North Star on the Great Loop Journey: Wildest part of the St. Johns River

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.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Wildest part of the St. Johns River

We left Welaka this morning and travelled 42 miles along the wildest part of the ST. Johns River. We crossed Lake George since the winds were favourable. Lake George is 12 miles long and 5 miles wide so you have to pay attention to the wind. As it is we had 2-3 foot waves in a northerly 6mph wind. They were on our stern so no problem.
We are anchored in a section of the river that has been bi-passed by a dredged cut off to make the river straighter (N29 01.9 and W81 24.6). This section is now being taken over by Hyacinthe. Home owners are using all kinds of pipes and logs to try and keep this pesky plant away from their waterfront. The American Coots and the shorebirds seem to like it, they are here in great numbers.
We went to Shrimps R Us last night to take in the live music. It was a very good band. I complimented the singer when I met him in line for the washroom. He asked if I was here for bike week or if I was a local. When I told him we came here from Canada by boat, he went back and announced it to the whole crowd in disbelief. This is bike week in Daytona Beach which is not far from here. We stopped off for a night cap at the Log Cabin Bar. We like the ambiance there but it is a closed bar and they are allowed to smoke. We need to stick to open air Tiki Bars.
It is raining at this nice peaceful anchorage. It was a little noisy when we arrived with shot guns going off in the woods nearby. We honked our horn in case. All is quiet now and there are lots of birds around. We are looking for the elusive Limpkin. We think we saw one on the way but no picture to prove it.