Florida Mini Loop

T

Tad and Toby Jackson

New member
Brats,
It's official! Vacation days reserved, dog sitter arranged, feeder for chickens arranged, boat prep in progress. Toby and I will be heading out on the Comfy Dory on May 21st. for eleven days / 10 nights. We'll be launching in the St. John's River west of Cocoa, FL. if there is enough water in the River or farther north on Lake Harney west of Titusville, FL. My brother will ride with us and drive the truck and trailer back to our house. We're going to travel north and explore the loops, coves and rivers that feed the St. John's. Especially interested in the Oklawaha River. We'll follow the St. John's to the intersection with the ICW and then turn north for a few days to see the Nassau River and the St. Mary's River on the backside of Amelia Island. After that, it's back to the south on the ICW. We'll probably drop anchor near Jax. for one night and then on the inside of Matanzas Inlet before running to our home on the ICW on Merritt Island on the 31st.

I installed the new PermaTrim last weekend and our new Zodi "Hot Tap on Demand Hot Shower" unit is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. It should be a great improvement over the Solar Shower bag we have been using. Toby bought a new digital camera with extra memory chip and we will be trying to document our trip with good photos. After we return, I am going to get the site admin. to help me set up an album. I'm going to try and do a good job of keeping a daily log on this trip to share with the Brats.

We're excited and hope to cross wakes with other Brats along the way.

Tad
 
Sounds like a great trip. When you get to the Saint Mary's River don't overlook Cumberland Island. George's River at Fort George Inlet is a nice anchorage and it has a small dock where you can dock and visit the Kingsley Planation. There's some photo's in my album. Also 6 Mile Creek about 1/2 way between Palatka and Jacksonville on the east side of the river has a pretty nice dock side seafood restaurant. Nice Marinas in both Fernandina and Saint Mary's right in downtown area. I'm at MM 46 at Nassau Sound. Palatka has a city dock on the west side of the river about 1/4 mile south of the bridge that is $10 a night with some water and electric. Downtown Jax has free dockage in front of the Landing but they don't allow overnight stays. I'll PM you my contact info if you need more local info.
 
Tad & Toby,
Wish you the best of luck and have a good time. It sounds like a good plan. Count the gators and let us know how many.

We are on our way to Montana. Now at Hot Springs, Ark. 2/3 more to go. We got friends here so it is a good place to rest awhile.

Hope to see you guys next trip.

Darrel & Dee
 
captd":2tp8vvlz said:
Tad & Toby,
Wish you the best of luck and have a good time. It sounds like a good plan. Count the gators and let us know how many.

We are on our way to Montana. Now at Hot Springs, Ark. 2/3 more to go. We got friends here so it is a good place to rest awhile.

Hope to see you guys next trip.

Darrel & Dee
Click to expand...

Darrel,

What became of your Ranger repair? Are you towing it to Montana?

-Greg
 
Thanks for the correction on the Landing Tom. There's also a small fixed dock on Goodby's Lake (east side of River a couple miles from downtown Jax) behind the Hooters that I've dock at several times first being during a storm that blew up. It has a sign that says no overnight docking but no one seems to care. It's convienent to a Marina next door plus a Walgreens and several other shops across the street.
 
Tom and Gerre,
I had the opportunity to browse your website a little bit today and I am even more excited about the Florida Mini Loop (our description) that Toby and I will start on next week. We look forward to getting our first chance to explore the waters up in your area since we got the "Comfy Dory" last June. The boat is packed with all the non-perishables and most of the gear...really just the perishables and ice to go the day before and we will be off! Since it is so dry and the water is so low in the St. John's, we will not be able to launch north of Lake Poinsett, but will have to go north about 25 miles and launch on Lake Harney. I guess we will just have to slow down to make up for the River we will miss seeing by starting farther north.
Are you all planning to get a Dory to replace the SeaKnight?

Good Luck with the sale of your beautiful cruiser.

Tad
 
Dene":lza8iwv5 said:
captd":lza8iwv5 said:
Tad & Toby,
Wish you the best of luck and have a good time. It sounds like a good plan. Count the gators and let us know how many.

We are on our way to Montana. Now at Hot Springs, Ark. 2/3 more to go. We got friends here so it is a good place to rest awhile.

Hope to see you guys next trip.

Darrel & Dee
Click to expand...

Darrel,

What became of your Ranger repair? Are you towing it to Montana?

-Greg
Click to expand...

Greg, It was a minor problem that created a very inconvienent situation. Yanmar fixed the problem and found another, fixed that too. Wefing and the factory stepped up to the plate. Us Ranger owners can feel good about the support we get from some dealers ( maybe all) and the factory.

I have sold Mrs Dee and have ordered a new Ranger with the Cummins Diesel. For the type of cruising we do the extra horse power is a huge plus. We load the boat with a lot of supplys for extended trips. Up to 5 months. Once on the cruising grounds we slow down and swing on the hook for a week or two at a time. The 125 horse Yamar has never had any problem of it own. Top speed was 17 miles an hour which is quite good for a trawler. Loaded, it is no longer a planeing hull. Cruising speed than becomes about 8 knots. I love the boat enough to buy another and pay the extra money. Bet there are not to many boats where a customer would do that.

The new boat will be called the " Lucky Fin ". For two reasons, One, I am for the largest part a Finlander. And second, once upon a time I was ready to depart for the Bahamas.( 45 ft. Chris Craft, Twin screw ) I could not back the boat into the slip at the Riviera Beach Marina. Very embarrassing, right in front of the Dock Master too. Finally I went in bow first. Later, Dee seen a bill lying on the bottom about nine feet of water.. We could not make out the denomination, whether it was a 20 or just a one dollar bill. So I got out mask , fins and snorkel. Jumped in and it turned out to be a five dollar bill. I picked it up and headed for the surface, on the way up I looked under the boat a low and behold, there was a braided carpet wrapped around my starboard prop. I had run all the way from Merritt Island to Palm Beach and would have went to the Bahamas with that rug causing me to burn a lot more then the normal 25 gal an hour, It would never have gotten on plane. Besides I probably would have taken out a dock somewhere. After putting on scuba gear and cutting the carpet off, I found the Dock Master to make my excuses. I don't think he believed me.
Hence , the Lucky Fin. We still have the fin framed and it will be mounted in a place of honor in the new boat.

captd
 
Back
Top