Cumberland Island National Seashore

[colbysmith]

Well, so far this has been a rather eventful trip. First event happened while visiting our Uncle on the way down. We had parked our rig on solid, but grassy ground. After raining all day, when it was time to leave, the all weather tires on the pickup just were not aggressive enough to push the boat and trailer back onto the gravel driveway. It had settled an inch or two into the now soft grassy yard. I was about ready to call AAA, when the neighbor landlord called a friend with another 4wd pickup to come tug us out.
We arrived at Ed Stone Park Sunday afternoon and took our time getting set up waiting for the circus of incoming boaters to clear a little more room in the parking lot. Finally ready between acts, we launched just before the second influx of boaters. Moved over to the larger dock to inflate and set up our Kayaks. By the time we had them ready to go, there was another line up of boaters coming in. I pushed off the dock, and then managed to become one of the acts… Trying to stay clear of the other boaters, I managed to get too close to the post and sign directly across from the dock. With the aft stowed bimini hitting the sign board and making enough noise to direct too much attention towards us, I then caught the tight to the side towed Kayak (Rosanne’s Sea Eagle) on the post, breaking the tow line loose as the Kayak’s bow handle it was attached to ripped from it’s attachment. Quickly reversing and dodging the post and other boats, we caught the Kayak and resecured it. Then smartly left with our tail between our legs…
Anchored in the first oxbow downstream from Ed Stone and had a nice peaceful night The next morning, realizing that we left the spare boat keys in the truck, along with having second thoughts about leaving our extra tank of Diesel Fuel for the Webasto behind (forecast showing some colder nights ahead) , we headed back to Ed Stone to pick up the keys and Diesel. Approaching the large dock in my typical slow fashion, at the appropriate time I went into reverse to swing the stern over and ….nothing….. increased the RPMS and still nothing….. Good thing for approaching slowly and soft wood on the dock. As we bounced back far enough to go back into forward gear, I still got nothing. And yes the engine was still running. I quickly fired up the kicker and used it to get docked. Lifted the main to find nothing but the hub where the prop was suppose to be. I’m out of ideas on what gave there… But I carry two spares, an older prop that came with the boat, and a brand new one. I put the older one on.
On to Silver Glen Springs, where we met up with Mystery Girl and Ms. Jill. Even on a Monday still pretty busy in the main circle, so I anchored next to Bill and Mike in that little cove near the marina there. Nice quiet night.
Next day we headed to Salt Springs. We were pretty much the only boats in there, other than a small houseboat that came in to spend the night. Had a nice time kayaking in here as well. Almost had another event on the way in down the run. A group of Hillbillys on a GA registered pontoon boat were fishing and moved off to the side as we three boats were coming up the channel. However as I got closer, it appeared they turned to head directly at me. However, now on my port side. At about two boat lengths, if that, and just about right off the bow, I finally gave them a quick WTF single toot on the horn. Santa Clause looking guy at the helm gunned it out of the way. Rosanne said I probably wasn’t getting any gifts next Christmas… Had myself all hyped up for BBQ and Ice Cream at Papa Joes, only to find out they are closed Mon-Wed…
Left Salt Springs after a very pleasant night, and cruised towards Welaka, and turned up the Oklawawaha River. Very scenic and unencumbered until just before the highway bridge. After that many snags and dead falls to contend with. And we did contend with them! Mike and I each got hung up once, bumped a few, and Bill also bumped a few. We did make it all the way up to the Rodman Dam. Saw plenty of Ibis, Egrets, and a few Eagles, Osprey, various Herons and other birds. On the way back Rosanne counted 14 gators. Also on the way back I managed to find a rather large snag or deadfall that both Bill and Mike must have just missed. With the fast moving current behind us, it was a battle that my prop lost in the end. Two blade tips bent over and a third missing. Two down, one left on props. This morning we’ll make a pit stop at the Welaka free town dock to put on my last prop. If anyone can recommend a place to buy another prop along and downstream here on the St. John’s, I’d appreciate it. At this rate, I really think I need to make sure I have a spare with me!
Oh, and then this morning, I typed all this out on my iPhone signed into C-Brats. When I hit submit, I got the sign on screen again. And all my typing no where to be found... Arrrrgggghhhh. Even though I’m enjoying thawing out and the scenery is spectacular as always, life has to stop being so interesting and become a little less stressful for this trip! Colby

[Molly Brown]

Colby....

Betty and i were there just last week. Tell you about it when I see you this pm at Seven Sisters if you’ll remind me lol

James

[colbysmith]

Stopped at the Welaka town dock this morning and changed out my prop. All good now until the next hard snag... Cruised on up to Seven Sisters Islands and all three of us (C-Traveler, Mystery Girl and Ms. Jill) are anchored in behind the islands. Enjoyed a visit from James and Betty and the Molly Brown. Tom and Lew, if you are reading this, I sent the gauge I had left and the fishing pole holders with James to give you guys at Hontoon. (I would have given them to Mike to bring down, but he said after the past few days he didn't want that bad luck on his boat...) lol! Still hope to see you guys somewhere along the River though. Made some calls looking for another prop and seems like only SS for $$$$$ can be found. Did find a Jacksonville West Marine that has several aluminum ones in stock, so I may check into Ubering one to the Municipal Marina when we are there. Although Bill says he may rent me a spare he has if necessary. (I think he has been talking to John.) Mike, Bill and I kayaked around one of the islands here today. Really a nice area, but then where isn't along the St. John's River? Oh, we also ran up the Barge Canal just to check out the lock. Didn't do the lock, but checking out the hours sign, we could have. Plan to be in Green Cove Springs on Saturday.

[colbysmith]

Some photos from the last few days.


This is all that was left, along with the hub hardware, where the Prop should have been!


Kayaking in Salt Springs


Kayaking in Salt Springs


Mystery Girl


Rodman Dam on the Oklawaha River


See if you can find the little alligator in this picture!


Lost the battle with a dead fall or snag!


Changing the prop out at Welaka docks.


Rafted up in Seven Sisters Islands.


Kayaking in Seven Sisters Islands

[colbysmith]

Left Seven Sisters this morning, and cruised through Murphy Creek. The Noble Phoenix old car ferry is still sitting near the crossing at Dunns Creek. Sure would like to know the whole story to that thing, and who and if anyone is still living on it.
Stopped at the Palatka Free Docks to make lunch and stretch our legs. And check them out to update Active Captain. Found an earthcache (Geocache) nearby, so accomplished that as well. Winds were starting to pick up some out of the north, so the St. Johns was getting a little choppy.. We ended up pulling into Deep Creek (between Palatka and Green Cove Springs) to anchor for the night. Calm and beautiful. Plans are to go into Green Cove tomorrow, but not sure if that will happen. Weather forecast is for rain and wind. Out of the north. Don't think Green Cove's city docks are recommended in a northerly wind. We may end up just staying put here for another day. Or we may just run up to 6 Mile dock tomorrow. We'll see what pans out in the morning. I've been towing our two Kayaks. Looking for different ideas to stow them inflated on the roof, but nothing stands out yet. Don't think we'll be using them anymore until we get to the other side of Jacksonville, so I deflated them, and then put them back up on the roof.

[colbysmith]

Woke up this morning to a godzillian dead knats on C-Traveler. Guess that Active Captain review about bugs was pretty much accurate! It was a beautiful night other than that. Left there this morning and headed out to the main channel of St. John's and towards Green Cove Springs. Winds picked up out of the NE at about 15 mph or so. A little choppy. We thought we'd give the City dock a try, and continued on past the turn into Six Mile Creek. It was pretty choppy on the River, and got more so as we went under the bridge just south of Green Cove. Getting on the docks was knarly, but we managed. Would not have been comfortable to spend the night. We walked around town just a short bit to buy some groceries and since it was a little rough to eat on the boat, stopped at Ronnies for lunch. Afterward, we decided rather than going back to Six Mile, we continued just a few miles around the corner to Black Creek, and are anchored in here now. River was getting pretty choppy with 2 footers, so happy to come under the bridge into the calm creek. Tomorrow Mike will leave us as he heads back towards Hontoon for the gathering. Bill and I will continue on in to Jacksonville tomorrow. Looks like I found a new replacement prop at the West Marine near the Ortega Bridge. I'll plan to stop at one of the marinas or any docks near there, and hike the half mile or so to pick it up. Colby

[Molly Brown]

Immediately after going under the Ortega bridge take a hard turn to starboard. There is a little pocket park with a floating dock for discharge of passengers only. Can’t speak to the depth since we anchored there overnight, in front of park but we had 4-5 feet, to get out of a 20 knot NW wind. Betty kayaked in to run and go to CVS which is just down the street from West Marine. 0.9 mile if I recall.

James

[colbysmith]

Thanks James. I'll check it out. Colby

[colbysmith]

Black Creek provided for a beautiful night anchorage. Calm with protection from the wind, and not much other traffic. We ended up anchoring just beyond the first island you come to, at the mouth of a small stream. Bill and I departed an hour earlier than we had been, from Black Creek today, while Mike left a little later, heading back towards the Hontoon gathering. We thought maybe leaving a little earlier would beat the winds, and also allow plenty of time for me to pick up a new prop. Winds blew just as hard, and must have been blowing some all night, as the River was pretty snotty today. A lot of 2' chop with some 3' rollers. Really made those crab floats all that much harder to see! I was able to find a different brand prop at a Jacksonville West Marine closer to the River, this one close to the Ortega River just before the St. John's River turns east into Jacksonville downtown. Bill waited outside the Ortega Bridge, while we entered and found a small floating dock by a park just past the bridge. A 3/4 mile walk to the West Marine, which was also near a Publix and Pandera Bread. Rosanne went to do some grocery shopping while I went into WM to pick up the prop I had called ahead for. Even got Amazon price matching, used my rewards certificate, and got a great deal on the new prop. Stopped at Panera to pick up a quick sandwich to take back with us to the boat, and walked back. Called for the bridge to be raised again, and continued on our way to the Jacksonville Metropolitan Marina. Saw a Dolphin near the Dupree School buildings on the south side of the River. This marina doesn't seem to get much use, as only three other boats when we pulled in. One left, and another came in this afternoon. The marina is free, except when there is some large event going on at the stadium next to it. There was a big Monster Truck event going on, so while the day was pretty noisy, I guess it wasn't anything that caused the marina to charge. The thermometer while coming down the river showed 55 degrees. However I think it barely made 60 and once we were out of the wind in the marina, with the sun it felt quite nice. But cooling off again tonight to low 40's. Good thing for the Webasto heater! Think we'll spend an extra day and night here, just enjoying the calm of this marina. Not much else close by though, but a nice view of the tall buildings down town.

[colbysmith]

Getting lazy and conserving data, more photos uploaded to album.

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album3256&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

[colbysmith]

So we stayed the extra night at the Metropolitan Marina. Nice to just have the extra day to do nothing. We walked around the Park there, and just enjoyed the sun and quiet. Only three other boats in the marina, plus a large taxi pontoon. Did a Geo Virtual Cache, which actually took us thru the TIAA Bank Stadium parking lot to the local Duval County Veterans Memorial. Very nice memorial. Walked past the Jacksonville Fire Museum, which is closed. Not sure if that will open up again sometime or not. Left the marina this morning around 8:30 and cruised towards the ICW. Not much wind this morning, but it eventually came up again. Still blowing out of the NE at 10-15. The section of river between downtown and the ICW is pretty industrial with many shipping facilities loading ships. A few interesting military craft at a couple of places. I won the bet on currents coming into the Jacksonville Free Dock. Bill thought 2:30p would be slack, I figured 11:30a. We arrived at 11:30a to low tide and slack current. I think that trip to Alaska two years ago gave me a little experience, or luck, at figuring out those tidal/current charts! However, I don't think the current in here ever got as bad as Active Captain made it sound and I don't think it would have been that difficult arriving at any time. So far, we are still the only two boats here at the Free dock. Enjoyed watching some Dolphins as we turned into Sister Creek (the ICW) and pretty much just out in front of us facing the ICW here on the docks. Walked around here a bit and found a Geocache, and then checked out the docks and ramp on the other side of the park. There is a small fish cleaning station that once I walked up to, all of a sudden had a number of Pelicans show up looking for a handout! Active Captain has some good reviews of both here and Metropolitan. We are finding that the Jacksonville weather is almost 10 degrees cooler than what I'm showing for Hontoon! Probably more wind too... I'll upload a few more photos. Maybe put a few in this thread, but if not here, definitely in my nested album linked to in my earlier post. Colby

[colbysmith]

Duval County Veterans Memorial


CTraveler and Mystery Girl on the Free Dock




Dolphins

[colbysmith]

Oops, that wasn’t the free dock. That was still at Metropolitan Marina.

[colbysmith]

We ended up being the only two boats on the Free Dock last night. Perhaps the annual migration of boaters along the ICW is not in motion yet. Not seeing very many cruisers along the rivers. Mostly just fishing boats. Today we slowly made our way up to the Cumberland Island National Seashore. We are currently anchored just off Plum Orchard with one other sail boat. Was a bit surprised to find out the Fernandina Beach Marina will not have fuel available until the end of next week. I'm fine, but Bill will need some soon. He checked and Amelia Island Marina does have fuel, so we'll stop there on the way back. Coming across St. Mary's Entrance, watched 5 or 6 USCG RHI's doing some kind of training. Actually looked more like they were taking turns racing each other. Almost tried to eat another prop today. Many reports in Active Captain about shoaling issues just south of Fernandina Beach entrance. I manged to hit ground in that area. I warned Bill who was right behind me and he went a little more to the north. But he was seeing shallow water too, so worked his way out. We watched two boats coming in on plane, just south of us, so aimed for that channel. As we turned in closer to that southern shore we watched another boat come out about where Bill was. Guess 50 feet left or right makes all the difference in the world. We'll watch that one carefully again when we head back. Several areas where several channels come together, and it gets tricky to figure out which set of navigation aids to go between. And then finding that they don't always keep you clear of shoaling. One other spot where we got down to about 5 feet, however that was at low tide, so should be no problem when we head back. Kings Bay had several military boats in, and saw a USCG patrol boat guarding the inlet there. Not sure what our plans are for tomorrow. Maybe walk around the island here some, or maybe head a little farther north, or maybe head back to St. Mary's. Or maybe pull into Fernandina Beach Harbor marina and walk the town some. Lots of possibilities. LOL. Been seeing plenty of Dolphins, and hope to maybe see some Manatees when we get back in the lower St. John's area around Deland again. Winds seemed to have died down some, but still breezy out of the NE. And temps made it up to 70 today. Oh yes, someone asked if we had seen the monkeys when we cruised up and back on the Oklawaha River. No, and I just remembered I think Tom and Joyce (C-Otter) telling us about them a while back. Guess I need to hear more about them. But no, I don't plan on ruining any more props going back up that river. Colby

[colbysmith]

Sunset off the Jacksonville Free Dock


Kingsley Creek RR Swing Bridge


Just one of several boats we saw wrecked at Fernandina Beach


This group of trees was full of birds! I'm pretty sure these were Egrets. Kind of hard to see even with Binoculars. At first thought maybe Ibis, but Ibis have a curved beak. It didn't look like these did. Also some Herons and several other small birds.


Sunset at Plum Orchard