03/05 - 03/07 - Hontoon Island, Florida CBGT

Z50...you’re going to love your new 26. Curious what your going to power it with. As Golfcostjohn said there are always a few C-Brats there on the weekend before and some stay after. I’ll be leading a group up toward Jacksonville departing Friday March 8th. I don’t know how much experience you have but if I can be any help send me a PM.

Colby....good advice. We have not had any “dings” in any of our boats at Hontoon. Backing in with a boat in the slip next to you can be a challenge. It’s nice to have helpers to be able to act as fenders.😇

Paul.... good to have you back on the St. John’s....the 🐟 are waiting for you.

Hontoon Update. The finger piers are slowly having new decking installed. Should be completed before our gathering. I have my fingers crossed!

It can get fairly cold here in Florida and also plenty hot in March. Plan accordingly. Mosquitoes can be a problem but usually not.

We will use channel 72 on the river and for docking at Hontoon. During the gathering we usually have someone monitor that channel.

I’ll be on the St. John’s for a couple of days next week....can’t resist!

Please be sure you are signed up on the event signup and Jotform link.

https://form.jotform.com/60634279765163

We need to know what supplies to purchase...Thanks

Can’t wait to see everyone.....more soon.....Tom
 
I'm putting a Suzuki 200 on the back. This is not my first boat, I've had several throughout. I have been the captain on multiple bare bone charters to, BVI, Abacos and most recent Belize. I currently have a CC bay boat, but love the cruising style. May I ask why this event is during the middle of the week? I would think the weekend would accomidate more people. I am super excited about this boat. I was thinking on putting in at Palatka or Salt Springs and make the run down.
 
A 200 is a great choice for a 26. As for holding the gathering during the week, there were not enough slips on the weekend with other boaters staying there. With the problems that caused we took a vote and moved it to midweek. Many arrive early and stay late. Some take vacation and many are retired. I plan on being around Hontoon the weekend before. Hope the boats done by then so we can meet you.
Tom
 
sounds good, I figured there was a good exclamation. I'm 46 and have a six year old, so school and work get in the way. lol
 
I was planning after Hontoon Island going on a little trip to Florida Keys by launching at Flamingo in the Everglades National Park. Going across Florida bay through the back country where their are many islands and small channels with lots of wildlife. I’m very familiar with this area because I grewup in the Keys. I’m undetermined how far I’m going but very flexible if anyone wants to head out with me.
 
Fontanacdory":3vly87iw said:
I was planning after Hontoon Island going on a little trip to Florida Keys by launching at Flamingo in the Everglades National Park. Going across Florida bay through the back country where their are many islands and small channels with lots of wildlife. I’m very familiar with this area because I grewup in the Keys. I’m undetermined how far I’m going but very flexible if anyone wants to head out with me.
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It should be an interesting trip. We have launched at both the salt water ramp, (Florida Bay) and the fresh water ramp (Everglades). We were disappointed in the lack of birds in the Everglades, but found many more on and about the Islands of Florida Bay. Your knowledge of the back channels should do you well. We did not have that, and had to stick to the better shown charted channels,

What is your proposed track?
 
After Hontoon, we’ll be going to Calusa Island marina, more for the warmth than the wildlife. 10,000 islands, Everglades rivers to explore.

http://calusaislandmarina.com/

Since my childhood experiences, it seems to me like the Everglades has become a sterile grass river, compared to the St. John. You will guaranteed see far more birds, gators, turtles and other wildlife on the Hontoon Dead River in one day than in three days at Everglades City.
I don’t know what killed the Everglades (released pet pythons, bad hydrologic issues, etc) but it’s sad. If you have time, explore the Everglades first, and you will spend all time possible at Hontoon rather than there. That’s my bet.
We were in a rental house with our boat and 70 ft dock at Islamorada Dec 29- Jan 6, and pushing north it was very disappointing how little wildlife we saw compared to Hontoon.

Hope you have a great time in any event!
John
 
I've become interested in the C-Dory and would like to attend this gathering to gain some personal insight from current owners. I thought my 23 SeaCraft was my "forever" boat but now I'm having second thoughts. What is the best day(s) to attend? You think I might be able to hitch a ride on a 25? Looking forward to meeting you all.
 
If you wanting to learn more about C-Dorys be sure to come to the gathering. If you can come for only one day I recommend Wednesday as the most boats will be there. I’m sure we can arrange for you to get a ride on a 25. The 25 I have now is my second “forever boat”. But this time I mean it! 😇

If you have any questions send me a PM.
 
We had a great couple of days on the St. Johns river around Hontoon Island. The weather was cold for Florida but that put a lot of birds at the rivers edge. Only saw one alligator but with the cool temperatures even one was a pleasant surprise. Stopped at Hontoon to check on the dock progress and was told by the Park Manager and the construction crew that it would be completed by March. We started planning our after gathering trip to Jacksonville. It may take a week or so for the C-Otter to make it that far but for anyone in a hurry you can usually make it in a day. Water flows freely and so do we. Lots to see on the way.

Tom

I put a photo of the docks in the C-Otter folder for anyone that wants to look.
 
We started planning our after gathering trip to Jacksonville. It may take a week or so for the C-Otter to make it that far but for anyone in a hurry you can usually make it in a day
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You can sign us up to follow you. We will have to be back and pulling out by the 19th however, but that shouldn't be a problem. Colby
 
Hi C-brat friends!
We plan to attend this gathering, provided the weather allows us to trailer Dragonfly down from Michigan. We can't wait to reunite with old friends and make some new ones!
Dragonfly is for sale, so if you know anyone interested, please let them know about Dragonfly. Pictures are in our album. If you have questions, PM me. Dragonfly is a 2007 25 Cruiser with a 2015 aluminum trailer. Asking $60K.
Here is the listing:
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=27076
We would be happy to take any prospective buyers for a ride on the St. John River!
If everything works out, we would also love to join the group cruising to Jacksonville!
See you soon,
 
I just added our name to the event list but we aren't able to bring our boat because we can't fit the drive to Florida and back into our schedule. Our plan is to fly down and stay on the mainland. We are going to miss cruising our boat on the St Johns but are looking forward to seeing old friends again and making new ones at the gathering. See you there!
Jim & Jeanine
 
Blue rose

We are also going to Hontoon Island and not bring our boat. We are staying at the Artisan Downtown hotel in Deland, wanted to stay at Hontoon marina but at the time they were full. It will be our 5 or 6 year at the gathering and love all the information we learn.

Hope to see all soon.

Larry and Wendy Krabach
 
Only because our esteemed hosts, Tom and Joyce, have mentioned a post-Hontoon slow (and I do mean SLOW) cruise to Jacksonville, we’ll share a Bucket List possible destination with our Brat friends:

Cumberland Island is a national treasure a bit north of Jacksonville (great marina and ramp at NAS JAX for retired DOD, and Navy Gateway Inn lodging overlooking the river for $71/night…that’s our enroute stopover to Hontoon. Really good security, guys and gals with tactical shotguns and M-16’s in the trunk who are well trained on how to use them).

We highly recommend Greyfield Inn (only 16 rooms in the historical Carnegie mansion) for a bucket-list 2 day stay. Seems expensive, but includes 3 gourmet meals w picnic bag lunch, all day beach/island tour by a naturalist on bench seats in the back of pickup, beach bikes, fishing gear, kayaks etc. This makes you the only 32 folks on all of the upper island, which is huge. No kids.

http://greyfieldinn.com/

We had a blast in July a few years ago , though it was hot. Ancient plumbing and some ‘shared’ baths.

They don’t advertise it, but it is possible to arrange just dinner (maybe breakfast?) and they don’t promise dock space availability at the Greyfield dock (see satellite pics). March may be too cold. 15 miles of fab beach hiking or biking from the southeast sandy spots you see, but 10 foot tides.
Otherwise, you get there by ferry from St Mary direct to Greyfield Inn.

I’m just mentioning this for those coming from amazing distances who otherwise would not know that Cumberland Island had anything other than primitive tent camping spots on the South end (nothing wrong with liking that; we used to!).
Just something to consider…in March, they won’t be full and may be accommodating.

PS you can’t BYOB, and the prices at the ‘honest john’ bar are not listed, but they were $9 each for a Coors Lite (as Gomer Pyle would say, Surprise, surprise, surprise!). But if you’ve been on a cruise ship, maybe not a surprise.
For us, it was a hoot!

(However, for those of you who already know us, most everything in boating is a Hoot!).

Happy Boating!
John
PS: Colby, you can only do Greyfield with Rosanne.
 
Responsibilities will keep us from making the slow cruise north after the event, but would like to meet back up at Cumberland Island if the timing is right. We've been wanting to explore the ruins at Dungeness and do some hiking around there.

Its an unpredictable time of year weather wise in Southeast GA/Northern Florida. Last year we spent the end of February at Neptune beach it was 87 degrees, and we had below freezing temps shortly after that. Hoping for the warm stuff this year
 
PS: Colby, you can only do Greyfield with Rosanne.
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Thanks John. But her time is limited due to work, so we'll probably be making the high speed run back to Ed Stone after we all get to Jacksonville. Colby
 
Our experience in Pensacola, and the slightly lower latitude of Hontoon is that by mid March the temperatures are fairly moderate. We have only been by Cumberland in the middle of the summer, and the middle of a very cold winter --not the best times. . But we are willing to take a chance on the weather.
For the most part we don't do high end resorts, but the St. Mary's / Cumberland Island is a great cruising ground by itself. Theoretically a one days run from Jacksonville....but so many good places along the way!

We don't have to be back home until about the 22nd--and could entertain a rental car or even Uber, back to pick up our rigs vs running the St. John's.back up to Ed Stone.
 
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