FRIDAY APRIL 9TH

The wind howled all night. We were tied up at the dock at an angle perpendicular to the wind, so took slapping waves on the hull all night. At least that noise somewhat blocked the noise of those crazy krill whooping it up under the boat.

Our hope was to anchor up by Cumberland Island and dinghy ashore for a visit. The Cumberland Island is the largest of Georgia’s barrier islands and most of it was last owned by the Carnegie family. The mansions on the island have all since burned, but Mrs. Carnegie willed the property to the state. She also willed that her horses be allowed to roam free on the island. To this day their descendants roam free, completely fending for themselves.

We had a spot reserved at Lang’s Marina in St. Marys. It looked just long enough for us to fit into between two other boats, with no margin for error. The wind was blowing hard one direction, the tide and current was going another way. I’m scrambling around on the front deck with lines and watching the old dock master “Nat” slowly walk down the dock nonchalantly smoking his cigarette. I’m sure my hair was standing on end at this point in fear as to what we would hit. He calmly said to me, “sugar, don’t be worrying about no lines. Just lower this fender and that fender. We take care of those lines in a bit.” He was right.  He knew exactly what the water would do and it drew us right in to the spot we needed to be on the dock. Ross did have something to do with it, but even he was amazed at our landing.

There is a ferry which runs back and forth to Cumberland Island. Unfortunately it was completely booked for the day so a visit to the island is not in the cards for us. It is a popular spot to go with it’s camping, hiking and extensive wildlife.

Plan B……lunch. Lang’s restaurant was the recommendation and it did not disappoint!

The specialty is shrimp. It comes directly off Lang’s shrimp boat so is never frozen. What a difference. Ross isn’t a big fan of shrimp, but this was so good he even picked every scrap of meat out of the tail. Oh, and we are now back into serious hush puppy country.  Those were delicious too.

After lunch we took a stroll around town. Found a Submarine museum. So of course we went in. Lots of memorabilia.

Much of the equipment on display is from the submarine USS James K. Polk. Here is the control panel.

They also had a functioning periscope that you could view the St. Marys River with. I think Ross was using it to scope out the nearest ice cream shop because he seemed to know exactly where to go for ice cream when we left the museum! That guy!









There was also a research library where several people were looking up information.











Ross was channel surfing around supper time and discovered the old Clint Eastwood movie Hang Em High was about to come on.  Sorry Mom, I know you tried to raise me right, but we ate dinner in front of the t.v.!!!!!

Late in the evening the wind died down and it was absolutely calm. What a treat after anchoring out so much, and wind and waves the rest of the time. When I went to bed I felt like I was sleeping on land again. Even the krill took the night off.

THURSDAY APRIL 8TH

Last night when we went to bed, we could hear this loud, crackling noise beneath the boat. By loud I mean that I thought I would have to use my earplugs in order to get any sleep. It was a constant sound somewhat like rain.

First thing in the morning I decided to research what the noise could possibly have been. By now things were all quiet. The internet is an amazing tool. Before long I had cracked the mystery. It was krill. A special type called pistol shrimp. There are over 600 varieties and the largest variety is less than 2 ½ inches. They create the noise with their claw to create an air bubble that explodes. They use this bubble to stun their prey, or to communicate with other krill. Well let me tell you, the krill party was under our boat last night and there was a whole lot of communicating going on. I found these two links that explained about these shrimp. Turn up the volume on your computer, click on the links and check them out. Video of Pistol Shrimp,
Sound of Pistol Shrimp.

Ross and I rode our bikes around the town. It is a quaint town with well maintained historical homes and gardens. The architecture of the homes and buildings is beautiful. The main street is lined with shops, trees and benches.

We stopped in for a beer at the Palace saloon. It is the oldest operating saloon in Florida. It was built in 1878 as a haberdashery (men’s clothing store) but in 1901 the building was sold and it was turned in to an “elegant gentlemens saloon” until prohibition in 1918. It was an ice cream parlor from then until 1933 when it was turned back in to a saloon.

This Depot was built in 1899. The first one was built in 1885 but was wiped out by the big hurricane in 1898. It is no longer a train depot and is used as a tourist information site. There was a cheesy pirate statue out front. I thought it detracted from the historical aspect of the depot. Whoever paid for the statue should have asked for their money back!

The wind picked up early in the evening and rain is predicted.

The krill were at it again when we went to bed.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 7TH

We left the Jax city dock and hung a left on the ICW. We are once again back on salt water and seeing dolphins.

We are also back to watching out for those “evil” crab traps. 

The scenery has changed from cypress and water lilies back to grasses and salt marsh. Each has it’s own beauty and ecosystem.




Our destination for the day was Fernandina Beach on the island of Amelia. It is still in Florida, but just barely. We passed through some nail bitingly shallow water as we got close to Fernandina. We never hit bottom, but I’m sure if there were any little critters beneath our boat they were ducking their heads!

As we tied up in the marina, we were happy to see fellow Loopers Linda and Dave from Perfect Timing. Our paths haven’t crossed since Clearwater Florida back in December when we both crossed the Gulf within a day of one another. It was good to catch up and share boating stories and information.

TUESDAY APRIL 6TH

Another gorgeous morning! Hard to believe after the weather we’ve encountered so far in Florida this winter. The water is flat calm.











We had heard and read about a popular spot to eat called the Outback Crab Shack. They have a dock over 1000 feet long. You can send the night there if you eat at the restaurant. Our plan was only lunch. We new the water was deep enough for us going up the Six Mile Creek where the place was located, but first we had to cross Palmo Cove and some skinny water. At times our depth finder read one foot under the boat. Easter ham sandwiches was our Plan B. But we kept nosing along slowly and suddenly the water was deep again.

Dock at the Outback Crab Shack.

Saw another gator on the way up the creek. But I won’t bore you with that again. The Outback Crab Shack is a funky little place with local fare. One of their specialties are fish boils. Depending on what you like, they boil up in one pot and assortment of shrimp, crab, sausages whatever, along with ears of corn, baby potatoes and spices. They drain it and serve it on a platter along with a variety of sauces to dip it all in. Way too much food for the two of us, but the big table next to us was busy sharing one.

Gator burger for the special of the day??? Gator burger? Really? What's that, it comes with fries?







Well, okay. I’ll try one.

Must say, I’d order it again. Very spicy and by the way, it didn’t taste like chicken.

When we got the gator head for my brother, it was one of hundreds. You see piles of them in the tourist shops down here. I think I now know where the rest of the gator goes……

We tied up for the night at the Jacksonville City Dock. Lots of restaurants next to the dock. We were tied up right outside of Hooters who offer free WiFi to their customers. In the boat we were able to slurp it off their signal. Thanks Hooters.

MONDAY APRIL 5TH

Turned the t.v. on to make certain the launch was still a go. It was. Sipped on coffee and watched till the countdown was a minute. At this point, we headed out to the bow of the boat with our cameras. It wasn’t long before we saw a blazing light streaking across the sky. We could see the booster rocket fall away as it was glowing orange. An incredible sight. I tried to get a picture. It didn’t turn out. You just have to imagine the space shuttle some place in that glowing blob.

It’s hard to imagine there are really people in that, traveling at over 17,000 m.p.h to outer space. Meanwhile, Ross and I are scrounging around in the bottom of the boat cussing and bumping our heads trying to replace a shower pump. Guess what I’m trying to say is, they can send man in to outer space, but they can’t make it just a teenie weenie easier to access this stuff on a boat?

So for all of you who think we are living the life of romantic adventure…….this is what it often looks like. We have to remove the mattress and all the other stuff in our bedroom just to get at this stuff. Ross has to put his head through the night stand to even see where the pump is.






This is what we are attempting to replace. Kind of like trying to put a square peg in a round hole.

And I won’t even show you what my legs look like! They are plastered with calamine lotion and look like I have small pox from all the no-seeum bites.

I know you’re probably sick of gator pictures, but I just can’t help myself. They amaze me. And these were some biguns!!!

What we’ve seen along the St. Johns River and thought were crab traps, turned out weren’t. As we passed this fisherman, we saw him pull this large net trap out of the water. He shook it and we could see it had some fish in it.









He then pulled out “the keepers” and put them in his boat.

The weather is finally hot. We stopped at an anchorage for the night near the Seven Sisters Islands.

EASTER

Happy Easter everyone!!

We attended Easter service at my parents’ church, St. Pauls Episcopal Church.

Following the service, Mom served up a delicious Easter brunch. Once again we were stuffed. The bad news was now we had to get back in the car and stay awake for 4 hours while we drove back to Sanford.

It was so good being together with everyone and celebrating Easter with the family. Mom fixed us up with her home baked cinnamon rolls and a package of ham and it was time to say our goodbyes.

The trip back to the boat went fine. We still had some candy left in the Easter baskets Mom and Dad gave to each of us. So we passed the time munching on dark chocolate eggs and drinking coffee. We were pooped by the time we returned to the boat, so walked up to the restaurant on shore for supper.

Set the alarm to be certain we were up in time to watch the space shuttle launch. As the crow flies, Sanford is not all that far from Titusville.

SATURDAY APRIL 3RD

Oh joy. Discovered the switch to our shower pump is shot, again! Ross replaced it back in October and it’s already kaput. As long as we have to tear apart our bedroom to get at it, we might as well replace the whole dang unit. It tell ya, it’s always something on the boat!

Enterprise picked us up and as soon as we had the car our first stop was West Marine. They had one shower pump. The display model. We’ll take it!

From there we headed downtown Sanford. It’s a cute little town and today was the Farmers Market. We poked around for a bit and ended up buying some apples and cheese from some vendors.

Had an early lunch at Hollerbach Willow Tree, a German restaurant. We ate outside and enjoyed the day. Good food. German beers on tap. And yes we had kraut and German potato salad.

The drive to Naples was a little over four hours. Our trip took us through orange grove country. The trees were flowering and the scent was delightful. Even with the windows up in the car we could smell them. But we rolled them down to enjoy the scent even more.

All my siblings just happen to be in Florida at the same time. We told my folks we were coming, but it was a surprise for everyone else. Oh, except for Sally. She was in charge of bringing the twice baked potatoes to the birthday party and needed to know to make two more!!

So what do you get as a gift for the man who has everything?

A gator head of course!

My family.

FRIDAY APRIL 2ND

While growing up, our mom on occasion would send Dad to wake us kids up. From the foot of the stairs would come our wake up call……Dad style. Often revelry was whistled or partially sung. Or we’d hear “Whadaya kids think this is, a rest home?” But my all time favorite was when he called out, “daylight in the swamps!!”

Hey Dad, this morning I woke up in the swamps. Trust me, no one has to tell you. At the first inkling of light, the birds are awake and letting you know. Just as well. No sense wasting the morning light when you can be enjoying the beauty of the swamp.

It was a lazy trip the rest of the way to Sanford. We arrived shortly after noon at the Boat Tree Marina. The marina has laundry facilities here so we started that project. But their laundry is very strategically placed right next to their pool and poolside bar. The chore of laundry isn’t quite so tedious when you can sit outside in the sun, sipping a margarita and people watching at the pool. And the people watching was interesting!! (sorry no pictures, just as well though)

Had dinner on the boat again and went to sleep early. Tomorrow we get a rental car. Road trip to Naples to visit my folks and celebrate the birthday of my brother, Stewart.

THURSDAY APRIL 1ST

We left the window open last night, and boy was I glad for my flannel jammies! Great sleeping weather though.

We crossed Lake George. It is a large body of water and it took us and hour and 20 minutes to cross it.  Lucky for us, it was a calm sunny morning. If there would have been wind from the south, it would have been a rough ride. There was constant radio chatter. The only thing we could figure is because Florida is so flat and we were out on the middle of a large lake, but we heard chatter from Tampa Bay, Jax, St. Pete, and other places.

The auto-pilot has been fixed, making for a much more relaxed drive when crossing open bodies of water.

The river has now narrowed and the scenery is worth the journey. Many creeks, streams, oxbows and small rivers feeding into the St. Johns. They are lines with numerous varieties of aquatic plants. It must be something to see when they are all in bloom.

We have also entered gator country. Most of them we saw were good size. Probably around 8 to 10 feet long. The one small one we saw was probably four feet long.

Remember, you can click on any of the pictures if you want to enlarge them.

They were all basking in the sun along the shoreline.

Well, ready or not, here come your gator facts. It takes about 10 to 12 years in the wild for a gator to reach breeding size. Which is 6 feet long.

Males average a bit over 11 feet long and females average a bit over 8 feet long. Their average weight is about ½ a ton!!! As Ross put it, “that’s a lot of gator”.

The female will lay her eggs in a nest and bury it but stays close by to defend it. After 65 days the babies start squeaking and grunting inside the egg. The mother will then uncover the nest so the babies can hatch and get out.

What surprised me is the hatchlings hang around the nest area for 2 to 3 years. During the first year of that, the mother will protect them. Who would have guessed that a cold blooded reptile would make such a good mom?

We arrived at Hontoon Island State Park. There is a marina here, but they were full. So we backtracked a short way and anchored just inside the Dead River. (scarey sounding place after spending last night at Buzzard Point!) Dropped the dinghy in the water and headed back to the park. We took a short hike, but it was a bust. Didn’t even see a bird on our hike. 

Since we had the dinghy down, we took a several mile ride up the Dead River. Lots of turtles. These are Red Bellied turtles. The locals refer to them as "cooters".

This Anhinga was drying its wings in the sun.





The swamps on shore are flooded cypress woods. Creepy and lovely at he same time.

We ate dinner on board and enjoyed the sounds of the swamps. Once the birds settled in at dark, the frogs started up. I have no idea what size they were, probably tiny, but they made a croak like they must have weighed a couple of pounds!

The night is clear and still. We can see the reflection of the stars in the water.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 31ST

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.