A lazy cruise on the St. Johns River Florida

[Russ]

Thanks for sharing. Living vicariously through your posts. Yea, Milieu, really?

Woke up to -10f today. We got 10 inches of snow yesterday. Hmm....Florida is looking nice.
At least this landed in front of our house to brighten up the day.

[Herschel]

Thanks for sharing. Living vicariously through your posts. Yea, Milieu, really?

Woke up to -10f today. We got 10 inches of snow yesterday. Hmm....Florida is looking nice.
At least this landed in front of our house to brighten up the day.

Cool hot air balloon. That is what I call true "Halloween" milieu!

[Herschel]

Had a lovely two hour cruise today exploring north (down river) from our resort. Went as far as the next bridge. There was a houseboat going through so we got a neat shot of the bridge going up (we didn't venture through on this trip; we have before). Then we took in a branch of the river that goes around an island. This was a particularly interesting channel to navigate as the depth of the water started out at over 20 feet but shallowed out at just under 6 at the end of the passage back to the main channel. I was steaming at just about 4 knots today to enjoy the "milieu", so I had my rudders and a partially deployed centerboard drawing about 3-4 feet. Between water plants, submerged flotsam, and the odd gator, you never know for sure what is under you. It was fortunate that the river is in a slight flood stage, and I was able to go all the way around with backtracking. You can see in the second pic that the channel reduces down to just about one boat width with water lilies on both sides right up to the boat. Now, it is off to the grill with my thesaurus to do some burgers and find some interesting new words that won't be too operose...

[NiceAft]

Herschel,

Your fastidious attention to the out of the ordinary vernacular has made a quite unostentatious posting of a lazy cruise quite the superlative reading. Bravo

Your photojournalism ain't bad either.

[Russ]

Thanks for your logs. It's enticing. I may be retiring soon to warmer climes. This is drawing.

[Herschel]

A post script for the day---these burgers were really toothsome.

And you got to love the scenery for the day's grilling.

[Inquisitor]

Do you (or will you) do a chart showing your track... mainly your anchorages? I am definitely going to have to add that to the list.

I've done the Mug race a couple of years, but didn't really notice much of the shoreline. I've tied up and stayed the night at to Jacksonville's city pier. Really a nice city and the bridge lit up in blue was a nice touch to the night life. I've run "outside" in what must have been 10' swells down to St Augustine. Best sail of my life, but the Admiral didn't much care for it! That area is soooo nice.

[Herschel]

Do you (or will you) do a chart showing your track... mainly your anchorages? I am definitely going to have to add that to the list.

I've done the Mug race a couple of years, but didn't really notice much of the shoreline. I've tied up and stayed the night at to Jacksonville's city pier. Really a nice city and the bridge lit up in blue was a nice touch to the night life. I've run "outside" in what must have been 10' swells down to St Augustine. Best sail of my life, but the Admiral didn't much care for it! That area is soooo nice.

Good questions. We are staying at a resort and not anchoring out. But, there are a plethora of places to anchor on this river. The most notable are the loops that encircle little islands off the main channel. Houseboat rentals are common on the river, and they often just pull up to the shore and tie to a tree on these little loops. I will get either a paper chart or take a picture of my Navionics display and identify some of the areas we have seen where an anchorage would be desirable. I'll do that when we return home next week. I think you would enjoy the "old Florida" charm of the river. No "princesses" or "large mice" to be seen.

[Herschel]

This is a pic of one of those houseboats moored to tree on the shore of a loop off channel. The water was about 12-16 feet at this point in the center of the loop. It later dropped to about 6 as I mentioned above. I'm pretty sure the skipper of this houseboat would need to turn and return back toward the direction from which I was coming when he decided to get under way.

[Herschel]

We had another rest day today. The Admiral was on the binnacle list. The plan is to do some sailing tomorrow on a nearby lake. Here is a dusk shot with an almost full moon. This river is so peaceful. It has been a good place to pop our heads up from our COVID bunker/home of the past eight months. But, sadly, the news seems to be indicating we ought to hunker down when we do get back home. We'll have to cherish this week and the break.

[Herschel]

Today we sailed on Lake Beresford just a short way up river. This lake is smaller than Lake Monroe, our usual venue for sailing. It is often too shallow for our Mac's, but today we had 8-9 feet and plenty of room for a nice sail. Winds about 10 with gusts a little higher. It felt good to see the main unfurled and drawing. The Admiral did a yeoman's job on the jib as the sail was down wind in the beginning but a beat back up wind on the way back with a narrow and long lake necessitating several tacks.



If I may digress a tad from a traditional travel log, I'd like to comment on what it feels like be "out and about" just a little after 8 months bunkered down. We are in our mid 70's with some of those "medical issues", so that is a factor as well. We have enjoyed a full life with plenty of adventure (Hobie cats, travel trailer, the Mac), and I have been physically active with adult sports such as soccer and staying fit for the USNR and USMCR for 34 years. I have to say that it has been an adjustment getting back up to speed. Our first two days here at the resort we felt like "fish out of water", but as we have gone on our little daily adventures, our old selves have started coming out. Challenging as it is to stay active with this COVID cloud hanging over us, I fear the alternative of just slowing down to couch potatoes. We have to be smart; but we still need to get out there as best we can. Safely. As much as we can, but we must keep our "mojo".

[NiceAft]

Digress all you want.

At seventy-one, your post struck home.

[Russ]

Digress all you want.

Agreed.
We are all dealing with a different world. Thanks for sharing.

[Tomfoolery]

If I may digress a tad from a traditional travel log, I'd like to comment on what it feels like be "out and about" just a little after 8 months bunkered down.

Other than rain, my boat hasn't seen water in a year and a half. I read this stuff to live vicariously. Same reason for watching Captain Ron yet again. Or Adventures in Paradise episodes yet again. Or Delos videos. Going a bit stir crazy here, and winter is just gearing up now, so it's going to be yet another 6 months of cold, or chilly at best, and gray skies.

Keep talking. Please.

[NiceAft]

my boat hasn't seen water in a year and a half.

I feel your pain Tom. With me, it's been fourteen months. I hope it will only be another seven until I dare to try again.

We did make use of one of our inflatable dinghy's. Because we also did not join a swim club this year, I filled the inflatable with water so my wife could at least have a kiddie pool