The St. Johns River - Gators, Springs, and Seminoles

 

We went snorkeling at Salt Springs, one of the large springs feeding the St. Johns River.  Molly took this picture with my
new iPhone 13 after my old iPhone 7 didn't survive falling into the water at Crystal River.

The large alligator off Hontoon Island State Park
with some of the houseboat rentals on the opposite shore.  

The park ranger mentioned that a 12+ foot long alligator swims by Hontoon Island at dusk on many days, and now it was dusk as we scanned the river, a gator swam by Salty Paws.  Supposedly, an alligator’s length is 12 times the distance between its snout and eyes, and, if true, this was definitely a big one.  Now our challenge was getting Tory to shore to do her business without being attacked.

Over two days we hiked all the trails
 at Hontoon Island State Park, which has
finally reopened but only for day use.

This was complicated by our dinghy motor no longer working, and earlier in the afternoon we had quickly dropped our anchor just off Hontoon when our main motor conked out.  [We would figure out the next morning that our fuel gauge was no longer working, and we were out of gas.]  Molly and I were both wondering to ourselves if a gator could jump out of the water and drag Tory from the dinghy.  Wanting to complete the trip before it got dark, Tory jumped in the dinghy, and I began to row to shore.

Cyprus are very common along
Florida rivers, and we learned
that the tree roots sticking up
are called Cyprus knees.

The gator was now roughly 100 feet from the dinghy and slowly disappeared below the water, leaving no indication of whether he was headed to our dinghy or, perhaps, going in the other direction.  With some apprehension on our part, Tory made it ashore, did her thing, and then we returned quickly to our boat.  Whew.  This alligator was just one of many that we saw in our 10 days of cruising on the beautiful St. Johns.  Biologists have estimated that well over one million alligators reside in Florida, and the St. Johns and its many side creeks may harbor more than any other area. 

Before cruising to Silver Glen Springs,
we all gathered at St. Johns River Grille,
 a popular pub with docks on the river.

We came to the St. Johns River along with 7 other Rosborough boats at the invitation of fellow Rosborough owner Dennis Robbins and Laurie Shipp, who live in Astor, right next to a great boat ramp and parking lot where we could leave our truck and trailer. 

Our caravan on Blue Creek.

They opened their home to all of us and arranged for free docks for every boat.  Everyone arrived over two days, and then Dennis led the caravan of boats through the narrow Blue Creek, across large Lake George and up the creek to Silver Glen Springs, one of the largest and most beautiful springs off the St. Johns. 

    Eight Rosboroughs at Silver Glen Springs  - Neo, Boundless, Lucky Turn, Boomerang, Pronto, Salty Paws, Grumpy and     
Dream Come True.

This spring along with others collectively spout millions of gallons of water per day at a constant 72 degrees, making the springs a favorite winter haven for manatees if the ocean and river temperatures get much lower than that. We spent one night at Silver Glen with the just the bow of our boat pushed into the sand at the shore’s edge, and over days snorkeled

Molly paddleboard for the first time at
Silver Glenn Springs.

in the spring, saw a couple of manatees, numerous turtles, and one alligator.  The next afternoon

Molly snorkeling at Silver Glen.

Sunrise at Salt Springs.

Salty Paws and Grumpy at Salt Springs.

we and Rosborough legend and double Great Looper John Hauck on Grumpy accepted our invitation to join us crossing the skinny bar to go to Salt Springs, 10 miles to the north.  The next morning Molly and I also snorkeled that large spring. 

The St. Johns is one of the few rivers in the US that flows north.  (The St. John in Maine also flows north for half of its length!)  The river is also one of the laziest rivers in the country as the St. Johns drops only one inch every mile over its 310-mile journey to the Atlantic.  Hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022 collectively dropped almost 30 inches of rain on the watershed, raising the river level over 6.5 feet above normal.  It then took the better part of three months for the River’s water levels to return to normal.  The flooding overwhelmed marinas, river parks and more, and it will likely take another year for there to be a full recovery.  Much of Hontoon Island was under water for weeks, and the park facilities will not be fully operational until December 2023 at the earliest.

Dave Rowe captivated the crowd at Sullivan's 
Irish Pub in Sanford.

We cruised south, upriver to Sanford, a delightful town, perfectly laid out with colored brick sidewalks, parks and a number of nice restaurants.  Also, our arrival was on the day of Pints and Paws, with the town filled with vendor tents and booths selling various wares and beer, and all very open to welcoming man’s best friend.  While we didn’t offer Tory any beer, she was able to sit at our feet in Sullivan’s Irish Pub, where we had dinner and met with former Mainers and fellow Loopers Dave Rowe and Stacy Guth, who are now living on their boat in Sanford.  We stayed and much enjoyed the first set of Dave’s concert.  He is a professional musician, and we encourage everyone to check him out at daverowemusic.com. 

Tory loved her first ice cream cup
 ever in Sanford.

The town waterfront was also decorated with several plaques describing various aspects of town and Florida history.   We enjoy learning about the history of the places we visit, and here we made a connection to something we learned on our 2^nd trip to the Bahamas in early 2020 about the sad and courageous tale of the Seminoles.

The Spanish claimed dominion over Florida for most of the roughly 300 years beginning in 1513 when Juan Ponce De Leon came ashore near present-day St. Augustine.  Spanish rule was first marked by conflict with France and then border wars with the English and England’s Native American allies.  Then the US made incursions in the first of three wars with the Seminoles, initially to recapture runaway slaves living among the Seminoles and then seizing some territory.   Finally in 1821 now debt-ridden Spain seceded Florida to the US in exchange for the US absorbing $5 million of claims by US citizens again Spain. 

Seminole means “Free People.”  We are particularly intrigued by this tribe as while the U.S. was relentless in pursuing them, and they chose to fight to death or escape over surrender.  Some even paddled and sailed across the Gulf Stream an Andros Island in the Bahamas. 

In 2020 we brought school supplies to the elementary school in
Red Bays, Andros Island.  Most of the inhabitants are descendants
of Seminoles and runaway slaves who fled across the Gulf
Stream from Florida.

As I wrote in our blog back in 2020, “The Seminole story is both tragic and uplifting.  The U.S. Government waged a 50-year, often gruesome campaign from roughly 1812 to the Civil War to relocate or eradicate the Seminole Indians of Florida in order to use their lands for whites.  The Seminoles were a conglomeration of various tribes that had been forced out of other Southern states and also included runaway slaves.  Beginning around 1821 some of the Seminoles fled across the Gulf Stream from Florida to Andros Island in the Bahamas.  Here they established a settlement, now called Red Bays, and lived undetected for over 100 years!”

We pulled out of the St. Johns on Wednesday, March 29^th, and are now headed back to Maine visiting friends and relatives along the way and spending two nights in state parks using the boat as a RV.

We used Salty Paws as our RV at Suwannee
River State Park in northern Florida

Back in Atlanta we took Charlotte to Sloomoo,
where we celebrated Slime in various ways.

Our return trip included a stop in Leesburg to stay with cousin Bonnie and Al,
and we were joined by cousin Paul and Margaret for dinner.