A week before Thanksgiving, Ray & I started our return trip to Jacksonville -- northbound on the the St. Johns River, which -- remember -- runs south to north. So, we had the current in our favor for most of this trip. (As the river approachs Jacksonville, the ocean/inlet tides begin to affect the currents.)
Below is a graphic of our completed north-bound travel. (To see a zoomable image, right-click on the image and open in a new tab.)
NOTE: You may notice this picture includes travel to St. Augustine from Jacksonville. That travel is not part of St. Johns River. Our next blog will focus on St. Augustine (and the cruise from Jacksonville).
We left Sanford and spent the weekend before Thanksgiving at Hontoon Island State Park. Though the morning was cold, we had gorgeous cruising weather. The water was like glass and colors were vibrant, so I spent most of the cruise looking for wildlife and the perfect river photos.
We spotted 2 gators on the cruise to Hontoon Island. (It's tough to get a decent photo of these creatures!)
Conditions were also perfect to fly the drone. I took the helm while Ray operated the drone.
Video: Click below for a short drone video of SCOUT under way on St. Johns River:
I think it's interesting how the flora is greener near the water's edge.
First Stop - Hontoon Island State Park: is on an island that is accessed by boat, or by ferry just acoss the river. We docked here for 2 nights. Most of the boats adhered to the minimum wake (required for manatees), so it was a calm, quiet stay.
Manatees were all along the river and alongside the boat slips. Since the water is not clear (as in the springs), their presence here was usually only evident by the sound of their breaths, the ripples after they took a breath, or the movement of vegetation as they ate.
We took a 1.5-mile hike with varied terrain: swamps, marshes, pin flatwoods, and oak hammocks. Fortunatately, we had pleasant temperatures, since we both wore long pants and long sleeves, in addition to spraying on bug spray, to avoid mosquito bites.
The Mayaca Native Americans were the first known inhabitants of the island. This trail took us to an archaeological dig site near a shell "midden" -- a mound of shells, bones, and other debris discarded by the tribe. We could see many snail shells along this trail.
The only wildlife we saw on the trail, other than many scavenger birds, was a small group of wild turkeys. (Again, tough to get photos, even though these birds did not seem frightened by our presence. They boldly crossed our path, seemingly oblivious to us.)
Second stop - Blackwater Inn in Astor, FL. We cruised a few hours down river to Blackwater Inn, which is know for good steak dinners. We were able to dock right in front of the steakhouse.
We enjoyed lunch on the deck, overlooking SCOUT, got a little exercise, walking across the bridge to tour the only other marina in the area, and then, for dinner, had a delicious steak.
Third Stop - Welaka: The next morning, we took another leisurely cruise down-river to the small town of Welaka. We tied the boat to the face of the free town dock, which was busy with friendly, talkative locals fishing.
Interesting fact: A small sign posted at the town dock gave a brief history of Welaka. Johnny Unitus (football fame) once owned the local seafood company in Welaka -- sadly, just one of several unfortunate investments he made (according to my Google search).
We walked 3/4 mile to have lunch at Shrimp R Us -- one of the fisherman told us about it and gave us directions. The food was great; Ray's shrimp po-boy was slam full.
We walked another 1/4 mile to the Welaka National Fish Hatchery Aquarium. Unfortunately, it was closed for maintenance. Dang it! This would have been an interesting tour.
Reference https://www.fws.gov/welaka/aboutus.html#who for more information about the hatchery. In it's 41 ponds, the facility raises between 4.5 to 5 million fish annually.
While the locals were fishing on the dock, Ray was photographing an egret fishing on the dock.
Fourth Stop - Puerto Rico Cove: The next day greeted us with fog. We waited about an hour for the fog to clear, then cruised a longer day, arriving at our anchorage early afternoon.
Along the way, we had incredible scenery, with bright skies, glassy water, fall Florida colors, and a 125-foot yacht tied up in someone's back yard!
As we arrived at the anchorage (just south of Green Cove Springs), we encountered a helicopter "chasing" a speed boat. We watched them most of the afternoon. We determined it was a Coast Guard helicopter, but we never determined if the activity was tactical training, aerial movie filming, or both.
After watching an otter swimming in the distance, we waited for a beautiful sunset.
The next morning greeted us with another beautiful sunrise.
Fifth Stop - Goodby's Creek Entrance: After photographing the sunrise, we weighed anchor and cruised a full day, arriving at our next anchorage mid-afternoon.
As we had planned, we dinghied up Goodby's Creek to Wicked Barley Brewery (Jacksonville). The day before Thanksgiving, they were celebrating Friendsgiving. We had pumpkin chili, pecan pie brown ale, and pumpkin pie empanda. Our friend on mv Chutay, a Great Harbour N37 (like ours), drove to the brewery from Ortega to visit with us.
We dinghied back to SCOUT just as the sun was setting.
Sixth & Final Stop - Downtown Jacksonville: We took a short cruise up to the free dock at Metropolitan Park in downtown Jacksonville. As we approached the dock, which is right across from the Jaguars stadium, we passed the Jaguars' owners' yacht. I recognized the yacht name, KISMIT, from stories our Ortega marina neighbor told of pre-game socials he attended on the yacht when his former employer had a stadium suite.
While the Thanksgiving bread was rising, Ray & I took a brisk walk around the stadium.
There is a unique railcar tailgating community -- Adams Street Station -- a block from the stadium.
Ray & I enjoyed our first turkey dinner on SCOUT, prepared mostly in the Instant Pot.
Unfortunately, we missed the Jacksonville lighted boat parade. We left Jacksonville earlier than planned to get to St. Augustine before the approaching high-winds weather. Since St. Augustine is known for strong currents, it is advised to arrive during slack current (only twice a day -- and usually only once a day during daylight). We hoped to get there and settle into our next temporary "home port" before the bad weather.
Stay tuned!