Questions about the St.Johns River Florida..

D

Dragonfly

New member
Hi all..
Just wondering if anyone has any tips about crusing the St.Johns River FL. We'd like to start in the upper end and go down south. Best places to stay,worst places to avoid, good restaurants,Marina's etc... . You get the idea. It would be in Nov. most likely.. . Any tips or ideas would be great ! Thanks, Tracy "Dragonfly"
 
Hi
We would like to also know about the river and going south.
I have been on the river from off Interstate 4 where the river goes under the expressway we went up the river about 8 miles. But would like to do it with the C-Dory sometime. It was a beautiful little trip.
Hope to see yall at the NC get to geather. (We will not have any Internet service for about 10 days, we are entering the Candian Provencies of New Brunswick, PEI and Nova Scotia tomorow}
Jim
 
Sent you a PM of info I have on the area. The further south you go the prettier it is. I live 7 miles north of the river on the ICW. PM me for any specific info you may want and I'll try to help.
 
I forgot to ask where is a safe place to leave the truck and trailor while we'er on the river ? Thanks so much for all your advice Marvin ! We are trying to plan this trip out so we know kinda sorta..what we are doing before we get there.. lol
 
I'm really not completely sure on the overnote parking. There is a nice city ramp at Fernindina Beach. Also at the intersection of the Saint Johns River and Intracoastal Waterway (Sisters Creek) there are two city run ramps that should be safe. I'm just getting ready to go for a little boat ride I'll check them out and let you know if they offer overnite parking. Living here I've never needed overnite storage. There's also a nice City operated ramp just off the ICW on Nassau Sound. If all else fails I have two acres and you are more than welcome to leave your rig here. Only draw back is although I'm on the ICW I'm about 20 miles from and adequate ramp.
 
Me and the dog took a little boat ride today and checked out the Sisters Creek Marina and the downtown Marina's. Couldn't find anyone to confirm overnight parking but didn't see any signs saying you couldn't. I did find a phone number 904-206-3259 and website www.JAXPARKS.com. If you goggle the website it gives you pictures and discriptions of all the county docks and ramps. The Sister's Creek is by far in nicest and has a police officier living on site. It is listed as Ramp #17. It's pretty busy this time of year but later in the year things die off quite a bit.
 
Sorry that I am not at home to send you more info. but am in north al. building a new home on the tenn. river. The St. Johns is a great river to cruise on. As stated earlier, it is prettier south of Palatka as it gets narrow and lined with cypress trees. If you start at Sanford and go north you will feel like a jungle cruise. The Sanford city marina is a safe place to leave the truck and trailer. About 4 miles north is a county park to leave it at for $2.00 a day with a guard at night. It is about 165 miles to Jacksonville but the trip up to Palatka and back with a few side trips up a few creeks would make a great vacation trip. There are plenty of places to anchor over night and places to buy gas. The St. Johns cruise guide will give you all you need to know for the trip. I shall be home in about a month and will be glad to send you a guide if you contact me. I can't say enough good about this river for a great cruise. Check Bill and Eli on this. My phone number is (256) 318-4608. My tug album has a few shots of views you will see. Good luck. Ron
 
I want to thank everyone for the quick and informative response. We have a Cruising Guide To Eastern Florida, but it it didn't have any information on ramps or parking. I called Jacksonville Parks Dept. They didn't recommend long term parking. So we will probably trailer to Sanford. Thanks again. Larry
 
We too are planning to cruise the St. Johns river starting about in the middle of Nov. The info about putting in at Sanford was of interest to us.

Rather than "pm" ing each other concerning this trip, I would rather see it posted right here on this site.
We have put in a small boat for the day in a couple of places. Hontoon Landing was one of them. I thought this maybe a good place to leave the truck , camper and trailer. We thought we could make a week or two trip north and than a couple weeks south. I don't know how far south a person could go with a 2 ft. draft. They use to rent out some huge house boats in that location.
Hope to see you on the Dragonfly this fall. We have just received the cruising guide for the river. We also got the anchorage guide.
Captd
 
Thanks for the correction on the website Papillion. The southern reaches of the Saint Johns are definately the prettiest. From Jacksonville North it's a mixture of Industry and residential areas. For someone with a little time a nice place to visit is the Cumberland Island State Park. It's about 20 miles North of the St Johns on the ICW. It's a barrier island with some really beautiful nature trails, wild horse's and other wildlife. Lots of info on the Island. There's a nice Marina in the City of Fernindina which has some nice shops and restaurants within easy walking distance. If you are constrained by time I'd spend it South of Palatka.
 
Sanford is on Lake Monroe and there is a marina just south of lake monroe as you leave on the st. johns. Locals travel on down with bass boats etc. into jessup and on to harney but as the cruising guide says " the good cruising " stops at monroe. I have run an airboat all the way to the start of the st. johns in thr marshes and people fish all along it but can not travel through in a kicker boat. As mentioned Hontoon is a neet place and the little resort might have a spot you could leave a truck. Maybe a thread could be started on St. Johns trip and a lot of questions could be answered there. Maybe more might be available to cross paths there. Ron
 
:o Ok ya'll we will be taking off soon on our St.Johns River cruise. We hope to leave on the 20th October. If anyone else is going to be down that way and whats to meet and take a little cruise with us just email or call me on my cell # I think everyone has it by now ! :D Also I was wondering if anyone else has any tips or ideas that we could use on our trip. As always.. thanks so much for all your information and help ! Tracy 8)
 
Tracy you asked earlier about overnight parking at boat ramps. If you are still interested in starting in the Northern part of the river the city run ramp at Sisters Creek Marina allows overnight parking and has on site security. It's also free and fenced in. I recently left my truck and trailer there for 5 days with no problem and I just returned from picking it up after and overnight stay. I hope you enjoy the trip and wish I could join you but my youngest daughter is getting married the 20th and she would probably notice if I weren't there. I have a trip planned myself for the following weekend up the Saint Mary's River provided I have any gas money left after the wedding.
 
\have a great trip - you are traveling on a gem of a river. We have a few pictures on our website about the SJ - kick back, watch the gators and the manatees and all those amazing birds.
 
Several times we have used the city of Sanford's ramp in downtowne Sanford. The lot is well lit and next to a marina.We have left our rig for several days at a time. No problems. We usually stay one night at the marina before heading down river.

Be sure to explore Sanford's downtown area just a short walk from the marina. There is also a good small zoo in the area. We unhooked our van for the short drive to the zoo.

We were pleased to pass many commercial tows on the river. I think they haul fuel oil. HAVE FUN

Fred, Pat, and Mr. Grey(the cat)
 
:lol: Hi all !
I' m here to pick your brains some more about our trip coming up. Where is the best place to get Charts ? I have found some free ones online but.. waiting to see them as of yet. LOL I'm trying to "unzip" them as I write. We have found some pretty good books on Amazon but not this time. So help me out here ok ? I know you all have your souces..so spill the beans. LOL Any help would be great thanks ! :) Take care all.. Tracy "Dragonfly"
 
West Marine and Boatersworld has three different charts of the St Johns. The lower, middle and upper. You may not be able to get them in your area but you can find them around Jacksonville. I have a middle chart I'd be glad to loan you if you wish. Send me your address and I'll put it in the mail tommorrow. I've not had much luck finding anything on line.
 
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