Welaka Town dock, Welaka, Florida

Left Monroe Harbour Marina this morning, heading north. At this point we are re-tracing our tracks along this beautiful waterway to get back to Jacksonville. New experience today, we were asked to slow down by 2 different law enforcement officers. One was somewhat rude, we were already at idle speed, and he kept shouting that he knew we could go slower. Wayne ended up running on one engine to try to slow down a little more. The second guy was concerned about some men working on a dock on the side of the river, he was very polite, just asked us to be careful, although he acknowledged that we were going idle speed. There were several speed boats speeding around ahead of us, wonder if they had actually made the wakes. Oh well, what can you do?
Saw many alligators and turtles sunning themselves today, many birds fishing, standing in the shallows watching for fish. Met 2 looper boats going south, SeaSea and Oasis. Both are heading for Sanford in the next day or two.  Went through Lake George. It has a navy bombing range marked off along beside most of the 10 mile channel; seems like a good idea to stay close to the channel in this area. Didn't actually see any bombing. Just north of Lake George, we passed an old boat pulled up on the side of the river. The waterway guide describes it as an elegant 100 ft Matthews; her antique wooden hull was covered with white cement and the owners have lived aboard for over 15 years. It now looks like it has seen better days.

Throwing the net to catch bait

Shrimps 'R' Us

Very relaxed

 It was a great weather day, warm and sunny, very calm, so we made it a little longer day than we had originally planned. Got here to the free town docks by 5. Walked up to ShrimpsRus for dinner, then took a walk around town. Welaka is described by our Waterway guide as a sleepy hamlet, and that seems pretty accurate. Small town, many streets not paved (actually sand pathways about one car width, with a stop sign at the corner). It was once apparently a bustling steamboat stop for transport of wood, produce and people.

Crossing Lake George

Talked to a couple of boys fishing off the dock, they said there is no industry closer than Palatka, which is 20 miles away. The boys are throwing nets off the dock to catch shad, small fish that they will use for bait. By July, the shrimp will come in, and they will use the same nets to catch shrimp. However, they don't eat the shrimp, they use it for bait. Seems like a waste to me. We will continue north in the morning, possibly back to Outback Crab Shack.