A Week on the St. John's

J

jhwilson

New member
We were in the saddle 12 hours yesterday from Western NC to Welaka, FL. We are staying at the Welaka Lodge and Resort in a river side cottage. I learned of this place from fellow C-Brat, Smittypaddler, who spends several weeks here in the early spring each recent year. We were here a week last April and loved it. We had our 20' Lund Alaskan then and enjoyed the river and small creeks.

Got a slip with a lift for the CD-22 this time since the channel runs right by the slips. New experience. We'll splash the boat and do some shopping this AM and do a short cruise this afternoon.

This year with Placid C we plan to do much more cruising. Any suggestions on interesting points will be most welcome.

Harper
 
Harper hope you have a great trip. Don't miss the Wooden Boat Musuem right there in Welaka plus on the west side of Lake George are the springs which are best visited during the week to avoid the crowd. South of Astor I especially like Hontoon Island State Park. They have nice and reasonable floating docks for overnighting ($16 per night $8 if retired)with lots of wildlife especailly the wild turkeys that come out in the early mornings. South of Hontoon are the Manatee springs and old planation house. Be aware of the no wake zones in these areas. You can beach your boat just south of where you see the tour boats docked to visit. South to Lake Monroe the Sanford Marina ($27 per night) on the west side of the lake is nice with some nice tourist shops and restaurants in walking distance. There's and interesting grocery store here also that stock fresh/frozen Racoon. There are a few pics of these areas in my album.
 
Welaka and the St Johns River are some of my favorite places. It's like being in an open-air zoo, and you're guaranteed lots of wildlife viewing. If I could talk my wife into it, I'd live in Welaka. I just hope it doesn't get too popular, because it's such a nice, quiet, rural atmosphere.
 
Loree and I spent a few days up there in early april by car ,Next time we will take the boat .We should try to get a few boats up there for fall or earlier if possible .
We had three choices to go to the keys Bahia Honda but the fires in collier county closed down interstate I-75 ,way to much traffic on tamiami trail plus the seas were going to be 7-9 ft .So option two was the St Johns but Loree won out we went to Tampa bay Warren is right the water is real skinny more so then Naples and not as well marked . Anyway we plan to stay up here until thur or so and then back to Naples
We found a nice Marina with pool and amenities free internet ,trailer parking for $1.50 a ft. Holiday Inn north of the skyway bridge on I-275 . The Honda pulled the cc-23 with no problems so far ,we stay under 65mph and usually keep it in d-3 .I got about 10-11 mpg towing it up here . I;m also doing mileage test for real cruising full gas,water and supplies we will see by week's end

Bob lets try to make a cruise this summer before the applachicola gathering
 
Sorry to be so late in responding to some of the posts above. We had a great week at Welaka. On the boat much of each day but one. Placid C did very well. I was surprised and pleased with the little fuel it used even though much of the travel was at 15 to 18 mph. Next spring we plan to spend at least two weeks and maybe a month there.

Ashley Lynn, the website of the Welaka Lodge and Resort has complete photos and descriptions of all cottages and facilities. We stayed at the Deluxe Riverside Cottage and it is outstanding for two. Prices are very reasonable. You can see all at: www.welakalodge.com. This place is way off the tourist trail and is like the Florida I remember as a kid. I'll have some photos in my album a little later in the week.

Smittypaddler, totally agree with your comments. They think well of you there.

Marvin, thanks for all the suggestions, we accomplished many of them and will do the rest next year. Certainly want to get some of that frozen racoon. We went to Silver Glen Springs during the week as you suggested but it was still like Coney Island. We didn't stay long as it was so crowded and noisey. Maybe winter is the time to go. Thanks again.

Got home late yesterday and the boat and trailer performed with no problems. I'm getting too old for twelve hour days on the road however.

Think we may do the Erie Canal this fall with some shorter trips on the Cumberland River this summer.

Should have had a C-Dory years ago.

Harper
 
Harper: Great to hear you had a wonderful trip. Some of us locals are starting to toss around a Cumberland trip again.... What month would you be coming down? Aug is way hot, but, if you do not mind "noodle hoping" and drifting about in the water about every hour or so it is still a good time. May do something the week leading up to the 4th of July weekend..... We have about 4 other locals now here, and withing about 2 hours drive time.

Byrdman
 
Byrdman,
Keep us posted if a Cumberland outing is planned this year. We have just moved to the Tennessee river near Wheeler Park. We moved from the St. Johns river where we cruised our 21' Ranger tug and have picked up an '85 C-Dory Classic. This would be our first chance to hit one of the gatherings. They seem like a great time and we would like to meet more C-Dory and /or Ranger owners.
Ron
 
Byrdman":ofvgj3fm said:
Harper: Great to hear you had a wonderful trip. Some of us locals are starting to toss around a Cumberland trip again.... What month would you be coming down? Aug is way hot, but, if you do not mind "noodle hoping" and drifting about in the water about every hour or so it is still a good time. May do something the week leading up to the 4th of July weekend..... We have about 4 other locals now here, and withing about 2 hours drive time.

Byrdman
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Patrick,

We would definitely be interested. As far as the time of year, the cooler the better. Our time is pretty flexible as long as we know far enough in advance to make plans for our business. We've never been on the Cumberland but it is at the top of our list to do.

Harper
 
We're interested in cruising the St Johns too but just read it's at record low water.Is it going to effect your cruising options?Enjoy the trip. Alan
 
Simplicity":2zhsa69s said:
We're interested in cruising the St Johns too but just read it's at record low water.Is it going to effect your cruising options?Enjoy the trip. Alan
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Even though it is at a record low you shouldn't have any trouble as far south as Sanford. Currently there is a battle going on between North Florida (Jax) and South Florida. South Florida wants to draw water from the Saint Johns and I think they have been approved to do this. With this said the future of the Saint Johns is questionable especially the lower sections. Some even say that it could alter the flow which is normally north. The Okeechobee is experiencing record lows and I think the locks are closed.
 
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