03/07 - 03/09 - 2023 Hontoon Island Gathering

Avidmagnum12

Avidmagnum12

Member
We intend to hold our 10th gathering at Hontoon Island state park near DeLand Florida on March seventh to the ninth 2023 Great time to get together with old friends and make new ones. The park requested that reservations be made online. Online reservations can be made using the following link.


https://reserve.floridastateparks.org/W ... abity.aspx


The St. John’s river has many miles of great fresh water cruising and side trips. Many past attendees have arrived early and stayed late. Most everyone launches at Ed Stone park on highway 44 but there are many other launches on the river.

Please be sure to signup on this site so that we can plan properly. Of course that’s after the administrator sets it up. I’ll be posting more in the future but we wanted to get the dates out.


Administrator please setup a signup and photo album....Thanks


Added to Calendar

Signup list

-TyBoo
 
Thanks once again!
We are so looking forward to seeing our C Brat friends!
We’ve reserved slip 10a again next year.
Dan and Peggy Bowers
 
We've already got our slip reserved. Somebody beat us to the one we had last year, (9A or B, I think...) so we grabbed 3A. Looking forward to another great gathering. Colby (& Rosanne)
 
ssobol":tfnl1fwp said:
If you look at the brochure for the park, there is a picture of the marina. Seems to be filled with C-Dorys.

https://www.floridastateparks.org/sites/default/files/media/file/Hontoon Island Brochure Update.pdf
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That is correct. A photographer flew over the marina specifically during the gathering to take the photo. There has been a very close relationship between the park and the C Dory attendees. That is mostly related to the hard work of Tom and Joyce Schulke on "C Otter".

Each year there are "profits" which are left over after food, Silent Auction and 50/ 50 raffle ticket proceeds. The C Dory group has donated barbecue stands, park benches, a washer and dryer(for staff and C Dory owners to use), tool chests, and the most recent project will be a "shelter" on the land side of the ferry which takes day visitors and campers to and from the Island. The C Dory Group has worked with the non profit Friends of Hontoon Island State Park

Come on down--it is a great gathering. Also some real old Florida away from the civilization, plus great birding, and some very interesting restaurants, ranging from the Fish Camp, to upscale food. I think it is one of the best river cruising in America venues.

Also thru the years, a number of C Dory owners have volunteered at the Park. Free moorage, and a chance to to a lot of education and good impact on both the park as well as visitors from far away. Volunteers, run the ferry boat (limited CG license for 6 passengers, no six pac license required). Do projects, both educational, and maintenance. The volunteers can be the lifeblood of the park.
 
thataway":3d0acyt2 said:
ssobol":3d0acyt2 said:
If you look at the brochure for the park, there is a picture of the marina. Seems to be filled with C-Dorys.

https://www.floridastateparks.org/sites/default/files/media/file/Hontoon Island Brochure Update.pdf
Click to expand...

That is correct. A photographer flew over the marina specifically during the gathering to take the photo. There has been a very close relationship between the park and the C Dory attendees. That is mostly related to the hard work of Tom and Joyce Schulke on "C Otter".

Each year there are "profits" which are left over after food, Silent Auction and 50/ 50 raffle ticket proceeds. The C Dory group has donated barbecue stands, park benches, a washer and dryer(for staff and C Dory owners to use), tool chests, and the most recent project will be a "shelter" on the land side of the ferry which takes day visitors and campers to and from the Island. The C Dory Group has worked with the non profit Friends of Hontoon Island State Park

Come on down--it is a great gathering. Also some real old Florida away from the civilization, plus great birding, and some very interesting restaurants, ranging from the Fish Camp, to upscale food. I think it is one of the best river cruising in America venues.

Also thru the years, a number of C Dory owners have volunteered at the Park. Free moorage, and a chance to to a lot of education and good impact on both the park as well as visitors from far away. Volunteers, run the ferry boat (limited CG license for 6 passengers, no six pac license required). Do projects, both educational, and maintenance. The volunteers can be the lifeblood of the park.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I might come next year. I've been meaning to come for a couple of years now. The problem is that I live in MI and early March is still very much winter. Depending on the snow fall it might be difficult to get the boat ready and get it out of here.
 
Yeah, I might come next year. I've been meaning to come for a couple of years now. The problem is that I live in MI and early March is still very much winter. Depending on the snow fall it might be difficult to get the boat ready and get it out of here.
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And I live in Wisconsin and this will be my 9th or 10th year attending! (I'm even one of those boats in the photo!) Trust me, it's a great time to get the hell out of our states and thaw out! :mrgreen: I pray for at least one day the last week of February to put the muffs on the motor and make sure it'll start up and run, before dragging it 1,300 miles on the trailer. So far, it seems like I always get that day. Maybe barely above freezing, but it suffices! Usually I then find warmer weather by the time I hit central or southern Illinois. However, one year I was still dealing with sleet and ice as far south as Paducah! :xseek But the St. Johns really is a great place to cruise, and it's a great gathering (thanks Tom and Joyce). Even when the southerners are complaining about any cold or rain, we're wearing short sleeves and glad we're not shoveling! :lol: (However, I've more than once tried to get Tom to move it another week or two later. But something about bugs and spring breakers I guess...) Colby
 
Yeah, I might come next year. I've been meaning to come for a couple of years now. The problem is that I live in MI and early March is still very much winter. Depending on the snow fall it might be difficult to get the boat ready and get it out of here.
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No excuses. Colby from Wisconsin comes and Lew and Doris on Cat's Claw come from Wyoming! Several others from "The Frozen North" come. Once in the "sunshine state" (cooler here today than in Culver City or San Clemente, Calif!) there are lots of great things to do. It just depends on your tastes.
 
Big thank you to Tom and Joyce for stepping up yet again to make this gathering happen!!

All reserved for 1A as usual. I'd be interested on the progress of the highway 44 bridge and its impact to Ed Stone if anyone local should know.

As always, looking forward to the St.Johns. We are tentatively planning to be on the river February 15 to March 15, and will be monitoring channel 72.

James
 
James, our plans for now are to get there a few days before the gathering, launching early afternoon before the rat race on Friday March 3rd. And if the water levels are good, I'm going to use the track Ken gave me from your guys ride up the Econ last year and see if I can follow it. Then not sure what our plans are after the gathering. We may load out and relaunch in another location to cruise for another week and a half or so. If anybody decides to take a run up Blue Creek, you can see if the Propeller fake birdhouse I hung up is still there. I hung it from a low hanging palm tree on that last little island you go around on the north end of the Creek, that the Alligators like to sun themselves on. Colby
 
Colby, as I'm sure you are aware, a trek to the Econ is quite the expedition. At one time or another most of us haven't been able to actually make it up the Econ. You just don't know until you go for yourself. Last year I think, Blue Days and company had barely enough water to make it to the Hwy. 46 bridge and elected to end their campaign. Not a week or 10 days later, myself and Sea Angel made it with no problem all the way up the Econ as far as my normal camping spot. Give yourself 3 days minimum. Looking forward to seeing you and Rosanne again.

For the folks up north that are buried in snow at that time of year, one option is to stage your boat in Florida in late fall, or anywhere south of the Mason Dixie line. If you can leave your truck too so much the better. Then all you have to do is fly in and go.

Oh, and, Happy Birthday Colby....your right on my heels and always will be :lol:

James
 
To add to James's caution about the Econ--best to have two boats, then one can pull the first boat when it runs aground on a sand bar. We tried several times to get further than Deep Creek, and the way was blocked by floating vegetation. The water needs to be a certain depth (high). We took a drone with us to scout the second and third attempts. Getting up high to survey the possible openings also helps (standing on the roof). Once across the opening then it is easy going for a long distance. I think well worth the effort. Mostly kayaks on the Econ. Also raised sleeping platforms for the kayak campers, so they won't get eaten at night by the alligators, or gored by the long horn bulls.. :D

Down load the most recent aerial photos or Google Earth you can find--that will help.
 
Glad to see we are doing this again! Had a great time last year, our first, so we just reserved Slip 7A.

Burt and Debbie Palmer
Following C's
22 Angler
Melbourne Beach FL
 
Glad to see we are doing this again! Had a great time last year, our first, so we just reserved Slip 7A.

Burt and Debbie Palmer
Following C's
22 Angler
Melbourne Beach FL
 
Our Gov noted today that the ‘headwaters of the St John River’ (which start south of Sanford or thereabouts) is up four feet already from Hurricane Ian rains.

I might be mistaken, but I suspect that a rise of four vertical feet of the St John River could cover the fixed docks (and electric infrastructure) at Hontoon Island State Park Marina.

We had our usual reservation at the 5 star Pink Shell Marina Resort for Feb to Mar, but prelim evidence looks like all of the Ft Myers Beach marinas have also been destroyed in Hurricane Ian.

Just a possible head’s Up on this subject, as always we will defer to the crew of C-Otter (Tom and Joyce Shulke) who are locals and experts in that area.

Safe Travels!

John
 
I might be mistaken, but I suspect that a rise of four vertical feet of the St John River could cover the fixed docks (and electric infrastructure) at Hontoon Island State Park Marina.
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John the docks at Hontoon are floating docks, not fixed. (I had to double check my photos to be positive. The pilings are about 6 feet above usual water levels. I am sure that 4' rise will do a lot of damage. But the docks should be out of the current flow, and the buildings there are more than 6 feet above the usual water level of the river.

I never try and guess what damage a hurricane can cause. There may be some damage.
 
Good news,I just received a text from Joanna at Hontoon State Park. She says they all made it through the storm safely, they are just waiting for the river to recede so they can get into the park. There doesn't appear to be any major damage, so she thinks they will be in good shape to reopen soon.
 
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