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

Looking more at my plans for coming down. Think unless someone has a better recommendation, I'll plan on launching and parking the rig at Astor Marine Thursday afternoon, and pulling into Hontoon that evening. (So looking for helpful hints on navigating the river between those points.) I hope to stay after the gathering till Thursday, pulling out first thing Friday AM for the drive home. So I'd enjoy cruising with anybody those 4 days after the gathering. I'm coming down thru Montgomery, so wondering if anyone has suggestions for what routing to use after that. Right now I'm looking at 231 to 84, then 75 to Ocala, and 40 over to Astor. Colby
 
Thanks Bob. I think my thought process was to stay away from Tallahassee. I only tow at 60 mph anyway. Knowing that, you think I'd still be god staying on 231 all the way to 10? Colby
 
I 10 does not go thru Tallahassee. It is sort of a "non event"--much as Pensacola is. We don't have many if any traffic jams on I 10, except after major Hurricanes, or accidents!

We go thru Montgomery all of the time on I 65, but take exit 69, since it is closer to our home. You should be fine on 231 all of the way to I 10. Tallahassee proper is South of I 10.
 
Last year we had launched "Falcon" on the St Johns River, ( N29° 00.623 W081° 22.954), and parked the truck and trailer for an extended time at Ed Stone Park with many others. The attendant said the park has good security.
 
Thanks Bob, & Bill. I'll stay on 231 to 10 then. I saw the park there was a little closer, and I didn't hear anyone mentioning a cost to park there? I kind of still like the idea of Astor Marine as it just sounded a little more secure. Any different thoughts on that? How many others will be using Ed Stone Park? How many will be using Astor Marine? Colby
 
Lee and Jan ........Just thinking of Jan's pies and Tex's ice cream makes my mouth water! We will just have to settle for Winn Dixie pie and ice cream at Hontoon. Hope Tex and Sharon can make it. The more the merrier!

Bill and Brenda .....about time for you to sign up! Would not be "right" without you attending! We will have a sign up for volunteer jobs at the gathering when you get to Hontoon.....however if you have some dry kindling wood to bring it would not be turned away. I will bring the stack that has been drying in my airplane hanger since last spring.

Colby......I always just park at the public ramps including Ed Stone and have parked for many days at a time and have not a problem or heard of anyone having a problem. But....Astor Marine is fenced and locked.......

Everyone......We have at least 29 C-Dorys Skippers that signed up or told me they are planing on attending. This will make it our biggest gathering ever by far. Three years ago this started as a idea between three C-Brats and look how far its gone. Thats because of the special kind of people that are drawn to C-Dorys. Everyone at last years gathering pitched in to make it fun. I cant wait to see old friends and make new ones.
More next week. Thanks! Tom and Joyce
 
Tom, make us boat #30. We plan to launch at Ed Stone Thurs AM Mar 3, drive back Mar 9. Ed Stone looks from sat pics like the deepest ramp, and on the trailer the waterline is 53" off the ground at the engine bracket. Does Hontoon marina have 30amp shorepower? We have adapters for RV and 15amp but not 20 amp. We usually don't use over 15 amps. We have Deckadence Silver carpet on order for the cockpit and will bring it down for critiques and dog testing.
If you like to trailer at 55 mph, highway 19 from east of Tallahassee is a nice 4 lane option with few towns that is much better in person than it looks on the maps (Two Bears agrees). And avoids that hairy I-10/I-75 intersection.
Cheers!
John
 
Hi fellow C-Brats Nancy and I are really looking forward to attending the St. John's gathering this year. We have a couple of boats that would like to attend if possible, a Cutwater and a Ranger tug both members of the tug nuts Groupe so if Tom And Joyce could let me know on a this I would appreciate it.
 
Hi John.....Glad you'll be able to join us on the St. Johns....had a good time testing out your WHITE Deckadence at Apalachicola. We will let James with his two dogs test out your silver Deckadence. You will have no problem launching at Ed Stone. Its one of the best ramps around! The power at Hontoon is 30 amps. I will be launching on Thursday AM also. See you then number 30!

Marc and Nancy.....Your friends are welcome to attend. We will just make them Honorary C-Brats. Just make sure they sign up for the gathering on the C-Brat Event sign up area or send me a PM with their information.

Everyone...a couple of notes.

#1)If you park at Ed Stone for the SBGT please park your rig on the far side of the parking area. They have a grassy area that you can back into. It works well for long trailers and they like long term stays to park there. Leave the close parking for the day boaters....THANKS

#2)We are getting close to capacity at Hontoon Island State Park. I hate to limit attendance but am going to stop at 35 for now. They only have about 40 slips and they cannot be reserved. You can however "save" one for a friend when you get there. Many will be there, like me, on Thursday or before. If you are not there by Friday you may not get a slip even if you are signed up. There are a lot of good places to anchor but we like to keep the group on the docks.

#3) If your plans have changed and cannot attend. PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP. We do not want to turn anyone away. Thanks!

#4) If anyone is thinking about a C-Dory feel free to take the ferry over and see most all sizes.

Thats all for now more later....Tom and Joyce
 
Colby...no charge for ramp or parking at Ed Stone Park.

Alma's Only.....You are on our list now....#33. Good to go.

Everyone....Please be sure to bring some kind of folding chair for around the camp fire. We will have some name tags for folks to wear at the SBGT....no they are not very fancy. NOW...if you want to have a real nice name tag made like the one below you can look up a order blank and contact information in the C-Otter photo album. My neighbor makes them and does a great job. You can have them sent to you OR I will bring them to the gathering.
IMG_0420.jpg

Also if you need any service work or a new or used C-Dory remember we have the best C-Dory dealer in the country here in Florida. Wefings in East Point Florida!

Joyce called Hontoon Island today and we were told that they would have some nice music from 2pm to 4pm on Friday and Saturday.

Thats all for now....Tom
 
Hi Tom & Joyce:

If all goes as planned we intend to participate in the upcoming St. Johns river event in March. Looking forward to meeting all of you C-Brats.

Sam, Sandra & Charlie
Half/Pint 1993 22' Cruiser
 
"Thisaway" will be there several days early, so count on us for any help you need. Also let us know if a table or other items will be needed.

Thanks for all of the hard work you are doing to make this work so well!
 
Tom and Joyce,

We plan to try again this year to make it to our first gathering of Cbrats with C Horse. Look forward to seeing all of you.

John and Susan
 
Tom and Joyce,

We plan to try again this year to make it to our first gathering of Cbrats with C Horse. Look forward to seeing all of you.

John and Susan
 
Sam, Sandra & Charlie.....we have the Half/Pint down for the gathering. Look forward to meeting you. Its going to be a full dock!

Bob and Marie....Glad you are going to be there early. Joyce and I will bring the boat down on Tuesday March 1. We will be checking with Ken the park manager in a couple weeks for a chair and table count. If we need more I,ll let you know. Thanks


John and Susan with the C Horse....you make the count 35 boats! That will be more than double the number we had the first year!

I do have a couple spots that have not been confirmed so there mite be a couple more openings.

Everyone....please try to be at Hontoon Island by Friday morning at the latest. The slips can not be reserved but a boat that has signed in can save a spot for a friend for a limited time. This had not been a problem in the past but with us using 35 out of 40 slips it will be tight...but fun.

If anyone else wants to attend with a boat please PM me and I will see what we can do.

Well...we are heading out tomorrow with some fellow C-Brats to explore the Harris Chain and Ocklawaha River for a few days.

Till then....Tom
 
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