Harris Chain of Lakes 12.2.14

As Jim and I were coming across Haines Creek yesterday, we spotted this Osprey trying to catch a fish. It is amazing that they can get so far underwater and still fly away.

Once we joined the rest of the boats we traveled to the north end of Lake Griffin and found a wide spot to anchor.

This power boat came down to look over Avitoon. He and a few others had been waiting at Nelson’s Landing for us to come past. Another boater had reported seeing the line of houseboats headed that way. Unfortunately…we found the anchorage before we got to them, so they jumped aboard their boat to come check it out.

This morning we had our coffee on the rear deck and watched as a thin layer of fog drifted past the boats that were rafted up.

Looks like another beautiful day. The water is like a mirror.

It didn’t feel as if there were any breeze but the boats still turned around.

Looks like everyone is up and enjoying the early morning Florida sunshine.

After breakfast and the anchors weighed…we headed up the Oklawaha River.

They are all back there….

and here they come…

Our motor ran well up the river…then after we stopped for lunch we had a hard time getting it running again. We met a couple hikers that reminded us of a lock just ahead of us that takes a long time to get through….so we did a “U” turn and headed back down the river to Lake Griffin and  anchored for the night.  It was getting too late to make it up Haine’s Creek and through the lock. It closes down at 6pm and you have to be there with this many boats by 5:30.

Jim and I dropped anchor and ended up in the weeds. Had a tough time getting the motor running but did manage to get farther out in the river before it quit but couldn’t get up to the other boats that had rafted up.

They decided that if we couldn’t come to them…..they’d come to us. They were sneaking up on us until Jim called on the radio and asked if anyone had marine gas that we could try. We had filled our tanks with ethanol and he thought that might be the problem.

Once they got to us…Gaetan handed Jim the can of gas he had just bought at Nelson’s when we came by.

Bud told Jim about a little trick with the choke and the motor started and idled beautifully. We decided to head back to Nelson’s Landing and top off the tank we borrowed and another empty that Bud loaned us.

Here’s the other half of the “raft”.  Can you believe that trolling motor on the front of Big Duck moved all 4 to us? Notice there are 2 cute second mates. ( white fluffy ones)

We got to the “no wake zone” and as soon as Jim idled the motor down it quit and didn’t want to start. It would run but quit when put in gear. He finally nursed it to the dock.

We decided we had to pull out in the morning and didn’t dare try getting back to the others so we called and asked Bud if he would come pick up the gas cans in the morning.

Jim explained our situation to the waitress in Nelson’s and asked if it was alright to spend the night at the dock…..so we did.

12.3.14

This White Heron was standing on the dock in the morning …looks like it is missing a foot. We’ve seen this before. Always wondered if a gator grabbed it but the bird managed to get away.

Bud and Michelle picked up the tanks…and shortly after Carl showed up with the truck and trailer. All we had to do was walk the boat around the corner and onto the trailer.

I wasn’t crazy about spending our last night on the boat tied to a dock but guess we were pretty lucky to have made it there under our own power …without having to call our friends for a tow.

12.4.14

Jim has the motor apart…and is working on it now. He has built street rod engines and engines for his dragster….now he’s learning how to be a Honda 50 4 stroke mechanic. Not sure he really wanted to add that to his resume at this late date.

We are going to take the ‘49 Hudson and the Scamp to Silver Springs to visit friends over the weekend. Our plan is to stop at the Lake Griffin State Park on Saturday and visit with everyone while they pull their  boats out.

Glad we got to meet Gaetan and look at his Hobo. It has a lot of head room and I like the layout. 2 people could manage in there. It’s in the process of being redone inside. 

I visited with Doug and Elaine and checked out their Parker. It has a lot more room below deck than you would think. Sounds like they do some traveling with it. They’ve been to Lake Powell on the Utah/Arizona border. We spent some time out there in 2007 with our Adventure Craft, “Lingerawhile” and would love to go back.

See all that nice red rock on the left? We did not know at the time that big chunks break away and fall on boats if they happen to be sitting under the overhang,  that is why it’s red and not white like the rest. It happened in another spot while we were there and killed 2 people. Had we known….Jim would not be sitting  there posing for a picture.

We cruised the St Johns River with Bud and Michelle and their Avitune and Jeff and Sue with their Land n’ Sea, Big Duck, last year. Now….if you are looking for a boat with lots of comfort?….that is the one you want and it is trailerable. But down here it would have to have a screened deck to make evenings outside enjoyable. As soon as the sun goes down the mosquitos zoom in.

Hope we can get together with you guys on another boat trip some place.

Finally!!!! We are on the water with Meander 12.1.14

Nice little launch ramp on Eustis Lake. Room for 4 boats to launch but it is normally pretty shallow. We’ve launched here before and knew we could make it.

They’ve made some nice improvements since we were last here.

Carl, Jim and I went to the Mason Jar for breakfast then came and launched the boat. Once we were on our way, Carl took the truck and trailer back to his house. He’ll bring it back and pick us up when we are ready to load up and head home.

Although we had a great time on the San Juan 21…this is traveling in style compared to that. We get to sit on the rear deck and have coffee in the morning…and wine at night and no bugs to bother us.

We took a little tour around Lake Eustis then headed to “Gator Hole”. We’ve anchored there before and wanted to check the depth in case all of us decided to anchor when we got back to Eustis. The others are putting in on Lake Griffin and we are going to meet them there.

After checking The Gator Hole we headed for Haines Creek. It connects Lake Eustis and Lake Griffin. There is a small lock you have to pass through part way up the creek.

Haines Creek was full of turtles but did not see any gators. It’s not unusual to find them sunning together…but not today.

Naturally …we got there at lunch time. Lock is closed from Noon till 1pm.

We only had a half hour wait so dropped the hook. We noticed this tree with nesting birds.

I believe they are Cormorants…and it looks like there might be young ones.

The motor has not been running right…Jim is doing some adjusting.

This is our first view of Lake Griffin….a nice sailboat.

I had called Bud and Michelle on Avitoon and they were getting ready to launch so we headed down the lake.

Once they were headed N we just shutdown and waited.

Here they come….

Doug and Elaine aboard their 2003 Parker…   “Mokee Dugway”

Gaetan aboard his ‘69 Hobo

Bud and Michelle aboard their Avitoon

Jeff and Sue aboard their ‘70  Land & Sea.

After a nice lumpy cruise up to the north end of Lake Griffin we found a place to anchor for the night. Hobo, Big Duck and Mokee rafted up. Mokee is setting his anchor and the other two are getting ready to raft up.

We’d already dropped our anchor and Jim had some work to do on the motor so we stayed where we were….

After supper we sat on the rear deck with our glass of wine. It was a beautiful night. Temp was about 74* and we didn’t need jackets.

We went to bed early but about 9:30 I woke up and headed to the rear deck with a book. It was too nice a night to waste sleeping…I never sleep good the first night on the water….so afraid I’ll miss a cruising gator or a manatee.

Nice bright moon and not a whiff of breeze.

We have a mast raising system and a passive cabin top vent 11.4.14

We used to have a MacGregor 26X sailboat that had a mast raising system. It allowed you to lower the mast part way and pass under a bridge.

Jim decided to build one for our San Juan 21, “Liquid Asset”, that was given to us by Jim’s brother, Carl. He has owned it for over 35 years.

The aluminum pole will fold up against the mast for sailing, and the block and tackle will be put below. It only takes a few minutes to put it in place.

The forestay is unhooked from the bow and hooked into the pole. A line runs back to the winch.

Jim can raise and lower it by himself….but on the water I will be there to help. I think we can leave the boom and mainsail on for a partial lowering for a bridge but it has to come off if taking it down completely.

Jim is lowering it into a tall crutch so he can have room to work on the passive vent.

Carl built one and put it on to help keep the air moving inside and cut down on the condensation and mold. When we tried to lower the mast it was too tall so Jim had to modify it.

We don’t need a solar vent with fan since the boat is so small and having the hatches open should be enough. But it will let some fresh air in at night when everything else is closed up.

 

He used the base that Carl made but cut it down so it has a lower profile and made a new top for it. The clearance between it and the deck allows air to pass through but keeps rain and splatter out of the boat.

This is the reason we couldn’t use the one Carl made. It would have been crushed when the mast laid back in the cradle.

Jim is so handy….he loves being innovative….he can make something out of nothing.

I will make a cover for the inside that will velcro over the vent hole for very cold nights.

Looks pretty good doesn’t it?

He ordered new tires for the trailer….we have a few other things to take care of and then we can plan a 3 day trip on the river and see how everything works. It’s been a long time since we’ve sailed….so our first day out should be interesting.

The St Johns River has several lakes. We can cruise the river and sail Lake Monroe, Lake Harney, Lake George, Lake Beresford, Lake Woodruff or just try to sail the river in between them…..and of course I’ll be looking for gators.

Ready to sail 10.31.14

Jim has worked really hard getting this boat cleaned up and ready to go.

Once the inside was finished, he used Poli-Ox to scrub the boat and then put Poli-Glow on it. Boy does it shine now. Once that was done he stained the teak rails and the teak around the companionway. Really dresses it up.

Today we stepped the mast and had the jib up when Carl got here. He helped us get it rigged right.

Finally got the main up…..

So far, all the sheets and lines look good.

All dressed up and ready to go.

We were planning to launch the Yukon Delta houseboat on Thursday but maybe we’ll launch “Liquid Asset” on Sunday…spend a couple nights on it…try it on for size.