053: St. Johns River Part 4, Return Trip

After dinner on the evening of the 28^th of February we (myself, my wife Nancy, and her sister Susan) walked around downtown Sanford.  Very lovely place.  (Confidential to Michigan residents: it does not take much imagination to think you are in Traverse City, a very similar look and feel). 

The next morning, we headed out early for the eighteen n/m run downriver to Hontoon Island State Park (“HISP”).  We spotted no less than six alligators sunning themselves on the west bank of the Saint Johns River (“SJR”) and a variety of birds.

The run up north:

This guy/gal was not intimidated by us:

A RR bridge that made us wait:

The park has floating docks with power and water for day use only, however only two are suitable for the average G/L boat, those being at the end of “T dock."  Most of the slips are sized for bass boats or small center consoles.    That said, we did barely fit by backing into the one twenty-four-foot slip.  There was a C-Dory 22 and a Ranger Tug 23 in the slips whose owners are park volunteers.  Nice gig:  free dockage for agreeing to volunteer twenty four hours per week of labor per boat, so twelve hours per person if you are a couple.

Typically there is no overnight stay at the docks (except for park volunteers) but because we were promised no loud music, the super friendly park ranger allowed us to stay overnight for no charge.  

HISP has nine miles of trails through hammocks and grassland areas, and we walked about half of them.   There was a very nice campground with “camping cabins” but not in use currently.  We spotted a deer but alas no black bears or rattlesnakes (much to my disappointment and Nancy’s relief).   We also took advantage of the clean restrooms with showers after the hike.

Nice trails:

We looked small next to a Grand Banks Europa 47:

The next morning we left by 9:00 a.m. and slowly went downriver spotting an alligator here and there on our way to Astor Marina to drop Susan off at her car.   We thought about anchoring near Black Creek and exploring that, but the lure of Silver Glen Springs was too much to resist.   We came into SGS mid-afternoon, anchored, and had a nice long chat with the couple on the C-Dory from HISP.   We also took a dinghy ride around the spring and spotted the last of the manatees as they were moving downriver with the warming weather.

Last look at SGS:

Bald Eagle watching over SGS:

Just about dusk a large rental houseboat came into SGS filled with nice, but a bit clueless, young people.   They asked if it was deep enough to anchor in front of us.  I asked them what was the boat’s draft?   They replied, “We don’t know.”    Long story short, I pointed them to a spot I thought would be fine and they dropped the anchor.   This was a big houseboat, so they needed to set a stern anchor.  I asked them if they had one, “yes.”   I asked if they had a dinghy to deploy it, “No.”    Not wanting them to crash into us, I got in our dinghy and motored over, grabbed their stern anchor, and then pulled the stern of the houseboat where it wouldn’t be in the way, and deployed the stern anchor.  Then I talked them through setting it and tying it up.   They were very grateful and offered me drinks, but I just made them promise, “no loud music.”

SGS is a small place and the next morning one of the gals from the houseboat was sipping coffee on the deck and we chatted.  I noticed an empty bottle of wine prominently displayed on a table and I told her, “You need to get rid of that bottle, alcohol is not allowed in here, and if a ranger sees it, you are just giving them a reason to mess with you.”  She thanked me and removed the bottle.   Not thirty minutes later a Florida Fish and Game Warden came in and gave a slow pass, giving them a particularly long look.   When gone, the gal yelled over, “Thank you!”     They were a nice group, and I hope they get themselves and boat back safely.

I went for an early morning dinghy ride and spotted two juvenile alligators swimming, which both dove under the water as fast as possible when I came too close.   Later, Nancy and I went snorkeling, and she did her best mermaid impression over the deep vent where the water comes out of the ground.  

We dried off and relaxed until about noon and then, regretfully, made our way down river to our next destination.   We went up Murphy’s Creek with the thought of anchoring for the night but it was just big enough to entice the bass boats to scream there at full speed, so we passed.   We then thought about going up Dunn’s Creek, but instead we headed up to Palatka.  (In retrospect, we blew it not going up Dunn’s Creek as it goes through a wilderness protected area which we didn’t realize at the time.)   We pulled up to Corky Bell’s Steak and Seafood restaurant which allows you stay overnight for no charge (no power or water) if you dine there.   We took them up on that and had a decent meal. The next morning we waited for the bass boats screaming by (tournament out of Palatka) before setting off downstream.   We pulled into Trout Creek (across from Six Mile Creek) and motored up the creek as far as we felt comfortable.  We got a look at one more alligator, and the came back and pulled in to get fuel at Trout Creek Marina.

Tight fit at the fuel dock:

Later we pulled into Port 32 Marina, which was the best marina since Sturgeon Bay.   We stayed two nights and spent the days cleaning the boat, shopping, laundry, and changing the oil, transmission fluid, and air filter.    

I spent some time in the hot tub:

On March 5th we left Port 32 Marina wishing we could stay one more day just to relax, but we decided to make a short day of it, returning to Jim King Park where we stayed before launching our trip up the St. John's River.

Dave

Odometer: 2,815 n/m