Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Cruising the Beautiful St. Johns River


Waking up on the St. Johns River

The restaurant dock at the Outback Crab Shack is 1,200 feet long,
The St. Johns River is one of Florida's cruising gems.  It is a largely protected waterway and navigable by boats with up to 5-foot drafts all the way from Jacksonville to Sanford, roughly 170 miles.   There are several free city or restaurant docks along its banks, and much of the river remains undeveloped, giving it a feel of a bygone era.  It is one of the few North American rivers that flows north, and over it's full 310-mile length the river drops less than 30 feet, making it one of the laziest rivers in the world.

Manatees staying warm at Silver Glen Springs
The St. Johns is the watershed for a large chunk of Florida, and numerous creeks feed its waters.   In addition, as much as 50% of its flow comes from over 100 natural fresh water springs along its shores.  Three of these springs each have an output of over 50 million gallons per day, all at a constant temperature of 72 degrees.  A number of the springs are reachable by boat or dinghy and are great for swimming and observing the manatees that swim to the springs for warmth in the winter even though the springs do not offer any nourishment.

A manatee swimming at Silver Glen..
Swimming in Mud Spring accessible by
dinghy or a nice hike from Welaka.
While swimming in the springs is very common, swimming in
This winter we only observed one small
alligator.  This one was taken on an earlier trip.
the river itself is definitely not advisable because of the numerous alligators.  They don't seem to be interested in the springs, but stay in the creeks and river.  The alligators may not even be observable during colder temperatures when they stay buried in the  muddy banks.

The chart to the left shows all the docks and anchorages that we have visited on Salty Paws during our 2023 and 2025 cruises on the St. Johns.  Each stop will be summarized later in the blog.

This year's trip including a wonderful Rosborough rendezvous with boats from all over the eastern United States.  Most of us launched in Astor while a few boats came up the river.  Festivities included comradery and great food by host Dennis.  All 20+ boats traveled together through narrow Blue Creek to Lake George, the second largest lake in Florida.  We then cruised to Silver Glen, one of the most beautiful high volume springs in Florida.  Deeper draft boats can anchor outside the Glen and dinghy in.

Salty Paws left the group in Silver Glen to complete the parts of the river we did not reach in 2023.  We had a most relaxing and fun 10-days.  One can easily spend three weeks on the River, and while a couple of spots are best visited by anchoring, a free dock is available in almost every town.  I hope that this blog will encourage other boaters to take this side trip or even make it your Florida cruise for a winter. 

Rosboroughs beached and anchored in Silver Glen.
The bass boats were getting ready beginning at 5:00 am.
One should be know that the river can be largely empty of other boats on a weekday, but the weekends can be busy.  We planned accordingly and spent our weekend at a marina in Palatka.  Still, we did awake early on a Sunday morning to the blare of a loudspeaker announcing each of the 186 bass boats participating in a fishing tournament.

Many of the creeks that flow into the St. Johns are navigable although the entrances will usually be shallower.  One other potential impediment is water hyacinth.

Water hyacinth has almost cut off access to this creek that flows into the St. Johns River.

The water hyacinth was unknown in the United States until the 1884 World's Industrial and Centennial Exposition in New Orleans.  The plant quickly became popular given its name and orchid-like flowers.  

Purchasers included cattlemen and wealthy individuals such as Mrs. W.W. Fuller, who had a winter home on the St. Johns River south of Palatka.  She planted small offshoots in the river and soon loved the annual explosion of purple flowers that adorned the river's edge near her home.

Free image from istockphoto.com of water hyacinth in bloom

What she didn't count on was that within 10 years the fast-growing plant, really a weed, covered fifty million acres and was beginning to impede boat traffic on parts of the river and to impact fish populations.  Unlike in its native South America, the water hyacinth in the United States has no natural predators.  Furthermore, it has low nutritional value for livestock as American cattle ranchers found out nor is it significantly consumed by Florida manatees.  The weed is now established in 25 states, particularly in the southeast, and expensive eradication efforts that include herbicides and extraction machines have been only marginally successful.

Below is a summary of our stops on the St. Johns River from north to south, Jacksonville to Sanford.  

Downtown Jacksonville from the water.

Jacksonville - We docked at the free Metropolitan Park Marina in the shadow of the football stadium and walked downtown to the Landing, which is not being redeveloped as Riverfront Plaza.  The marina, however, is being renovated, and I am not sure of its present status.  I have heard very good first-hand reports of Sadler Point Marina in the Ortega River, but we have not been there.

Jullington Creek - We cruised there for a nice lunch and the best fuel price on the lower river.

Green Cove Springs feeds the municipal swimming pool, but it is not open during the winter.

Green Cove Springs dock.

Green Cove Springs - Free municipal floating dock although the water and power are not presently working.  Adjacent to the pier is a very nice municipal park.= to the left and a wonderful walking neighborhood to the right.

At the 1200' dock, 6-Mile Creek.

Outback Crab Shack on 6-Mile Creek -  Active Captain calls it 6-Mile Creek Marina.  It is not a marina but there is a wonderful 1200 foot floating dock.  We spent the night at the dock after a great meal.


Palatka - The municipal docks are under repairs and we stayed at the rustic, but very adequate Boathouse Marina.  This city is a great stop with some restaurants and a doable walk to Ravine Garden State Park. We ended up staying for three nights. 

Dan's dog Rufus and our Tory were joined by
Mary and Dave on Ponce Sunset
at Ravine Garden Park in Palatka.
 
Dan and Jeremy on Sabbatical joined us
at Angel's, Florida's oldest diner in Palatka.













Molly's meal at Corky Bell's.

Corky Bell's Seafood and Steak, East Paltaka -  Another free dock at a nice restaurant.  Molly particularly enjoyed getting reacquainted with those staples of Southern cuisine - collard greens, hush puppies and cheese grits.

Crescent City - We took Dunn's Creek and Murphy Creek to/from Crescent City.  The creeks were nice, but be careful of the depths in Dunn's Creek and take the outside of each channel curve or one will run aground.  We then motored the 7 miles down Crescent Lake, the 8th largest lake in Florida, to Crescent City The pier is now in a state of disrepair, but the dock just below the boat launch near the school is in good shape.  The Three Bananas restaurant was our least favorite on the river.

Live Oaks are common in all the towns along the St. Johns.  This s in Crescent City.


















The Welaka dock








    








Welaka
- The town has a free public dock with two places for larger vessels.  While we were there, 20 or so boats from an antique boat club arrived for lunch at the one restaurant in town.  We ate on our boat before hiking 4 miles roundtrip through the Welaka State Forest (see map) to visit Mud Spring (see video below), accessible by either shallow vessel and land. 

Fishermen on the Welaka dock mentioned that they are able to catch both fresh water and salt water fish in the river there including catfish and striped bass.
Leaving Welaka to cross Lake
George, Florida's 2nd largest. 
This is one place on the river that
 can get rough, but not this day.















Video of Mud Spring:


Anchored in Salty Springs

Salt Springs
- The creek entrance from Lake George is very shallow and typically can only accommodate boats that draw less than 3 feet. The water level can be even lower, however, so boaters should check.  Once over the entrance bar, the 3-mile creek to the spring is plenty deep.  We anchored just off the southern end of the spring.  It is salty as the spring water passes through an ancient seashore.
Fish swimming in Salt Springs



Molly & I took turns rowing to see
and take pictures of the manatees.
Silver Glen Springs - This spring is the most beautiful on the river and is mentioned earlier in the blog.  Here are a couple more pictures.





Blue Creek - For boats drafting less than 3 feet.  Passage will almost always feature wonderful scenes of wildlife from alligators to white egrets.
Small gator on a log in Blue Creek.

Rosborough passing through Blue Creek.

Astor - The town was the gathering point for our Rosborough rendezvous, but it was also recently used for a C-Dory rendezvous and a Chris Craft antique boat cruise.  The town has a small marina, Drifters Restaurant with docks, and an excellent boat launch with ample parking.  

Up river from Astor - Below is a brief summary of these great stops from our 2023 cruise.  More information including history of the region is included my April 2, 2023 blog at https://cruisingonsaltypaws.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-st-johns-river-gators-springs-and.html

The docks at the St. Johns River Grille.
 
St. Johns River Grille - This is a great stop for lunch as they have docks.

We passed this river boat on the St. Johns.







Hontoon State Park - The park has great docks and trails and is presently only open for day use.  

Hiking on Hontoon Island

Alligator on a log in the Dead River
Dead River - The mouth of the river is a convenient anchorage close to the Hontoon State Park docks.  This creek is also navigable for roughly two miles and feels like going through the Amazon.

Hontoon Island Oxbow - Deeper draft vessels should only use the northern entrance.  Great anchorage to listen to the gators mating croak at night (we thought they were frogs!).  There is also easy dinghy access to a landing right across the river (convenient for our dog, Tory) and also to Blue Springs State Park, just a 1/4 mile further up the river. 

Blue Springs State Park - This is a wonderful park, but presently closed for construction.  The highlight here, once it is reopened, is to float down the creek from the spring to the beach at the river.

Boats can easily anchor off the seawall
at Sanford and dinghy to the city dock.
Sanford - The city has a nice day dock, which we used while anchoring just off the seawall.  There is also a nearby marina.  Sanford is a delightful place, perfectly laid out with colored brick sidewalks, parks and a number of nice restaurants.  The city also has an interesting history covered in my earlier blog..

Molly and I agree that the St. Johns River is one of the top cruising destinations in Florida.  Our future cruising plans include a fall trip from Chattanooga to Knoxville on the Tennessee River.

We are now on our way home to Maine after a week's visit to daughter Liz, son-in-law Matt and granddaughter Charlotte outside of Atlanta.  Charlotte and I had a great time goofing around on the park playground near their home, and we all were thrilled to see Charlotte go 3 for 3 in her softball game and knock in 4 runs.


Matt is the head coach of Charlotte's team, and the cheering section included Laurie, Matt's mom, and her dog Tucker along with Biscuit and Tory.  Charlotte was awarded the game ball for her performance.














Thursday, March 6, 2025

The SS United States and North from Key West

  

We saw the SS United States offshore from Fort Lauderdale.

Fort Lauderdale onMarch 13, 2020.

Fort Lauderdale is not yet crowded with
college-break revelers.

The SS United States, built in 1951, was the largest ocean liner ever built in this country and was over 100 feet longer than the Titanic.  In 1952 the vessel broke the record for an ocean liner transatlantic crossing with an average speed of 34.5 knots or 39.7 mph. The record remains today.  The ship was futuristic for its time and had no wood on board except for the butcher blocks in the galley.  She was decommissioned in 1969 when her owner filed for bankruptcy.


Picture from the tug pulling the SS United States.
Source: www.wavy.com
Subsequent owners were unsuccessful in bringing the SS United States back into service or later as a museum.  Finally, Okaloosa County in Florida bought the ship in 2024 with the plan to sink her off Destin, FL to become the world’s largest artificial reef.  Presently, she is under tow to Alabama where she will be prepared for her next career. 

 
Tory and I took three trips ashore
daily when we anchor.
We departed Key West to make the trek up the Florida East coast and return to our starting point on the Okachobee Waterway.  The Florida Keys have both an Ocean side passage and a Gulf side passage.  We elected for the Gulf side passage as it generally offers a little more shelter and better protection from winds with an easterly component.  Such winds were in the extended forecast.

Our West Palm anchorage was right across from the municipal 
dock. We were lucky that the day after we left the dock was
closed for the next four weeks for the Palm Beach Boat Show.

Our biggest challenge can be in finding good spots to anchor with shore access for our dog, Tory.  She doesn’t do her business on our boat, but fortunately does have a strong bladder.  Florida has been putting more severe restrictions on anchoring to protect views and to reduce the chance that a boat might end up abandoned due to storms or an owner running out of funds.  We were able to find appropriate spots off Big Pine Key (where we reconnected with Liz and Jon on Navigator), Marathon, Islamorada, Key Largo, Elliot Key in Biscayne National Park, No Name Harbor in Key Biscayne, Boca Raton and West Palm.

 


Once ashore, I enjoy finding trails or green space for walking and throwing the ball for Tory.  I often find a number of No Trespassing and related signs in front of every house even in lightly populated neighborhoods.  I subsequently learned that under Florida law a property owner must put up such a sign as without it law enforcement will not take action without a direct complaint from the owner.
House of a Big Pine Key crabber.

 


Such signage was particularly common in Big Pine Key, where many crabbers live.  Not only are owners concerned about their gear, but squatters also moved into damaged houses there after Hurricane Irma.  This led to homeowners being extra cautious.

It was exciting when Liz found
$100 on the Miami sidewalk
until we saw it was play money!

Mike, Melissa, Liz, Jon, Molly and me in Miami’s Bayside.
 



We stayed at a nice marina in Miami, and Rosborough friends Mike and Melissa were particularly helpful in picking us up and driving us to West Marine (twice), the dog groomer (3x), the grocery store, the laundromat (twice) and the hardware store.  Later we all jumped on the free Metromover and went to the famous Bayside area for a great meal at a Cuban eatery.
Next to the marina is the beautiful city dog park that Tory and I visited regularly.  In the adjacent park we met Martini, another Portuguese Water Dog.  Tory is usually timid in meeting new dogs, but the two of them acted like long-lost siblings.

The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) from Miami to West Palm is not our favorite.  It is certainly a good display of some of America’s opulence, but cruising is often slow due to no-wake zones and waiting for
A common scene in Fort Lauderdale

low bridges to be open.  Where the ICW opens up, it can be overwhelming dealing with speeding boats and boat wakes as high as 3 feet.

My birthday celebration with Liz,  Molly and Jon.
Goodbye to Jon and Liz.
Finally, we arrived at the Manatee Pocket mooring field in Port Salerno, next to Stuart.  Here we celebrated my 75th birthday, which was only dampened by Molly noting that I am now 3/4 of a century old!  After 40 days of cruising together we also said goodbye to Jon and Liz on their boat Navigator.  They cruised to Fort Pierce where Navigator will stay at a slip while they fly home for a month before resuming their trek north.  We will miss comparing notes, sharing sites and playing cards with them.  Maybe, just maybe, we will cruise in the Bahamas together next winter! 

Below are some more pictures of our cruising since leaving Key West.

The Blue Hole on Big Pine Key.  It was a former limestone quarry and is now part of the National Key Deer Refuge.  I saw the small key deer everywhere on Big Pine.

Swimming off Marathon.  Tory was my lifeguard.

In front of the Flagler Museum in Marathon.  We saw a great documentary about the construction of Flagler’s Key West rail line at the Discovery Center on Islamorada.  The bridges were a marvelous engineering fete employing thousands, but hundreds also lost their lives, mostly in hurricanes.

We enjoyed a meal and the entertainment at Lorelei’s on Islamorada.
Looking for fish.

Tory’s dinghy operator





















Sunset at Elliot Key.

Lighthouse at Florida’s 
Bill Biggs State Park in
key Biscayne.

We entered Miami Harbor on one of our few rainy days.

Chickens are everywhere, even in Miami!  Molly, Liz and Melissa are in the background.

Goodbye to the Miami skyline.

We enjoyed our walk around  West Palm Beach.

The old classic mega-yachts are prettier than today’s version.

After Port Salerno we cruised up the St. Lucie River and through one lock to the Army Corp’s St. Lucie Marina.  With the Senior Pass the marina only costs $15 a night and includes power and water.

We met two other Rosborough boats at St. Lucie, Cool Change and Sabbatical, and had our own mini -rendezvous before trailering our boats to the St. John’s River in Astor for this year’s Rosborough Rendezvous.  Pictured at Peter (on Cool Change), Jeremy and Dan (Sabbatical), Claudia (Cool Change) and Molly.