March 9, 2013

St Johns River, FL 3.8.13

Launched mid morning. Not a lot of people at the ramp.

Headed North, and took a pass thru one of our anchorages. Here’s “Cruiser”. Affectionately nicknamed because he always cruises around us when we anchor there.

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We are testing the new to us, Honda 50, 4 stroke…..the dingy with the trolling motor and the new Yamaha 2000 generator. Our Honda 1000 runs great and was all we needed on the Albin 27, Slow Motion. But we now only have a house battery bank of 2 instead of 4 and the outboard doesn’t have a big alternator like the Albin. It also heated water when cruising and the water heater aboard Meander uses 1500 watts.

The Honda runs great. Forgot just how quiet a 4 stroke is compared to a 2 stroke. Jim redid the gas can and generator area. We may not need the extended run on the Yamaha, it has a 1.1 gal tank. Should be enough to run a heater on low overnight if needed, but that shouldn’t be a problem this time of year.

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So much easier to put the trolling motor on the dingy. Jim made a battery box out of a small cooler and we can tie it in place on the floor of the dingy. Everything stays in the dingy while underway…so much easier when you want to stop, anchor and do a bit of dinking around.

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Our anchorage for the night is by marker R 36, just off the St Johns River.

 

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Had a nice cruise, hot supper and enjoyed the evening. Took Raisin ashore in the dingy….ohhhhh …it works so nice and quiet.

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