Flowing with the St. Johns River for a few weeks

[ris]

We leave tomorrow for a 2 or 3 week trip on the St. Johns River in Florida. We will be meeting Herschel on our first night which will be on Lake Monroe. From Lake Monroe we will follow the flow of the water north 160 miles to Jacksonville Florida. There are a lot of springs that flow into the St. Johns and we plan to anchor and dinghy up to the spring heads where possible. There are also several lakes and rivers that flow into the St. Johns and we hope to explore them. A lot of the river flows through remote areas so it will be a nice downtime. We will post pics to our blog "[email protected]" . We also hope to catch a few bass. If anyone lurking on the site wants to chat or see our boat which is set up like a trawler just contact us on wordpress or on this site.

[Phil M]

Could not find the cruise you refer to:

https://thejillkristy.wordpress.com

Okay - you will post it.

[Sumner]

You guys have a great trip, sounds like fun. Sorry that we couldn't stay connected the other day,

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Chinook]

Hi Richard and Jill,

Your St. Johns cruise sounds wonderful. We would have liked to explore the St. Johns last year, while on the Loop, but just didn't have enough spare time to do it justice. Your cruise plan should be ideal. We'll look forward to reading about it and viewing your pictures. Good luck with those bass.

Best regards, Mike and Sandy/Chinook

[Orkia]

I look forward to following your posts. My goal is to plan a trip to Jacksonville and the St. John's this fall. Have a great sail!

[Doug W]

That trip sounds like a lot of fun! Please post many pictures and tell us how it went!

Doug & Angie
Galactica; 26M

[Herschel]

We are looking forward to a week on the St. Johns starting soon. We keep our Mac26X in a slip at Monroe Harbor Marina in Sanford, but I have had it at home for last three months getting these projects done:
Newglass2 all exterior surfaces
Replace hatch gasket and support arm
Get V berth cushions reupholstered
Buy color-coded sail ties
Get jib repaired
Buy new mainsail
Get macerator and associated wiring system repaired
Replace upper shrouds, bolts, and associated Clevis pins/rings
Buy new fire extinguishers
Clean and waterproof Bimini, dodger, and connecting cockpit enclosure pieces
Clean cockpit cushions
Buy current meds for 1st aid kit
Buy new rearm kit for auto inflating PFD
Install new mainsail battens and rig onto boom
Clean/sanitize water tanks
Reattach Bimini and store dodger
Stow air mattresses and gear
Stow dinghy and gear
Replace pedestal cover
Plan Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel inspection

So finally, just abut all done. Perhaps we'll rendezvous out there somewhere, but at our age we have learned to take a day at a time. Our first overnight should be at Hontoon Island State Park. From there we will just make up our itinerary as we go. Some of our favorite spots on the St. Johns (from south to north are: Swamphouse Grill in DeBary, Blue Spring State Park, Hontoon Park, Dead River, Blackwater Inn in Astor, Silver Glen Spring run off lake George, The bombing range in Lake George when the Navy is practicing, Georgetown Marina at north shore of Lake George, Acosta Creek Marina, Ocklawaha River, Palatka, Green Cove Springs, and NAS Jax Marina (active duty & retired military only). We hope to try the Salt Springs run on this trip and maybe get over to Crescent Lake and check it out. Hope we see you out there.

[Herschel]

ris, How is it going? Any smoke from wildfires on your route?

[ris]

We are in Ortega River Marina, Jacksonville Fl. Rotary steering is messed up. We were in a marina heading for a slip when the steering locked up. Moved the wheel a little back and forth then turned real hard and something moved and I could steer again. When we left 2 days later we realized that we have a problem as it keeps locking up. Googled it and the first thing it says is do not force it or you break it. So we have one on order and hope to install it today. There is a M in this marina called "Just Chill N". This place is $1 foot and there are many stores and eateries within 3 blocks. The marina is really nice with a small pool, nice showers, and a nice place with a grill and pavilion. West Marine is here and bought some nice stuff for 1/3 price off the sale rack. As soon as we are fixed we are heading down river toward Sanford again. Maybe we will run into Hershel. There is no smoke up here. Bought a 5000btu a/c from the depot before starting this trip and put it in the "Billy Box". Not a perfect fit, will modify when we get home. But the A/C is reallly nice in the middle of the day.