Florida Cruising

[C-Pup16 in Los Angeles]

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My wife Kimiko and I just returned from Jacksonville Fl where I packed three vacation days in before a business meeting. We spent one of those days getting to know a wonderful couple who will be taking delivery of a new 22 ft. C-Dory in May this year. They are "Don Z" and his wife who live in a river-front community on the St. Johns River 30 minutes south of Jacksonville, FL. I contacted Don by private email through the C-Brats web site. ("Don Z" shows up as member #165 on Page 4 under the "J"s for Jacksonville.) Don has other boats and is very familiar with the St. Johns River.

Don asked me to mention to C-Brat C-Dory owners that the St. Johns River is a marvelous place for a C-Dory gathering and a river cruise, especially going south from Jacksonville where it narrows and the current is less affected by ocean tides. He would also welcome you guys when you individually cruise the St. Johns to tie up at his dock and visit with him and his lovely wife. They are a wonderful couple to get to know. My wife Kimiko and I are very grateful to them for their sudden hospitality when they had no idea who we were other than being C-Dory owners with past of posts and photos on this site. That's what makes C-Dory owners so special.

I found the following interesting link about another couple who cruised the St. Johns River in a sail boat and described it well:
http://www.boating-on-florida-waterways.com/destinationsstjohnsriver.html

For us Western C-Doggies who say "Ah, Florida's too far!",... consider this: Don is buying his new C-Dory in partnership with his son who lives in San Francisco. Don will trailer it from there to Florida to use for a while, then trailer it back to San Francisco for his son and their family to use. (Don is a retired fireman from Dade County, the Miami area, where they lived for over 20 years.)

Don asked me all about the Sacramento River (Delta) cruise. I'll have to join you guys on that so I can answer his questions! BTW, Don said that keeping within the "spirit" of a 65 MPH speed limit, he drives from Florida to San Francisco in 3.5 days taking naps at rest stops. When his wife joins him, she requires that they stay evenings at hotels which adds just one more day. Don told me that his favorite cruising and fishing location by far however, is not the St. Johns River but rather Biscayne Bay next to Miami and the Florida Keys. He also told me that he has cruised to the Bahamas, but is no longer interested in that after the Brits handed its government over to Bahamians (making it a corrupt and potentially dangerous place.) He definitely recommends cruising the Florida Keys over the Bahamas.

If I have a future business trip to Florida where I can tag on some vacation time, Don's comments makes me want to visit Miami and the keys and pay a fishing guide to take me out on the water. I also want to try something that the cable fishing channel in my hotel showed is done in south Florida,... fly fishing for bill fish! My one working eye bulged watching this guy on TV fight and land a sail fish on fly rod gear! I got to try that someday!

If I can get a trustworthy fellow or gal to drive C-Pup to Miami, then I could use it for a cruise by flying in and not wasting scarce vacation time in driving. You retired folks could take the time to drive your trailered boats to Miami, enjoy Biscayne Bay, then trailer it a short distance to the Keys, enjoy the Keys, then trailer it a short distance to the Everglades, and enjoy that. It would certainly make the cross continental drive a small price to pay for the extraordinary experiences you'll have on these crystal clear waters.

As to the Everglades, a Los Angeles fishing buddy told me he had a blast renting a house boat with some friends and towing a skiff behind it to explore and fish in the Everglades. Apparently there are navigable channels that go through it and which provide anchorages along the way for the nights. I'll bet as C-Dory owners in Florida and the South East become more numerous and organized and hold their own Florida "gatherings", that their accounts and photos of Florida's cruising waters will soon attract the "C-Snowbirds" from the north and the "C-Cowboys" from the west! Why wait?

Keith (C-Pup16 in Los Angeles)

[Pat Anderson]

Every time I see CSI Miami, I dream about taking Daydream through those waters! Alas, maybe when we win Lotto...and it better be a big one!

[C-Pup16 in Los Angeles]

I like CSI Miami too as long as it's not too soon after diner...

Thoughts of Miami makes me recall another show,... Miami Vice, and it's jazzy music and intro that showed a cigarette boat speeding across the bay.

Don Z told me that you can read a beer can sunk 20 or so feet under water in Biscayne Bay. Not true on the St. James, which around Jacksonville is a brownish water apparently from rotting plants and alligator poop (just kidding, but there are those around!)

Keith of C-Pup16 in Los Angeles

[C-Hawk]

I spent a free weekend in Jacksonville while I was back east inspecting N-power plants. Your right - it stinks. I'll take the Pacific coast beaches any time over the Atlantic. No disrespect to our right coast brothers.

[C-Pup16 in Los Angeles]

Hey there Roger,

The St. Johns is still an interesting river and despite the brown tone to the water around Jacksonville, local folks swim in it without any problems. (I'd be afraid of gators.)

As to the beaches near Jacksonville, I agree with you. The sand is whiter and more powdery than our SoCal beaches and felt odd to my feet. What struck me most was the flat terrain. No mountains and movie star homes behind the beaches to view from a boat cruising off shore like we have in Malibu and Santa Barbara! But C-Dory cruises are not just about the water. It's about the people you meet and enjoy getting to know. Florida has some nice people there.

Getting out to the ocean also involves a long trip on the river, timing the tide and watching carefully to stay in channels and to avoid bridge pilings in a river that can run 6 or 8 mph in or out with the tide and move a boat off course if you're not skilled at adjusting for it. Don Z says much of those complaints go away as you cruise south to Lake George. Here's a trivia question for when you're cruising on Lake Mohave. The St. Johns river is apparently the only major river that flows north. See who else knows that!

Hey, I saw those nuclear power plant cooler towers. You inspected that plant? Is that why you moved to California?

Stay well,
Keith (C-Pup)

[Rock-C]

Keith
In defence of Oregon, the Willamette River also flows north. I don't know how big the St Johns river is, but the Willamette is pretty substantial. Running from the hills outside of Eugene to the Columbia at Portland.

[El and Bill]

Both the Willamette and the St. John's are beautiful rivers -- we have paddled a canoe down the Willamette from Eugene to the Columbia and cruised Halcyon on the St. Johns from the head of navigation to the ocean.

The Willamette has some big locks, St. John's none. Willamette is a beautiful corridor through a big valley, with lots of trees, sand, and good places to camp. Just before reaching the Columbia, it flows through Portland, a big city with many docks and commercial traffic.

The St. John's is a subtropical river, with manatees as well as alligators. It is some mighty fine fishing, and very interesting cruising. There is commercial traffic (a few tows in the upper reaches) and lots of big ships in the lower end near Jacksonville.

Both rivers are glorious, and it would be difficult to say which is a better cruise -- the best solution, cruise them both!!

[Rock-C]

Bill & El
Totally agree with cruise them both. I have also drifted the Willamette from Eugene to Oregon City. It was a trip going thru the locks in a drift boat.I plan on doing it again in the Rock-C.
Some day I hope to make it to the east coast to explore some of the water ways there. Thats called retirement.