North Star on the Great Loop Journey: Jacksonville to Green Cove Springs

Preparing for the trip

Captain Jerry has been making the final preparations to North Star, our 32 foot Cape Island down east trawler. We are anxious to leave our landlubber lives behind and begin our long awaited journey around the Great Circle. Join us as we travel 10, 000 kilometers: through the historic Trent Severn Waterway; the pristine waters of Georgian Bay; the North Channel of lake Huron; and hop from beach to beach on lake Michigan. We will visit Chicago and begin our trek along the rivers: Illinois; upper Mississippi; Ohio; Cumberland: Tennessee; Tenn-Tom Waterway and the Black Warrior. We will have transited through 68 locks at this juncture. We have chosen the inner route from Mobile Alabama to Tarpon Springs Florida and the shorter Ocheechobee Waterway to reach the East coast of Florida. We will skip over to the Bahamas to wait out the winter before heading North on the Atlantic Inter Coastal Waterway.
The 10 years of researching and planning are finally at an end and we invite you to come along on our adventure.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Jacksonville to Green Cove Springs

We had a really nice time in Jacksonville. We rode the skyway train that provides a quick ride with an elevated view of the city. It was free on Friday because they were working on setting the new fare. It is not a long route but it does go over the St. John's river so we got lots of pictures.
We also rode the trolley that is free for seniors but I had to pay $1.50. Still a good deal but not as nice a view. All the malls and shopping is way on the outskirts so the only hub of activity is right there at the Landing where we were docked.
We strolled along the boardwalk that lines the north shore of the river and discovered a whole new section of the park we had missed. The weather was nice and hot so it was perfect.
We finished off the day with a free concert at the landing.
We left at slack tide even with high winds predicted for later in the day and heavy rain. We came 28 miles down river to a nice little town called Green Cove Springs. There is a do it yourself boat yard here that we wanted to investigate to see if we will move from Glades to here. It was a fair bike ride over but we managed it before the rain came. We don't think we will be moving the boat here, it is more expensive and colder.
We are at a town dock that has water and power for $20.00 a night. Quite reasonable. It is supposed to drop down to 38 degrees so we want power. With the high winds and heavy rain coming, we prefer to beat a dock. We found a place to do laundry then we went out to dinner at Ronnie's wings and Oyster Bar. There is a nice park with springs that heat a swimming pool to 78 degrees but it is closed for the winter.
The rain and wind did come in the night. The boat was ans is still rocking and the water is slapping and we hear all kinds of banging. The weather has turned cold so we are not leaving today.