We left Palatka after breakfast.
Before we reached the bridge, we encountered law enforcement at work. They continue to search beneath the bridge for evidence for a murder. We know there are scuba divers below by the red and white flag they fly.
Along with the lack of internet in places, I am having difficulty with the blog site. So for any of you who follow us regularly, that is why there haven’t been many updates.
Traveling up the St. Johns River, even though we’ve been traveling south, has been very enjoyable. People are friendly and wave at us from boats and docks. We really haven’t encountered that for a while. Traveling the ICW we felt like “small potatoes” compared with the mega-yachts everywhere! On the St. Johns, folks take our photo. Jeez, we feel like celebrities. Marina fees are what we consider cheap. We have spent in a week, what we would spend in one night at marinas along the ICW. Granted, we have anchored out several times.
We made a stop in Welaka as we heard they have a wonderful Maritime Museum. Ross and I love any type of museum. But no way could we pass up any type of maritime museum
We tied up at the free dock and headed up town.
Along the way, we encountered this beautiful, old, Live Oak tree. You can see that the locals love these trees. The streets curve around the trees. In many places, the trees would be cut down in order to have a straight street.
We saw this sign in front of the tree.
Unfortunately many people have not heeded the sign and driven under the ancient branches, scarring it.
The Waleka Maritime Museum is operated by the son and daughter-in-law of the man who built these boats. Not sure which was his true passion, restoring steam engines, wood working or boat building.
He would buy an old steam engine, restore it and then build a boat that seemed fitting to the engine around it.
This boat’s hull was made of butternut wood. His technique was to epoxy blocks of wood together and then grind and smooth them off. Most boats are made with planks of wood. The insides of the hull is a beautiful as the outside.
Ross is checking out a variety of small steam engines, boat whistles and gauges.
These figurines are replicas. Usually called a Figurehead or Maidenhead. They weren’t always women, but sometimes a beast of sorts. It was believed they embodied the spirit of its ship and could placate the gods of the seas to ensure a safe voyage and ward off sickness and dangers. I think maybe our boat should have one!
Also on display was this collection of antique outboard motors.
These MinnKota's are from 1932.
On our return to the dock, there was a group arriving with classic Chris Crafts. No doubt also headed for the museum.
We traveled on and decided to anchor for the night in the shelter of Buzzard Point. It was a beautiful spot with a good mud bottom and we got a good anchor hold right away. We sat out on the bow and enjoyed watching the sunset. It’s been quite a while since we’ve done that. After a day of travel in salt water, the bow is really crusty. Now that we’re in fresh water it’s a different story. Ross says we’re giving the boat “ a big long drink of fresh water”.
The only sounds in the night were owls hooting. Not a since human or car sound. Very peaceful.
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