A week on the water…over the 4th of July

Larry (A Dollar More), reminded me that I hadn’t updated the blog since we went out on the St Johns River.

Our launch went off without a hitch. Jim has it down pat. Launching the Albin 27 is not a big project at all. Loading it for the trip is another story. When on the trailer you need a big step ladder to get in and out. I get most of my exercise carrying supplies, bedding and clothes aboard.

We put in a couple of days before the 4th. Instead of heading N we decided to spend the day going S to Lake Harney. We’ve never tried to enter Lake Harney with Slow Motion. There is supposed to be a big bar at the entrance and we don’t want to go aground….been there…done that.

A Peacock was strutting along the shore. I love seeing these birds living free. My sister, Joanne, used to have several that lived at her place. They came in and fed with the chickens but other than that they were free to come and go as they pleased. Great watch birds. Nothing sneaks up with them around.

These Ospreys are large birds. How about the fish it caught?

If it’s a bass there are a lot of fishermen wishing they had caught it.

We had a beautiful sunset to end the day.

We picked up Jim’s brother, Carl at the launch ramp on the morning of the 4th….spent the day on the lake and watched the fireworks. HOT is the only way to describe most of the trip. Bearable after the sun goes down but during the day….HOT and MUGGY!!! 

The fireworks were great. Sitting near the middle of the lake we could see them in the towns all around us. Once they were over we headed back to the launch ramp to drop Carl off and we headed to G 109, Butcher’s Bend for the night. It was unbelievable how many boats were on the water for the fireworks….but we travel so slow that there was no problem dropping Carl off. Had the place to our selves. Many of the boaters were waiting to haul out on the opposite side of the river at the free dock.

We had a good night on the water, and the morning wasn’t too bad so we decided to hang out for awhile and maybe spot some gators.

We took the dingy for a ride so I could find something to photograph. No gators about and we know there are several that hang out here. But!!!!   While hanging out in the dingy a Manatee came over to see us. It was a large Manatee.

We spend a lot of time at Butcher’s Bend…one of our favorite anchorages and this only the second time we’ve seen a Manatee in here.

You can see prop scars on it’s back. They look fairly fresh. It was very curious about us and kept coming back to look us over. You can see it’s nostrils as it came up for a peek.

Their hide is kind of bristly like a pig.

We headed off to see what else we could find. Slow Motion looks good on the water.

Normally we can cruise for 4 or 5 hours and have enough charge in the batteries to hold overnight.  Not this time….we wouldn’t be at anchor for more than a few hours and we’d have to start the generator.

Most afternoons it rained and cooled things off…but it was still pretty muggy.

We made it up to Shell Island at G3 in Astor, FL. An 8 hr day of cruising and we still had to run the generator after a few hours at anchor. We definitely have a problem. Since it was so hot and with the battery problem, we decided to head back to Monroe Park and haul out. We did get to see a couple of gators, but only one was willing to sun itself in the heat.

We were surprised to see this barge on the river. It’s the first one we’ve ever seen. It was headed to Lake Monroe.

This Anhinga is sometimes called a snake bird because the long neck is all you see when it is in the water.

Once home, Jim isolated all the batteries and found 2 that were not holding a charge. Guess it was a good thing we came home, might have ruined the other two.  So….now we have 2 new batteries and are ready for another cruise……..in cooler weather.

Sorry I didn’t keep this up as we went along….it was either too hot or raining. When hot I didn’t feel like hauling out the computer….when it was raining, I just wanted to sit in the cockpit and enjoy listening to the frogs and watching the lightening.

3.29.12 Lungun Island G3 to Monroe Park and loading up.

Captain Jim (of Sailbad The Sinner) was anchored in his favorite spot behind Lungun Island. We had a nice visit last evening. Good to see them again.

We have seen this obstruction near the E bank of the river behind the island, but didn’t realize what it was. Captain Jim told us it is an old sunken barge. When the water is low, the boiler is visible…when it is high…it is not. We didn’t even know there was more to it …but look closely at the picture and you can see the edge of the barge.

There is plenty of room to cruise behind the island and anchor …. just don’t get close to the E bank.

We got an early start…we plan to anchor behind the island at G109, Butcher’s Bend. Usually a good gator spot.

This guy looks like he is doing some traveling on his paddle board.

This looked like a big gator but was in very shallow water and we couldn’t get closer.

Now that is a lot of “gator tail”.  

When we got near Hontoon Island and Blue Springs we talked with a trawler doing the Great Loop. It was headed S to Sanford. Then we met 2 going N. The 3 boats socialized a bit over the VHF. They travel together at times and planned to meet later in the trip. Sure wish we were tagging along. Can you see the gator swimming at the bottom of the photo? Normally with this many boats you wouldn’t even see one.

The markers are a favorite nesting place for Ospreys.

Look at the skoots on this guys back….does he look a little grumpy to you?

We did a slow cruise behind Drigger Island to see if there were any Sandhill Cranes nesting there. We didn’t see any. I did get a picture of a Little Purple Heron. I had to post it….couldn’t get this shot on purpose.

When we got back to the river, a houseboat was cruising past. We waited and dropped in behind. A few minutes later I spotted these Manatees. There were 3 of them. One of them has several prop scars that look fairly new.

I have a video…but you may have to go to youtube.com and put CmyBirds2 in the search…I haven’t been able to attach videos to the blog lately…still haven't figured it out.

Well…this could have been the gator shot of the day….I took this… then switched the camera to video…in the time it took to process the switch….it  slowly turned towards the boat….looked right at us….. stepped towards us and slid into the water.

This can give you an idea how much tail they have…..and there is another ft. or 2 in the water.

Our plans had been to anchor behind the island at Butcher’s Bend….plans change….we saw a boat bobbing in the middle of the river….cruised over to see if they needed help…they did…boat was dead in the water….so we rigged up a tow line and towed them back the to ramp at Lake Monroe. It was only 5 pm and our launch ramp was just the other side of the river…we decided to haul out. So…we ended our trip with a good deed. Hope they will do the same next time they see someone in the same situation. Several boat roared right past them ….not even slowing down.

We covered about 200 miles….put on 40 gal of fuel ….still have 3/4 of a tank.

The boat is all cleaned out…ready for another trip.

3.27.12 Entrance to Murphy’s Creek to G 3 Lungun Island.

I forgot we had these pictures still in the camera….on our way to Corky Bells, we saw this helicopter delivering stuff to workers on the power line.

It made several trips while we were heading N…and was still at it on our way back.

Here we are at Corky Bells’ dock….see the little gator in the foreground?

Here’s a closer look…  might be 5’

They have a nice floating dock, good food at a reasonable price and indoor or outside dining. I believe there is a bass tournament weigh-in on Thursday afternoons.

While we were having our morning coffee at Murphy’s Creek entrance, a train crossed the railroad bridge at Buffalo Bluff.  We figured it would be a good time to head S. Shouldn’t have any problem getting an opening now.
This part of the river is fairly wide so it is hard to get good pictures of the gators…another big one.

Do you think this dog likes to go boating? Sure beats hanging your head out the window.

Looking for the right fishing spot.

Another medium sized one…I think it’s mate is the big one nearby. I guess the turtle didn’t read the post about gators having up to 3000 teeth in a lifetime…from crunching bones and turtle shells.

We are skipping a stop at Silver Glen Springs. We are pulling out on Friday instead of Monday. Our anchorage tonight will be G3, Lungun Island.

3.26.12 Rat Island to Corky Bell’s (Palatka, FL) and back to Murphy’s Creek S Entrance.

We anchored near this sailboat. We’ve seen it anchored here for several months, figured the holding is pretty good. There was a little fog on the water but it lifted quickly. This might become a favorite summer anchorage…as long as nothing big is brewing.

Coffee cups in hand we headed down the river to Palatka. We’ll tie up at Corky Bells’ dock and walk up for supplies. We usually have lunch at the restaurant but decided to order hot wings and extra celery to go…and eat aboard. After lunch, we headed back S. We were going to anchor near the sailboat but it was so nice out and still early so took the run down Murphy’s Creek. Decided to anchor on the St Johns River, just to the R of the entrance to Murphy’s Creek. 6’ of water and plenty of breeze. This is a very wide part of the river and the channel is on the far side so wakes from large boats shouldn’t be a problem.

These have been new anchorages for us….we passed them up in the past because they offered no place to take Raisin ashore. Believe it or not…there is a tidal range here. So if there is a shore line it is usually mud. Now that Raisin is trained to the carpet on deck…we can anchor where ever we want.

I woke up around midnight and we were fogged in. Couldn’t see anything. Sure glad Jim has the new anchor light installed. Very low current draw and bright. I was still listening for other boats. Glad I didn’t hear any. Nothing was moving.

I can’t remember having so many perfect days and nights. It has been wonderful weather. Most of our boating is done during the winter when it’s so cold we have to have the vinyl side curtains up.  It is pleasant to sit in the cockpit…no lights…and listen to the night critters.

3.25.12 Old Ocklawaha River, FL to Rat Island.

We decided to go to the city dock at Welaka, FL and walk up for breakfast. Great sausage gravy & biscuits.

Jim noticed this cruise ship coming up the river. It seems so strange to see something this big out here.

We waited for it to pass and followed it. The only people we saw aboard, were the cleanup crew wiping down the rails on the upper decks. It was such a beautiful morning…seemed a shame not to be on deck with a hot cup of coffee.

After breakfast, we went cruising and gator hunting…we headed down Murphy’s Creek and then Dunn’s Creek. Jim spotted a huge one, but it was down before I could get a photo. This one cooperated, though. It was the smaller of the two that were hanging out together.

Look at the size of this one. That head is massive!

It slowly moved into the water and did a “stare-down”.

This time of year they are guarding their territory and pairing up…their behavior is completely different than the rest of the season. They tend to swim towards the boat rather than away…

This big barge was tied along Murphy’s Creek. It has two buses and a camper on it…don’t know what it is used for. The name is Noble Phoenix.

Dunn’s Creek had a large number of gators.

We were going to go to the entrance of Crescent Lake but ran aground on a bar in the middle of the river. After getting ourselves off…we decided to head back to Murphy’s Creek and anchor for the night.  Right near Rat Island. It is a big 4 corners and a breeze can hit from any direction. We were comfortable all night.

 

 

3.23.12 Lungun Island (G3) to Silver Glen Springs, FL ( 3.24.12)

It was still daylight when we got to Lungun Island. There were several boats on the river side. This is a popular swimming spot, with a rope to swing out over the water suspended from a big tree limb.

Most of the boats left as the sun went down.

This is Lungun Island, or Shell Island as some of the locals call it, in the early morning sun. The river runs on the far side. We  are anchored on the E side.

It’s a popular spot for camping…or just hanging out with a camp fire. It’s not unusual to see a pontoon boat beached on this side. We dingy over and take Raisin for a walk. It’s a beautiful spot with huge old oak trees and spanish moss.

It was such a beautiful morning, we just swung on the anchor and enjoyed it.

As we headed down river towards Lake George, we spotted this gator. Most of them seem long and lean…this thing was fat.

Just look how wide it is. There is a lot of gator out of the water…and almost no tail…definitely a big one. Look how wide it is. The bumps on it’s back are pieces of bone covered by skin. They absorb the heat. That is how they stay warm.

Here’s a cutie…only 5 or 6 ft long. There is a definite difference in the size of the bumps on this one. Don’t know what they are called….my sister and her husband called them “skoots.”

Turtles sunning…

The “springs” already had a fair number of boats anchored and everyone was having fun in the water.

No one even noticed this little guy hiding in the bushes.

Jim and I like to anchor closer to the lake…out of the designated anchorage for the springs…on the run. It is much quieter  and last year we had a Manatee come up to our boat….there used to be a nice 9’ gator in the same area, but we were told they had it removed.

I do get in the water here…for a quick dip to cool off….but not far from the ladder. If we really want to swim or snorkel we dingy into the springs. We really aren’t that far…that is us on the L. You can see we are one of the smaller boats…ours is much closer to the camera, too.

This little guy looks like it’s smiling at us. look at those pearly whites…I read that gators lose worn or broken teeth (they crunch bones and turtle shells) and can have as many as 3000 teeth in a lifetime.

We spent two nights at the springs….Fri and Sat night.  We decided to leave on Sunday and this was the traffic coming in.

Looking back towards the springs…

in front of us…..the way in is very shallow so most people follow the same line in. You can’t tell it here….but we could see boats and jet skiis in a line back to the gates at the S end of the lake.

We decided to anchor on the Old Oklawaha River for the night….going to rename it “no see’um heaven”….(maybe heaven isn’t the right word?)

Jim tried his hand at fishing…even got his casting down to landing within a quarter mile of where he aimed.  At least he took the big sinker off and added a bobber. I could just see  that sinker coming through the window. We didn’t have fish for supper…..the “no see’ums” were so bad he gave up and we hauled anchor and headed to the mouth of the river….

We anchored on the St Johns River… near marker R 52, between the entrance of The Old Oklawaha River and Bear Creek. Nice spot…not too deep. That is important, since our only way of raising the anchor is either Jim or Me.