Thursday 4/5/2018
Depart: Palatka City Docks 9:00 a.m.
Arrive: River Forest Anchorage #1 8:00 p.m.
Distance: 32 + 6 + 33 = 61 nm
Weather swung from hot to chilly following the front that
moved in yesterday. When we visited Ravine Gardens State Park day before
yesterday, we had temperatures in the 80s. This morning we woke to 50 degrees
outdoors. I went to bed in a lightweight nightgown and during the night had to
pull a quilt over us for warmth.
When we docked at Doctors Lake Marina, one of the workers
there told us to be sure to visit Silver Glen Springs. From others, we had
heard that we should see Salt Springs. Our route today took us past both of
those scenic spots, so Clark worked visiting those places into today’s travel
plans. That meant we had to economize on our use of time to see both places
before stopping for the night. Both places are side trips off the St. Johns
River and required use of the dinghy to see them due to water depth constraints.
We got underway later than we hoped and wondered if we would have time to see
it all.
 |
| Last look at Palatka |
 |
Closed RR bridge - Buffalo Bluff
(just starting to open for us) |
 |
Attempted "Looking down the tracks" picture
(it's harder to capture than one might expect) |
Traveling down this section of the river made me wonder if we had been transported to some uninhabited place.
 |
| Very tranquil here |
Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, civilization appeared,
 |
| Work area |
and just as quickly disappeared to return the setting to nature only once more.
 |
Back to nature
(many downed trees along the shore) |
I read in the guide book that the osprey nests are in abundance on the river, and the further south one travels the more difficult it becomes to read the aids to navigation used as nesting areas for the birds. The number of nests on markers we saw were too numerous to count!
 |
| Osprey guarding its nest |
 |
| Different osprey; different marker; same mess! |
The scenery changed repeatedly from truly rustic to cottages to marinas with house boats and back to trees only.
 |
| Fishing in the hyacinth weeds |
 |
Property "Available" - I liked the tower on the dock
that looked like a clock tower - but wasn't |
Many of the houses / cottages / structures are right on the water's edge. I asked Clark about flooding here, and he said it would most definitely flood during hurricanes as the water had a long way to go to get to the sea. Then shortly afterwards I saw a house on a hill up on stilts.
 |
White house on hill on top of stilts with layers of terracing in front
(Love the fact they supplied a hole for the tree to grow through
when they built the terracing) |
Approaching Lake George, we passed a well built-up area.
 |
| 'River Bend Condos' with docks |
We found a couple of osprey nests with both parents on guard.
 |
| Mom and Dad Osprey home |
Then we entered Lake George for another change in scenery.
 |
| Lake George |
Here we found the first of our springs that we wished to visit - Salt Springs. To see the Salt Springs, we dropped anchor and launched our dinghy for the 3-mile trip to the springs.
 |
| Boats at entrance to Salt Springs waterway |
The water was unbelievably clear here. The color of the water on the way to the springs resembled strongly brewed tea due to high tannin levels.
 |
Two people relaxing on their rental boat in
the clear waters at Salt Spring
(see the head at bow and the feet astern!) |
We did not stay for a swim as we had more places to see today. We turned around at the swim area and made our way back out to the
Sunset Delight.
 |
| Scenery at Salt Springs Area |
 |
| Look closely to see a turtle on the log! |
Since it was already past 5:00, we decided to tow the dinghy
to the anchorage for the night to save time. Shortly after we got underway, however, we
realized two things. First, we had about two more hours of travel time at 8
knots, and second, the dinghy appeared to be weighing us down and preventing us
from making good speed. After much debate, Clark decided to lift the dinghy up
onto the top of Sunset Delight to get it out of the water and
reduce the drag.
While I piloted the boat, Clark set up the crane and pulled
the dinghy around to the side of Sunset
Delight, so he could attach the crane and lift the dinghy up onto the top
deck. To slow us down sufficiently or him to do this maneuver underway, Clark had me put one engine in neutral and the other in idle
speed. The channel was very narrow, so putting the boat in neutral and allowing
it to drift was not an option.
He got the dinghy roughly in place, and we could now focus
on getting to our anchorage choice for the night.
 |
Dinghy "perched" on top of Sunset Delight
and held secure by crane |
Although getting the dinghy
out of the water helped, it did not make a “world of difference”. Also, we had
a number of areas where we had to reduce speed for “no wake” areas or when
passing by low freeboard boats.
Arriving at our anchorage before dark looked less and less
likely. Finally, Clark suggested we pick up speed to put some distance behind
us. Thankfully, we were past the no-wake zones and most of the fishermen, so he
pushed the throttles forward, and we took off at a whopping-great 14 knots.
On the way to the anchorage Clark selected for tonight’s
stay, we passed two other anchorages noted in Active Captain. Of the two, the
one titled “Fisk Oxbow” looked the most promising as a substitute for our
planned anchorage. We followed the directions to Fisk Oxbow provided in Active
Captain but almost immediately came to an area where the weeds had filled in so
well they had closed off access to the anchorage.
 |
| Fisk Oxbow Anchorage - Weed-choked! |
The second choice in this
area was also choked with water weeds. We had no choice but to turn around (no
easy feat in the tight space) and continue on to our originally planned
anchorage – now with even less time to get there.
We arrived at River Forest anchorage #1 just at sundown. I tried
to capture a sunset picture while Clark piloted, but the area and the night sky
did not offer anything very spectacular.
As Clark struggled to get the anchor set to his
satisfaction, I grabbed the binoculars to see if I could spot the alligator I
heard on the river’s edge. I did not see an alligator, but I definitely could
hear one out there.
We finally finished anchoring at 8:00 at night – much later
than preferred. I had worried about anchoring in total darkness. No
streetlights provide light in this area! After sundown, it is pitch black!
Amazingly, we still had enough light at 8:00 to do the job with confidence.
What a long day we had today. Fortunately, I had
sufficient leftovers in the fridge to provide a quick dinner. For once I left the
dishes unwashed. We relaxed with blogging and watching television until it was
time to call it a night.
