of my brothers and family for a day of cruising the back side of the island in search of alligators. We then lunched 3.5 miles down river at a small waterfront fish shack. Friday night got a bit busy at the marina, with locals coming in for a bluegrass band on Saturday. On the advice of more than one cruiser familiar with the river, we decided to head back north.




We followed our track through Lake George, taking a detour for an hour's ride into Jurassic Park - the Oklawawa River. Unfortunately, it was a weekend with too much boat traffic so there wasn't much to see. We then headed the short distance to Welaka, tieing up at the free town dock for the night. After a short walking tour of the Town (pop. 300) we decided to eat at The Palms Cafe Bleuu, right next door to the town dock. Good food...




This morning we continued north, stopping at Crystal Cove Marina in Palatka for fuel, then Deep Creek for a night on the hook. The name is appropriate. After lunch we took a hour ride up the creek and back. I saw a maximum depth of 35 feet...

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St. Johns River South

Today we headed south. We didn't really have a destination... We traveled a total of 45km, with a side trip up Silver Spring, on the west side of Lake George.

So far, the water on the St. Johns has had allot of tannin. As we approached Silver Spring, the water became crystal clear. We were able to see rays on the bottom, allot of turtles, bald eagles, and of course, alligators.

We then continued south, passing through Volusia. South of Volusia there was no development until we approached DeLand and Hontoon Island State Park. The facilities here are good, with clean restrooms and showers. Total dock fee is $20.25, any size boat, including electricity and water.

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Fresh water bath

Monday we hauled Buddy and headed to the east coast. First stop was an overnight visit with my sister in Titusville. Here is Buddy parked for the night with the Indian River and one of the NASA launch pads in the background.

Today we hopped on I-95, heading about 2 hours NW to Acosta Creek Harbor, Satsuma, FL. Here we launched and will cruise the St. Johns River for a while. Tomorrow we will head south...

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Fish on!

Yesterday we took Buddy south toward Gasparilla Pass to cool off and use up my supply of frozen shrimp. Frankly, since I have been without my mentor, Tonic Tom on the cute little boat, my success at fishing has been nothing to write home about.

As usual, the shrimp on a jig with a "popper" bobber yielded nothing... Tom, I must need another lesson...

So, I figure why not try some Wisconsin bass bait. With the Admiral driving with only one engine at idle speed, we headed back "home" on the ICW. There was quite a bit of boat traffic passing us by as we trolled along with me lounging in the cockpit, tending to two poles with floating lures.

Anyway, to make a short story long, I snagged this fish. At first I thought it was a submarine, but after a while I realized it was a fish. It took me a while to get it in the boat as I was using light spinning rods with 6# test line. A couple of passing boats even stopped to watch.

I have absolutely no idea what it is...

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Hi-oh Silver!

The Rangers have arrived! One R27 is even from Texas! Our immediate neighbors on the R21 are from Wisconsin! In that we are staying in the transient area of the marina, we see allot of boats come and go...

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Beach Party

Friday we took Buddy down the ICW and up Charlotte Harbor for a overnight visit with John and Sara. Saturday morning the four of us hopped aboard for an early start back to Palm Island Marina to beat an approaching cold front. By the time we turned the corner and headed up the well-protected ICW, the winds were starting to build.

For the afternoon Dar and Jim (even more of the Cheesehead Navy) and our marina neighbor Mike joined us and we all took the water taxi to the beach. The surf was building and a number of the group tried a bit of body surfing. We then headed back for a quick rinse in the pool and a trip to Stump Pass Marina for a bit of entertainment by the Yard Dogs, a local band featuring an accordion player from, you guessed it, Milwaukee...

From there it was a trip up the road for pizza at an Englewood favorite, the Faull Inn.

It was a full day... Sunday was a day of rest...

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Local entertainment

The last cold front to blast through put this small sailboat on the beach in Punta Gorda. The owner was aboard. Had to be quite a ride... After a number of attempts, this one was successful. The activity caused quite a crowd to develop and watch the "show"...

We've been hanging out at Palm Island, with day trips fishing, biking, or getting together with friends that live in the area. One day last week more members of the Cheesehead navy picked us up at the marina for a run to Venice via the ICW for lunch. This 32' Intrepid was a bit faster than Buddy...

When we got back to the Palm Island we were greeted by our friendly manatee...

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The Joneses

It's Tom's fault... Tonic Tom got more power for his rubber yacht and got me into salt water fishing. Next thing that happens is I'm not satisfied with my Yamaha 2.5.... A member of the Cheesehead navy then offers to sell me his used Mercury 6hp. Going trolling this afternoon.  It's all Tom's fault...

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Cabbage Key

The last time we were at Cabbage Key was New Years Eve 1994.  Sunday morning we picked up the crew of the Cheesehead Navy for a quick ride to breakfast. Not much has changed since our last visit.

The bartender told us all of the cash was removed from the walls and ceilings after 9/11 for a donation to the survivors of the tragedy. More than $70,000 was donated.

After breakfast the crew toured of the island.

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Cheesehead Navy

Yesterday we headed to Cayo Costa for a weekend rendezvous with some Wisconsin boating friends, meeting up with Les and Barb on Revision and Jim and Pam on Screech. First order of business was a sunset cocktail hour on Revision. This morning after breakfast we had a gathering on the beach for a boat bottom cleaning party. In that Buddy has a nice bottom, Cathie and I supervised the activity on the other two boats...

After lunch it was a trip through the love canal on Cayo Costa to get access to the beach on the Gulf side of the island. Tomorrow morning we pick everyone up on Buddy for a breakfast run to nearby Cabbage Key. Livin on sponge cake..

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High on Buddy

We do like our Rosborough. This morning Buddy was high on us... The able staff of Palm Island Marina hauled Buddy first thing this morning to rehab our SeaStar steering cylinder. The whole process took less than 3 hours. The last cold front was enough to convince me the seals in the cylinder were more than due for replacement. Lately when the weather would cool down, our steering would get a bit unpredictable. Not a good thing...

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Taxi!!

This being a special day, after breakfast I made a quick run to Walmart to get my Valentine a $5 bouquet of roses...  When I returned we decided to check out Palm Island and our PIMYC privileges. We took the water taxi from the marina to Palm Island. Captain Kelly gave us a nice ride to and from the island.

After grabbing a quick lunch at the Rum Bay restaurant, we headed to the beach. The weather was perfect and we spent a couple hours lounging and looking for shark's teeth. In that Palm Island is private, there were no crowds. From the photo, you can also see there were plenty of teeth...

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If you get bored in the Keys, go North and Freeze...

We moved today. Hauled the boat at 8:30 am, drove 266 miles NW to just north of Boca Grande, launched at 3 pm and were set in our slip for the next month at Palm Island Marina and Resort by 4. Great place, the heat is on as the overnight low is forecast to be 32... Warm-up Monday with the forecast in the 80's for the next two weeks. Our slip is behind the palm trees, behind the hot tub.

http://www.palmisland.com/the-island-experience/palm-island-marina/

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