03/04 - 03/06 - St. John's River, Florida 2016

Colby, Glad to hear that the chances of you and Rosanne attending have greatly increased. When you make your final decision, let me know your departure date and maybe we can rendzevous with you guys on the way down. Lee and Jan on the Tully-B
 
I'll do that Lee, except I'm not sure if Rosanne will be with me. (Depends on her work schedule this time, not mine! lol) I'm pretty wide open with times. If I can get out of here (snow doesn't have the boat stuck in, or no big storms forecast), I would want to spend a few extra days down in the area to make it worth the trip. If you have an itinerary, let me know and I can probably meet it. Just PM me, unless you want to post it here. Colby
 
Hi All
Greetings from sometimes sunny Florida. I was out last week on a friends boat on the St. Johns and the water is still high so Hank and Pat when you get here in December we will have to spend a night at DeLeon Springs and stay for breakfast.
Lee and Jan glad you plan on joining us on the St. Johns River. I only wish Jan could bring some of her fantastic pies along. We will see if can find some acceptable pies for our gathering.
Bill and Becky.....see you in January. Think about an Ocklawaha River to Lake Dora Trip.
Colby....About time you fully retired! I see you were thinking on go to the Apalachicola gathering. Joyce and I will have to take your place. She got back a week early so we can go.

Joyce will be listing information on launching and storage areas today.

Until then....Tom
 
Exciting to see the list of those coming to the Hontoon Island gathering growing. Here's some launch and storage info:

Hontoon Island State Park
2309 River Ridge Rd, Deland FL 32720 386-736-5309
There is no reservation available for slips, but there are 40 and once a boat arrives, they can save one more spot for someone else. Arriving on Friday or before is not going to be problem.
Parking for those who drive to the event and will take the free ferry over. Hours: 8:00 a.m. to sunset (We can work out transport for someone staying later for dinner)

Ed Stone Park
2990 W. SR44, Deland FL 32720
NE corner of Hwy 44 and St Johns River intersection.
Free public boat ramp with parking. If longtime parking we park off to the side a bit. So far no problems with truck & trailing safety, even a few weeks.

Astor Marine LLC
24535 State Rd 40, Astor FL 32102 352-759-3655
Secure, fenced in storage. Off the river 1/4 mile, but will provide transportation to and from the public boat launch area. $30/month.

Holly Bluff Marina
2280 Hontoon Rd., Deland FL 32720 386-822-9992
Launch $10, storage $5 per day. Gas available.
1/2 mile from Hontoon Island

St John's Marina N & S 386-736 6601
New facility N and revamp of Pier 44 S. Opening in January. Need to check then for specifics. Have gas and ramp and said they would have truck and trailer parking available. At Hwy 44 and St Johns River intersection.

Hontoon Landing Resort & Marina
2317 River Ridge Rd., Deland FL 32720 800-248-2474
Hop, skip and jump away from Hontoon Island.
For anyone needing lodging nearby, with or without a boat.

A schedule of events will follow in a month or so. If you have any other questions, just PM us. Joyce
 
Leslie and I hope to be there this year. We will keep in touch about this event. We love the St. John's River.

Flint and Leslie Firestone.
M/V Grace Full
 
Leslie and I hope to be there this year. We will keep in touch about this event. We love the St. John's River.

Flint and Leslie Firestone.
M/V Grace Full
 
I'm still planning on coming down, but may be solo. Since it's a bit of a drive, I will stay a bit longer to cruise around the area. Interested in knowing if anyone else will be doing the same thing? I'm thinking the best time will be after the gathering weekend, but if anyone is in the area before the gathering, I can come down earlier too. Colby (P.s., all dependent upon no snowstorms here at home during that time frame! :xseek BTW, need some better info on launching. Driving down from the north, what is the best recommendation for launching and leaving the tow vehicle? (If leaving for more than just the weekend...)
 
Wife and I are excited about gathering ,hope to make it.I have to research scallop season,if its same time may go over to west coast area to try it before or after gathering,always wanted to give it a try. Few years ago we swam with manatees at three sisters spring and I did some diving at Weeki Wachee that's where I got idea for scallop trip.
 
Flint and Leslie....hope that you can make it for the gathering. The St. John's is a magical place. My wife and I just spent the last few days on some side rivers going from Hontoon State Park to DeLeon state park for a pancake breakfast with fellow C-Brats.

Colby.....Astor Marine is a good place to leave a tow rig. I plan on traveling north on the river after the gathering if you're interested. Don't get snowed in!

Larry....I think March is way to early for scallops...but we usually see manatees on the St John's. Although none this last trip. Saw lots of other wildlife. Guarantee that there will be a bunch of C-Brats and C-Dorys on hand next March on Hontoon Island. Trust you can make it.

Tom
 
Thanks Tom. I'll plan on launching and then parking the car and trailer at Astor then. I'll have to figure out my plans once I get there, but hope to spend at least a week in the area. Colby
 
I am going to put on names on the list. We have spent only a little time on the St. John's and this may be a good year for more time. We have been going to Marathon for about 5 years, but lost our "spot" last year, because of our commitments in Calif. This year, we have said we will stay around home...well St John's is only a long day's drive.... If anyone is coming along I 10, we are only about 7 miles off the Freeway,and close to the back gate of Pensacola Naval Air Station. Lots of room on our lot to park your C Dory and rig, of if coming by water, our dock is always available, if you make the run up from the ICW.
 
Hi Bob
Sorry to hear that you lost your "Spot" in Marathon.....but glad you and Marie will be able to join us at Hontoon Island State Park. The food will not be as fancy as it was at Apalachicola but the fellowship and fireside chat is priceless!

See you then! Tom
 
It looks like you have a great list of commitments. Unfortunately Carpy hasn't been out for a while. We have had it out on our lake, about 4miles by 11/2.
Ive fighting colon cancer,the Chemotherapy mostly. We are also having our wedding Reception (party) on March 12 My Son and his wife and my new grandson. Born on hollowene . They are in Olympia Wa and don't get here very often.The St. Johns river Is our favorite Venues for boating .Enjoy the gathering and have fun.

Bruce and Joyce
Carpy
 
Bruce and Joyce

The gathering on the St. Johns will not be the same without you and the Carpy. Trust that you'll have a complete recovery in 2016 so that you can join us again in 2017. It's great that you will be able to get together with you Son and his family. Family comes first.

Till then.....Tom and "the other Joyce"
 
I hope I can make it this year The Last 2 years there was always something work the first year and broken trailer the next . I'm getting new tires and wheels for trailer and rebuilt brakes and wiring so trailer should be good ?? I might get Mike Taylor to come along (Papillon ) Jim (jennykatz)
 
Hi Tom and Joyce,
I just put Toby and I on the Sign Up list for the St. John's CBGT. We're very excited to see everyone again this year. I retired in August so we will have time to come up early and we will be cruising down the St. John's to JVille and north on the ICW maybe to Jekyll Is. or St. Simons afterward and then head south on the ICW back to our home on Merritt Island. Maybe 2 weeks on the boat...Heaven!!!
The other good news is that we may be coming to the CBGT in another C-Dory! We are meeting Marc Grove at Wefings Marine on Wed. the 6th to take a test ride on C-Tide, 25' Cruise Ship #4. If the boat is what it appears to be and we can work out a price, we will purchase in January and then sell the Comfy Dory. We got jealous of you Folks stepping it up with your new 25' boat! Toby is ecstatic about having an enclosed Head.
See you soon.
Tad and Toby
 
Hi Jim.....sure hope that everything works out for you to join us at the SBGT on Hontoon Island. Trailers are an important part on our way of boating. All the new parts on yours should make it like new! Keep working on Mike with the Papillon. See you in March!

Ken.....Joyce and I were wondering when you and Sharon were going to sign up. Glad you did! Need to "steal" ideas off the Sea Angel. We will be going north on the St. Johns after the SBGT on Monday. A few others will be joining us. I am sure that some will cruse before the gathering. You should be able to "hook" up with another boat. Bill and Becky will be at Hontoon most all of Feb. with the "Blue Days" and Hank and Pat with the "Meri Aura" are staying at Astor till mid March. Tomorrow we will go out for a few days with Hank and Pat.

Tad and Toby.....about time you signed up...been watching for you! Wow....looking at the C-Tide! Seems to be a nice boat. When we went to Marcs gathering at Apalachicola with the C-Otter, Joyce and I gave it a look. The composting toilet is a nice feature and the head has more space than the C-Otter. I am surprised that it has not found a new home by now. Must be waiting for some special people like you and Toby. :smile Let us know how it works out.

To all...happy New Year! We will be bringing in 2016 on the C-Otter.

Tom and Joyce
 
Hi Tom, It is so great reading the various posts regarding the St. Johns River Gathering. Jan and I are very excited about joining this year and we have been doing a good deal of thinking about the trip. We look forward to making new friends among the many C-Brats that will be making the gathering. I talked to Tex last week and he said that if he and Sharon were finished snowboarding by the time of the gathering that they might join us. I sure hope so, I don't think that I could make ice cream like Tex does. I think that Jan and I will stick to making pies. We wish every one a Happy and Prosperus New Year. Lee and Jan on the Tully-B
 
Friday, January 01, 2016

The 2015 St John's River gathering was a great adventure for old Arkansas Cotton Choppers. Brenda and I cruised to Jacksonville and wanted "Falcon" to taste the Atlantic but cold 37° weather turned us back.

This year we plan to cruise up river (south) after the gathering.

Tom and Joyce let us know if we can arrive early and help with anything, firewood, preparing the dock, food, etc. Send us a PM.

Bill and Brenda Russell
 
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