St John's River Cruise
March 6, 2004
The Saint Johns cruise on March 6th was a huge success with nine boats and 23 people participating.
We left the docks in Astor on time at 10 am and headed north up the Saint Johns River. There were some areas designated as slow speed no wake for the manatees, but then the rest of the cruise was full speed ahead. The River was beautiful with winding and turning curves and the skiffs looked great coming around the corners.
We
arrived at the southern end of Lake George, looked across at the 12 miles span
and as the wind in our face at about 15 mph we took off. Once the skiffs were
on top of the waves at top speed - they were gone. Phil, Jean and Mark on the
I'm Back (flat bottom) really got a ride. We listened to Jean scream all the way
across.
Our destination was Silver Glen Springs where the water is so clear you can see the bottom 10 feet below. Once there, we beached the boats, took a break and renewed old friendships for about 15 minutes than saddled up again for the ride South thru the lake again and south on the river.
Some of us found our way back to the St. Johns River first shot, while others traveled 10 miles the wrong way. Call it the tortoise and the hare. The three boats with me thought the first group was so far ahead of us we drove south 8 miles or so past the ramp in an attempt to catch them. We were hoping a manatee zone would slow them up. Cell service is non existence in the forest so we just left messages for the "lost" boats. Finally, there was a break and we were able to get through. It was time for lunch, so let's all meet at Chuck's house.
We
returned to the ramp to drop off Mike Howick and Terry so they could gather up
the deserts, then off to Chuck's. What at great job Dominc and Alex did
preparing the fish fry! There was plenty of food and drinks, good company,
good conversation, stories, and lies. The weather was beautiful and there was
comfortable in the shade.
After filling our bellies we were trying to decide if we should take a nap or take a river cruise to look for gators. We decided on the later, and about 10 of us jumped in boats and cruised the river searching for gators. We were quite successful; we believe we found the grandfather of the St. John's River gators! He was lying on the shoreline sunning himself and was bigger around the middle than Marty! He must have been 14' long!
After
the gator cruise, we returned to Chuck's, picked those up who decided to nap,
and headed south down the river back to the ramp. All the boats loaded up and
ready to go, we lingered a little longer trying to prolong the end of a
wonderful day!
Next trip - Mt. Dora!