|
The Unknown River: All the way
to Sanford on the St. Johns
By Neil O’Donnell
Many cruisers have heard of the St. Johns River. It’s where they cross from Pablo Creek to Sister’s Creek on their way north. It’s also a seaport; a hurricane hole; a place to haul and re-fit; and the location of Jacksonville Landing, the jewel of the city. It is broad, deep and benign once south of the Buckman Bridge (I-295). Unfortunately, few see the St. Johns River south of the Shands Bridge in Green Cove Springs. The river is pretty south of Jacksonville, but the further south you go pretty turns to beautiful. We went all the way to Sanford, the river’s southernmost destination.
My wife, Gail, and I live aboard our Great Harbour 37 trawler, Sybarite II, at Green Cove Springs Marina on the St. Johns River. We have cruised the east coast from Cape Cod to Key West; the west coast of Florida to Longboat Key; and the Bahamas twice. The St. Johns River ranks as one of the prettiest, most relaxing trips we’ve ever taken.
We had tried to cruise south from Green Cove Springs twice before and were turned back from Lake George both times by blind mosquitoes. This time we left in mid-March. If you plan on going we recommend, in addition to your charts, Tom Kranz’s Boating and Cruising Guide to the St. Johns River; a good dinghy, kayak or canoe; about three weeks; and a slow boat. Our cruising speed is 7 knots, but we travel even slower on the river. You will need 45 feet of clearance for the Shands Bridge but all others either open on demand or are 65-feet high. Our trip took 24 days and the plan was to go directly to Sanford from Green Cove Springs, anchoring two nights on the way and scouting stops we wanted to make on the return trip.
We left on March 17 and anchored behind Turkey Island The next night we anchored in an ox bow just north of Blue Springs State Park, where we saw five sets of gator eyes at night. We made it to Sanford by early afternoon on the third day.
Lake Harbor Marina is the municipal marina of Sanford on Lake Monroe, which is the southern terminus of the navigable waterway. The river continues another 100 plus miles but is a maze of streams, creeks and sloughs, which are strictly local knowledge waters. The entrance to Lake Harbor Marina is unnecessarily difficult. A few channel markers and red and green markers on the entrance bulkhead would easily solve the problem. The bulkhead is pressure treated lumber that overlaps for protection from the waves. That is good but you can’t see the opening until you’re almost on top of it and there is much shoaling.
We ran aground at idle speed within 50 yards of the entrance while still looking for it. While we got off the grounding easily, I must point out that we only draw 2 feet, 10 inches. Better entrance marking is badly needed. However, once inside you will find deep water; well maintained floating docks, some with 50 amp, but mostly 30 amp service; a friendly, courteous staff; and a reasonable charge ($25.00/ night for our boat).We planned on staying a few days, until March 23, to see the town and entertain some visitors. Mother Nature had other plans in the form of wind, holding us 5 more days until March 28.
If you’re going to be stuck Sanford is a good place. Everything is within walking distance of the marina, including a lovely new river walk. The center of town, two blocks from the marina, dates from the glory days of the early 1900's and the town is making a sincere effort to preserve and restore this. To the eyes of a visitor they are doing a good job.
The library is one block from the marina, and there are several good restaurants in town. My personal favorite was Da Vinci’s. The nice town museum has a fine sports wing, much of it devoted to Tim Raines, a Hall of Fame baseball player who grew up in Sanford. An old minor league all-star game program shows a pitcher, S. Musial, who us old timers remember as ‘Stan the Man’, one of the great hitters in National League history.
Finally, we headed north to Hontoon Island State Park, only a 19 mile trip, but the T-dock was filled so we anchored 2 miles up the Hontoon Dead River. The ‘dead’ part was scary until I found out ‘dead’ means no current. No current is good at anchorage. That the T-dock was full turned out to be good, otherwise we would have missed a lovely anchorage with no one around except us, gators, herons and half the frogs in Florida. The next day we went into Hontoon Island State Park Marina. This lovely park, with friendly rangers and volunteers, turned out to be the best of many highlights. We stayed a week at a total cost of $27.00, including 50-amp service. Talk about bargains, no wonder Florida’s State Parks are the best in the country.
The park has many nice trails but the nature trail to the Timucan Indian mounds is a don’t-miss. We saw three armadillos, two red-headed woodpeckers and a garter snake. Walking the park’s trails should be spread over several days and carrying water is a must. We also did the ‘Hontoon Great Loop’ in our dinghy. We went from the park back up the Hontoon Dead River (with a side trip up Snake Creek), across the second of three canals that connect to the St. Johns River (dinghy only) and back up the St. Johns River to the park. We did a short side trip into Beresford Lake to the Sunrise Restaurant for lunch.
The next day on our way up the river (on the St. Johns that’s heading south) by dinghy we saw the biggest gator we ever want to see in the wild. At Blue Springs State Park we picnicked, walked the boardwalk to the spring head and walked some trails where we saw a wild turkey. On the way back, in a small ox bow south of Beresford Lake, we saw another very large gator. Both of these gators were larger than 15 feet.
While at Hontoon Island State Park, we were visited by Ted and Terry Woehr of the Great Harbour 37 Berlie Mae. They drove to the ferry landing and took the park’s free passenger ferry across the river to the island. We picnicked, walked the trails and had a wonderful visit. In deference to the safety of the park’s raccoons, foxes and bobcats, Terry left the infamous OC the Cat behind aboard Berlie Mae.
Finally, on our last day at Hontoon Island State Park, we explored the pristine Shell Creek. After exploring this area by boat, foot and dinghy one can’t help but reflect on what a wonderful life the Timucan Indians must have had 12,000 years ago.
On April 5 we moved to Alexander Springs Creek seeing two manatees in route, the first of our trip. We anchored around the first bend of the creek in 4 feet and dinghied 2 hours up the creek, which we found disappointing, compared to our other explorations. In retrospect, anchoring inside this creek was poor judgment. I could have anchored 200 yards away on the river very safely. I worried all night if we would have trouble getting out of the shallow water the next morning and wondering if I’ve become too cocky and careless about anchoring. As it turned out we got out easily the next morning, but I hope I learned a lesson.
The next day, April 6, 2004, was a long run across Lake George to Black Point, north of Georgetown. We saw two eagles sitting on markers on the lake. We saw a houseboat leave the channel heading west two times only to return to the channel. He then stopped a small fishing boat for a while and I began to wonder if he was in difficulty. As we passed he called me on the VHF asking directions into Silver Glen Springs State Park. Didn’t he know how to use his chart? Did he have a chart? I told him to steer 260 degrees from marker 9 and wished him luck. The last I saw him he was not heading to marker 9. Did he know how to read a compass? Did he have one?
We anchored behind Black Point and dinked to Porky’s Restaurant, whose sign says open seven days for lunch. Evidently, Tuesday was not one of the seven days. A walk through Georgetown was good for the legs and a dinghy ride along the north and west shores of Drayton Island was enjoyable. A cleaning of my thru hulls, almost full of soft mud from Alexander Springs Creek, provided another reason why I shouldn’t have anchored as I did last night. Later that evening I watched an eagle leave his nest, high in a dead tree, and return about 30 seconds later with a rabbit-sized animal in his talons. The finality of nature is swift.
The next day, April 7, we anchored south of Turkey Islnad and took a 6-hour dinghy ride up the Oklawaha River, exploring side creeks, then Welaka Springs and later Sunset Landing for a nice dinner. On the ride we saw many gators, one limkin, several turtles and one small snake sunning on floating leaves. In Welaka Springs we saw many manatees.
There is a small island just south of Turkey Island, which is a rookery. At sundown the arriving birds, of several varieties put on a wonderful show ranging from turf wars, to pecking order, to mating signals. They are both beautiful and noisy until dark when they settle down and go to sleep.
The next day, in route to Murphy’s Creek, we took a slow side trip through the pretty Seven Sisters channel and returned to the river at the Buffalo Bluff Railroad Bridge. (Try calling that double alliteration a few times on the VHF!!!) Immediately after the bridge we entered the south end of Murphy’s Creek and slowly rode it north to within a mile of its north end at Dunn’s Creek and anchored. We took the dinghy the length of Dunn’s Creek to where it enters Crescent Lake, about a 2-hour round trip. Overnight we rode out 20 plus mph winds but the high trees bordering the creek provided good protection.
On Friday, April 9, we anchored off Rice Creek, north of Palatka, and explored this pretty creek to the pulp plant. Upon returning we lifted our dinghy, which we had towed since Hontoon Island, to its cradle and went to Crystal Cove Marina for a pump out and dinner with the crew of our sister ship C-View, Pat and Earl DeHart.
On Saturday, April 10, we returned home to Green Cove Springs Marina. Our trip took 24 days, 3 to go south and 21 to return. We covered 215 nautical miles in Sybarite II and probably as many in the dinghy. The weather was good, the channel was deep and well marked and the river is truly beautiful. This is not one of those “been there, done that’ trips. If you go, take the time to smell the many roses on the “Unknown River.”
|
