Monroe Harbour Marina, Sanford, Florida



First thing this morning, a boater came by to see if I needed the grocery store, she (Mary) would take me as soon as I was done with breakfast. Got a good grocery order, the kind you need a car to transport. Also met Mary's mother who is 87 and has spent the winter on a houseboat here  at the marina. She lives alone, but spends a lot of time with Mary and her family. Got back from groceries and did laundry here at the marina, meanwhile another boater who has just completed the loop last year invited us to join them for lunch and looper talk.  We all brought charts and notes and they (Terry and Frank) were so helpful with ideas and stories about their trips up and down the east coast. They were also helpful with books they are no longer using, and we are very grateful. Walked uptown this afternoon, got ice cream, then enjoyed the town riverwalk, a long path along the waterfront. The path was busy with walkers, joggers and fishermen. Obviously the people here in town use the riverwalk well.
Watched an alligator and some turtles in the marina basin several times over the day. Tonight someone told us that a trapper had come today to shoot the alligator before he made a nuisance of himself; however, we still had one here tonight, so has another one moved in?? One lady on the next dock saw several manatee in front of their boat this morning, she was showing me her pictures,  so they must still be around. We're still hoping to see them.

The section of Riverwalk just in front of the marina



 We have really enjoyed the town and especially the people here at the marina. It will be sad to leave in the morning, but it is time to start heading home.

A veteran's memorial park on the waterfront

Monroe Harbour Marina, Sanford, Florida

We have reached the beautiful city of Sanford, on Monroe Lake. This is as far south as we can come on the St. Johns River, from here we will point our nose northward and head for home.
Left Hontoon Island State Park this morning, cooler this morning, water was very still with mist rising off the water. Travelled just over 20 miles, and most of the way was no wake zone for manatee, so we did not travel fast. The sun was shining, and we saw many alligators of all sizes sunning themselves on logs and stumps along the way, as well as a few swimming in the water. Also many large birds, cormorants drying their wing, osprey in nests along the way, many others whose names we don't know. In one place we had read that there are self-appointed monitors for speed and wakes; we met one of them. He motioned for us to slow down; we were already at idle speed and I checked, we were making no wake. He was making motions for reading and listening, then shouted "Can't you read?". Not sure what he wanted us to do, if we had gone any slower we would have been stopped.
As we got here to the marina, the wind got up a bit, but this is well protected, so docking was not a problem. However, this part of water has been very dry and water levels are down, so water in the marina seems shallow. Saw a speed boat aground just outside the marina, he was very much on the wrong side of the markers and looked like he wanted help, but there was no way we could approach him without going aground ourselves. He did get free after a little while. Got into the marina and there was an alligator swimming around in the bay in front of the boats. People here said that a few days ago, there were several manatee in here, I'm hoping they are still here. We thought we had shad flies the past few days, apparently they are somthing called blind mosquitoes. They do not bite, but they do leave a mess on the boat. The guy here at the marina said that they lay their eggs on the bottom of the lake, and when the water is low, the sun hits the bottom and they hatch. Guess that has just happened, because they are thick.

The view off the front of the boat this morning

alligator swimming just off the dock here at the marina

There are several gold loopers who keep their boats here, some live in the northern US and go home for the summer, others live here on their boats. They seem to be a very friendly bunch of people. Many have stopped by to welcome us and ask if we need anything, and just to chat about the loop. Went for a walk around town this afternoon, picked up a few groceries. Will do a bigger shopping trip tomorrow, as well as laundry. We will probably leave here on Friday.

Can't get much more relaxed than this

Hontoon Island State Park, Deland, Florida

Got up this morning to cloudy skies, still warm air. By 8:30, the storm had arrived. Winds, thunder and lightening, lots of rain. Luckily this dock is well-protected and secure, we sat on the back deck of the boat, drank our coffee and watched the storm. By about 9:30 the main storm had passed and we just had rain until late morning. After lunch, we hiked the trails in the park. Hontoon Island State Park is 1648 acres of parkland, with hiking trails, campgrounds and cabins. On one side there is a shell mound, similar to the one we saw on Snead Island. We hiked most of the trails, then went to the shell mound, it is quite large. The ranger told us that there are pygmy rattle snakes here, so we did wear long pants and closed shoes. The pygmy rattlers are apparently only about 8" long and look like a stick on the path, so we walked very carefully and looked where we were going. Only once did something slither off the path as we passed, it may have been a different kind of snake. There was a bear and cub on the island a couple of months ago, but no one has seen her lately. Did see several squirrels and an armadillo, many birds. Also saw deer tracks, but no deer. Saw several trees that looked like they had just fallen over, assuming the wind this morning brought them down.
After our hike, took the dinghy out for a run, saw another crocodile, many fish jumping. Saw more trees down. We went up the Hontoon Dead River for a few miles, beautiful area. It is state park on one side and wildlife refuge on the other, so no buildings. Unspoiled seems a good word for it. One thing we have remarked upon since we left home is that we have not seen bugs, and we are quite pleased about that. However, we are now seeing them. The past few days we have shad flies covering the boat when lights are on, and the mosquitoes have found us. Hopefully once we head north again we will get ahead of them.
Saw an alligator swimming in the river, he dived just as we approached. Sitting on the back deck of the boat, saw one swimming by.

This is a beautiful place, and we are quite pleased with how protected we were during the storm. Unfortunately it is time to leave, will go to Munroe Harbour at Sanford tomorrow.


some huge trees along the trail



the armadillo

this electric ferry, operated by a park ranger, takes people to and from the island state park

Hontoon Dead River; this greenstuff on the water is actually all kinds of tiny green leaves that in places start to grow bigger leaves. ?Part of the water hyacinths, we don't know.

The end of a beautiful day

Hontoon State Park, Deland, Florida

We are docked at the greatest place, a state park with good docks, electricity, good protected spot along the St Johns River. And they only charge $20 per day to dock here. We left Georgetown this morning after one of the rougher nights we have spent on the trip. Georgetown marina is on the north end of Lake George, and the breeze was out of the south, but it was only a breeze and the waves were not big. However, the waves came straight in on our stern at the dock and slapped up under our swim platform, making a noise and rocking the boat. First time we have had that happen, so word to the wise, at Georgetown marina, back into the dock,
Beautiful day to travel today, warm and sunny, crab pots on the north end of Lake George, but then we got past them and there were only a few along the sides of the river the rest of the day. After we left Lake George, we wound our way along a beautiful river, wider than we had expected, houses and docks here and there, but long areas of what looked like wilderness. All we saw were trees, lots of spanish moss, alligators and turtles sunning themselves on branches, lots of birds. We met some fishing boats and pontoon boats, the rest of the time felt like we were early explorers on the waterway.
Once we got here, we got the dinghy down and went exploring. Saw more alligators and turtles, tended to startle the alligators as Wayne would go into shore so that I could get  a picture, then the alligator would slither into the water and we wouldn't know which direction he/she was going, we hoped away from us.
One of the problems down here is water hyacinths. They are taking over the water, and the waterway guide says home and cottage owners have devised many interesting ways to try to keep them away from their docks. We saw them taking over docks, creeks, several small waterways off the river. We wanted to xplore one canal that connects two areas of the waterway, but it was totally overgrown with the hyacinths. We didn't want to get them caught up in the dinghy prop, so came back out.


Avian architecture sometimes makes it hard to read the markers

 The weather predictions are for thunderstorms overnight and tomorrow, although right now it is calm and stars are out. We plan to stay here tomorrow, move on to Sanford on Wednesday.

Water hyacinths are quite pretty with a big green leaf and pretty yellow flower

Water Hyacinths trying to take over

This alligator was in the process of slithering into the water.

Georgetown Marina, Georgetown, Florida

Thought we would leave by 8 this morning, but thick fog when we got up, so waited until about 9 for it to lift. Once it lifted, beautiful sunny warm day. At Palatka, the St. Johns River narrows, so we travelled on a winding very pretty waterway, trees, nice homes along the sides. A prevailing theme today was crab pots, they were everywhere along our route today, generally they stayed just along the main channel, the odd one strayed into the channel. Meant that we had to watch out for them all day as we travelled. Arrived at Georgetown Marina just after lunch. Nice people here, they have this small marina, plus a trailer park and cabins to rent. We are docked at the fuel dock, they told us they built this dock for Alan Jackson's boat. He used to bring it down here fairly frequently when his sister was living in the area, but unfortunately she is now deceased.
Went for a long walk this afternoon, we are really out in the country, we never found a town of Georgetown, although we did pass the post office, two churches, a fire department and a community centre. We also passed a farm with several animals, including the largest turkey we have ever seen.
Our plan to to move on south tomorrow, still deciding how far.

Boat House Marina, Palatka, Florida

Beautiful sunny warm day here in Palatka, up in the 80s. This city of about 10,000 is known for its historic homes and churches, and for its murals. There are murals painted on many of the downtown buildings. There are walking tours of historic homes, many of which have been restored and are beautiful. As well, there seem to be a lot of churches, many of them historic and well maintained. The lady here at the marina told us that Palatka was the destination for people seeking to escape winter in the 1800's; we have read that pretty well every president came here for rest and relaxation. Then Henry Flagler built his hotels in St.Augustine and his railroads, and all of the tourists went elsewhere. Industries were based on citrus fruit and cypress mills, but the great freeze of 1894-5 destroyed the citrus crops and in time all of the cypress trees were harvested. In its heyday, several river boats took people on cruises up and down the St. Johns River and the Ocklawaha river. One of those boats, Noah's Ark, is actually pulled up on shore by the marina here. The people at the marina said that they have been trying to get permission to resore it and use it for evening cruises. The downtown is beautiful, and you can see that it has been a thriving community, but now, most of the downtown buildings are empty. As in so many town, the main shopping etc seems to be outside of the downtown area. We spent most of the day walking around the town looking at the buildings; stopped for ice cream this afternoon. We plan to move on south on the St. Johns river tomorrow.





A mural depicting the sinking of the ship Union Columbine during the Civil War

This has been quite an agricultural area, this mural depicts an early cattle drive

One of the many large historic homes here in town

We've seen two cars in town with tires like this, wonder if it is a new trend?

Dress code posted outside the courthouse; given the prevailing fashion which seems to be to show the maximum amount of underwear with pants fastened around the lower buttocks, we kind of like this

Another of the great murals

Boat House Marina, Palacta, Florida

We are in the historic town of Palatca, a small town about 25 miles south of Six Mile Creek and the Outback Crab Shack. Sunny this morning, but predictions of high winds this afternoon, so we got up and going early. Very nice ride down here, however there were many crab pots to avoid along the way.  Don’t know that the winds got as bad as predicted but nice to be here and tied to a secure dock just in case. One of the things we had wanted to see in Palatca is the Ravine Gardens  state park. The pamphlet  says that the dramatic gardens are landscaped with a magnificent combination of tropical and sub-tropical plantings. There are walking trails throughout the gardens, which we hiked this afternoon.  One side is the spring trail, the other is the azalea trail, both are narrow trails through thick growth of trees and shrubs, going  up and down the sides of the ravine.  The park covers 146 acres, and is a mix of formal and natural gardens. While we didn’t see as many flowers as we had expected, the trails were well worth walking. Came back to the boat and did a load of laundry, dinner on the boat then a walk around town. We plan to stay here tomorrow to see more of the town.

One of the trails in the park

Along the Azalea trail

As we were walking along one trail at the bottom of the ravine, we heard a hissing sound, turns out we were walking past a baby alligator. I just kept hoping his mommy wasn't close by

One of the swinging bridges in the park

A fallen tree in the park, we couldn't figure out how it got this twisted