Drigger Island to Blue Creek 11.12.13

It was a bit foggy when we woke up this morning.

Jim and I took the dingy for a short cruise. We really like pushing it around with the trolling motor. No loud motor…nothing to pull…just a nice peaceful ride.

Bud and Michaelle were getting Avi-toon ready for travel. Kind of looks like we’re rafted up with the “ducks” but we’re not. They are much bigger than Meander.

There is a lot of room below deck on these boats. I think both have bunk beds as well as a table that makes into a double bed….and lots of head room.

That is Sue aboard Big Duck (gold).

When rafted like this there is a lot of deck space for socializing.

Jerry and Terry aboard The Ugly Duckling.

One of the floating mascots.…..Merlin. He keeps Jeff and Sue safe. What a great dog.

Penny, Bud and Michaelle’s little poodle is another great boating dog. She runs around Avi-Toon’s decks and spends a lot of time in the extra chair. Keeping Michaelle company while Bud drives.

Big Duck had a problem and The Ugly Duckling stayed behind till it was solved.

Bud, Michaelle, Jim and I anchored along the river and waited. I think Bud is working on supper. Penny is asleep in the chair. Michaelle’s probably wondering who gets to clean it if he actually catches something.

Jim and I took the dingy for a spin.

We’ve been seeing a lot of these flowers along the river. It looks like a climbing Aster. Bee food? Don’t know… it was pretty cold and I didn’t see any bees on it but we gathered some seeds and a few plants. I like to find stuff that grows wild for the honey bees.

Here come the “ducks”. I think they can go over 20 mph.

Merlin is enjoying the trip.

We are exploring Blue Creek today.

Another place we enjoy traveling. It is slow going, but interesting.

There are stretches with homes and then it is wild again.

Cool and windy so there were not a lot of gators out sunning today. This Anhinga was drying it’s wings with a couple of turtles for company.

We were going to anchor near the island the local gator, Bubba, hangs out on, but it was starting to fill up with weeds. The weather forecast is for winds around 25 – 30 mph and strong gusts. We were afraid we’d get “weeded” in.

On the other side of the St Johns is another jug handle. Jim wanted to show everyone this boat.  It was floating the last time we were here. What a shame…a very unique motorsailer.

Here’s Merlin again….maybe he’s scouting out a place to get ashore.

We started back South on the St Johns River to find a place to anchor for the night. We spotted Captain Jim aboard “Sailbad the Sinner” and decided to anchor there. Had trouble getting the anchors set. Big Duck got his down solid, Jerry and Terry tied a line to a tree …backed out and had Jim dingy the stern anchor out as far as he could. Bud and Michaelle did the same thing.

We finally got our anchor set and we rode out the night. It was windy and Meander really sails back and forth with the wind. I think Jerry and Terry had the best spot…Bud released his line to the tree and put both anchors out on the stern around mid-night.

Everyone made it through the night….though none of us got much sleep after being on anchor duty all night.

 

 

Classic Houseboat Rendezvous 2013 St Johns River, FL

Jim and I launched Meander yesterday afternoon. Bud and Michaelle launched Avi-Toon a few minutes later.

This morning Bud got  his canopy in place. You can not see it in this picture, but the scallops are edged in maroon to match the colors on the side of the boat. It really looks great.

We snapped our screens in place. Tonight we can enjoy the rear deck…..mosquito free.

Around Mid-morning Big Duck and The Ugly Duckling pulled into the parking lot.

It didn’t take long for Terry and Jerry to get Ugly Duckling in the water.

As The Ugly Duckling cruised up to me I could hear it quacking….literally…What a riot….I guess he can make all kinds of sounds but the quacking duck fits perfectly.

Terry was hauling the fenders aboard.

Handsome boats.

Once BigDuck was in the water the engine wouldn’t start so Bud and Jim went over to help.

While we waited, this little thing cruised by….a motor with surf boards?

They got the problem solved….faulty ignition. And here comes Big Duck.

I guess we are officially underway.

Jim and Bud on their way back.

Waiting for the train to pass and the bridge to open.

First gator of the day…and a nice one. Looks as though he enjoys posing for the tourists….is that a cheeky little smile?

Meander has all her ducks in a row….and an Avi-Toon.

Coming thru the canal that connects the St Johns River to the Hontoon River. This is a great ride…you have to watch the limbs overhead and hope you don’t meet anyone coming the other way…

Bud and Avi-Toon won a minor match with a submerged log after exiting the channel. It’s a narrow and winding water way with lots of surprises.

Anchoring at Drigger Island.

We’re all here….

We took the dingy over to Avi-Toon and picked up Michaelle and headed for

 the “ducks”. They had rafted up and we had not met Terry and Jerry yet.

It turned out to be a nice evening. After  meeting everyone we visited awhile then headed back to the boats for supper.

Another great day on the water.

Larry and Diane….we miss you!!!!!

Wally Docking 11.10.11

Around 11:00 this morning we received a call from Bud and Michaelle. They had stopped at Monroe Park but it was packed with fishing boats…. a bass tournament was in session so they headed for Walmart.

Jim got the trailer hooked up and I loaded the bird and dog and we were on our way to Walmart too. Needed a few supplies and we could meet our the other boaters.

This is an Avi-Toon boater home. Bud made this from an Avion camper and pontoon boat. It has “walk arounds” on both sides. The pathway folds up against the railing…and the whole thing slides in so it’s flat against the camper for trailering. Pretty neat setup, and can be done by one person. Lots of interior space. I like the crank out windows. Most of ours are slides and when it rains they have to be closed.

A bit later Big Duck rolled in.

We went aboard for a tour. Jim had all kinds of head room on both boats. Not so with ours.

The Ugly Duckling was stuck in Daytona with a flat tire.

The park attendant thought the fishing tournament would be done by 3 pm and most of the boats gone shortly after that. Jim and Bud decided we’d go over around 4:30 and launch. We could anchor in the cove and wait for Big Duck and Ugly Duckling. That way we wouldn’t tie up the launch ramps in the morning with 4 house boats trying to launch at one time.

Big Duck and Ugly Duck spent the night at Walmart…”wally docking”. It was too late for them to get to the park.

It was dark by the time both boats had dropped the hook.

Forgot to get the screens up on the rear deck before it got dark…too many mosquitos to sit out back and enjoy the evening.

Beautiful night. Had the windows open with a nice cool breeze coming in.

A little remodel for “Meander”

Last trip out we forgot our folding chairs….(among other things).

We made do with float cushions on the battery box and storage box. There is  a lot more room on the rear deck without the chairs so Jim decided to make the boxes a little bigger/taller and more comfortable.

The floor also needed a new coat of paint. So he took everything out and gave it 2 coats.

The new battery box will hold 3 house batteries instead of two. Maybe we can run the generator less.

We had 4 house batteries on the camper but we normally only need them for travel…since we stay in campgrounds or someone’s yard…with electric hookup. We now have 4 batteries in the boat…all deep cycle.

The one under the seat on the starboard side could easily be removed and put in the camper box if we felt 2 would not be enough on a long camping trip.

This will be Jim’s seat…room for a cushion behind him too.

 

The box on the starboard side will hold one battery and have a storage box for small stuff. That will be my seat. We need these to step over the side when at a dock or to get into the dingy. Everything has double duty.

The generator sits on the platform above the small fuel tank.

Neither of us smoke so sitting out back with our wine or coffee isn’t a problem.

We’ve been using these boat cushions in our folding chairs in the camper. Jim thought we’d be much more comfortable if we used them on the boat. I tried it and he was right. They can also be used in the bow.

If we forget the seats we can still use the float cushions…but I have a feeling these will be aboard until we go camping again.

When he changed the boxes he made a new layout for the gas tanks. This is the new look…much more foot room. One less 5 gallon tank…but before.. we had to carry two on the front bench seats …which meant lugging them  through the cabin to the back. The 4 stroke Honda gets pretty good fuel mileage and there are plenty of fuel stops on the St John’s River.

We’ll also have a 2 1/2 gallon tank under the generator….and a 1 gallon can for the generator.

Everything is back together….now we can plan our next trip. The weather is getting nice for boating. Warm days and cool nights.

Jim’s next boat project? Figuring out a way to catch rain water to refill the fresh water tank.

We’re home 10.2.13

We did 3 things we haven’t done in several years:  trip into DeLeon Springs, FL….trip across Lake Harney and then across Lake Jessup…and the highlight was the trip down Hontoon River and out the canal. Had never done that.

The weather had been perfect most nights and had minor rain one day.

We have a carshow mid Oct in Tampa….then we can start packing and planning the next river trip..I know it will include the canal to the Hontoon River.

 

 

Lake Jessup 10.1.13

After coffee we headed for Lake Jessup. We’ve not been on this lake for several years. At that time we had our Adventure Craft and Larry and Diane had their Nimble Nomad. When we got to the fish camp, we dropped a stern anchor as we were going in and nosed up to the land…then put the bow anchor in the ground. Spent the night. Next morning I hauled the anchor aboard and we headed out…but we didn’t get far….we’d forgotten the stern anchor. Larry kept looking back to see why we were not following. It’s those little things that make a trip memorable.

The lake is finally up enough for us to try it again.

At the entrance there is a gauge….don’t know what it means….but do know that if it reads 3.40 we can cross the lake.

There is a nice little boat ramp with plenty of parking…We don’t use it because we leave the truck and trailer for a week or so. Lake Monroe Park has secure parking.

The lake was flat….we did cross an area that read 1’ but had no problem. Our depth gauge is in the lower part of the center hull. That would mean 1’ below the bottom of the boat. If the motor is tilted a bit it doesn’t hit. On our way out we changed our route a bit and bypassed that shallow spot.

In the distance is the 417 bridge. “The Greenway”. We crossed under it and checked out the other end of the lake. We’ve never been to that end.  After a cruise around we came back to the Black Hammock Fish Camp and had lunch.

As we were nearing the fish camp, I noticed this little rain cloud. Looked like it might be dropping some water on our place so called my friend, Debbie, but she said no.

We anchored and took the dingy in. (no stern anchor this time)

View of “Meander” from the parking lot, with a map of the lake. They have a “biker” bar….airboat rides and good food. Lake Jessup has a large population of gators. You can sit out on the peninsula and generally see several swimming nearby. They have a gator they bring around for you to see, in the restaurant. You can even hold it and have your picture taken. It is just a small one, but gives you a chance to really get a good look and feel of one.

We saw a couple White Pelicans.

I don’t do very well “on the wing” pictures but I was so happy to capture these I just had to post them.

We are anchored just outside the entrance of Lake Monroe on Woodruff Creek. Nice breeze…doing a bit of swinging on the anchor. Sure hope this isn’t a short cut to the lake for the fast boats with the big wakes.

Tomorrow we’ll cross Lake Monroe…load “Meander” on the trailer and head home. Our week on the water over.

The highlight of this trip was the run down Hontoon River and the canal that cut through to the St Johns River. I much prefer the river to lake running….so much more to see.