April 18, 2014

Hontoon River, FL 4.18.14

Here is a pair of Osprey nesting on a marker.

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They didn’t like us getting so close to their nest and told us to continue on. Here’s what they sounded like.

We dropped the hook and had lunch on the back side of Hontoon Island. When Larry and Diane were boating with us we used to beach here but they don’t allow that anymore. We were hoping to see deer or a bear come for a drink..but no such luck.

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This Blue Heron really blended in with this deadwood.

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Windy weather creates a lot of weed jams on the river. While anchored yesterday we saw huge mats of weeds float by.

This one completely closed off the river. Of course, we had to try a run through it. This was taken when we got bogged down in the middle.

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Jim spent a few minutes several times cleaning off the prop and then we’d make another run at it.

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About 2/3s of the way through a tour boat came along and bulled his way through. Bet the tourists got a kick out of that.

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Half an hour later we were through and on our way to the canal. Didn’t think we had to worry about meeting the tour boat coming the opposite way. He said he had cleared the downed tree…bummer…no photo op.

Our dingy sprung an air leak so it ended up riding in the bow. Probably a good thing…might have had a lot of trouble trying to tow it through….and we’re sure the trolling motor would not have gotten through if we’d tried to ride it out. The mat was 2 or 3 ft. thick.

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This Limpkin did it’s best to hide from us in this Cyprus Tree.

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Entrance to the canal…at marker R 80 (St Johns marker)

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Ride part way through with us…..

 

We are anchored at Dutchmen’s Bend…marker G 81 …entrance to a side creek that we are going to take in the morning.

Jim …fishing for supper…fish or burgers…fish or burgers….bet it’s burgers.

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We use Tom Kranz’s Boating and Cruising Guide to the St Johns River. I use the marker numbers so friends who have a guide can tell where we are.

If you ever plan an extended trip on the St Johns you should get one. He’s traveled most every creek out here and is pretty dependable. A drought that lowers the river level can make a difference in the depth markings but a check with locals as to how the river stands can solve that problem. Right now it is a bit low so we take that into consideration when we do a side trip.

Yup….burgers

 

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