Jacksonville: We arrived in Jacksonville on Sunday March 5 after spending time with Kailey, Brady & Maya, visiting many people in Grand Rapids (and getting our paperwork in for tax preparation Ugh!!!), and stopping at TVR for a brief visit with Bri and an electrical project. What a whirlwind trip. The boat had been left at Lamb’s Yacht Center on the Ortega River in a covered slip and fared well in our absence.
We had our rental car until Monday, so we provisioned the boat from the local Publix and had dinner at a local restaurant. It felt very strange to be back on our boat without a car again. We planned to stay in this marina for a week so we could get more boat projects done: cleaning, polishing, engine oil change…. Always something to be done or be doing on a boat.
Due to the arrival of Maya, we missed several ports along Florida’s east coast. So Friday & Saturday of this week we rented a car and drove to St. Augustine (the oldest European settled town in the US) to take in the sites and history of this town. Once again we took the trolley tour of the downtown area to get the lay of the land (city). A beautiful day to walk the old streets and enjoy/see the history. A big rain storm hit the area later in the day so we left town and rode along the beachfront areas and headed back to the boat. We returned to St. Augustine the next day along with those attending the Irish Festival and Biker Week. Parking was at a premium. We toured the Fort which was well preserved because it was built with coquina material (native to Florida east coast). Later that day we had dinner with two Weta friends (friends from Tim’s racing days) as well as a fellow looper who was in town.
Sunday/Monday we washed the boat as a big storm come through the area. One of the benefits of a covered slip is being able to work on the outside of the boat during a rain storm. We had lunch with Joe & Jenni (fellow Nordic owners) at their marina. Monday we walked to Publix and stocked up on a few items for our trip south on the St. Johns River.
Palatka–Tuesday morning we pumped out and headed south on the St. Johns River also in the company of “Boundless” (a fellow looper). We are heading south on the St. Johns River, but it is flowing north from close to Orlando. Our plan is to motor all the way to Sanford….but plans are just that. Palatka, or Boat House Marina, is just a small town….at least by the river. We road our bikes to Ravine Gardens State Park and hiked the trails along the ravine which is about 1.5 miles from the marina. We saw some very stately looking homes facing the river. We enjoyed a good meal at a newly opened restaurant in town. The night we arrived we found an old dinner and had old fashioned milk shakes. Some things never change.
Thursday we headed over to the other side of the river which is East Palatka. We tied up to the free dock at Corky Bell’s Seafood at Gator Landing. That night we had a rendezvous with many loopers in the area. There ended up being about 18 of us. It’s always interesting hear about the journey each is on….some beginning, some in process, some gold loopers.
Friday morning we headed to Waleka–a short travel day. We scored by finding a free city dock for all three boats (Margin, Boundless & Boomerang). There was even a clean bathroom for us to use. We all walked around the very small town which had a Dollar General, a bar, a restaurant, and one stop light. It was St. Patrick’s Day so my coleslaw was green (did not look appetizing) and the hushpuppies were green inside. Otherwise the food was decent…sort of. I guess you get all kinds of food on this trip.
Saturday rain was predicted, but we decided to continue to the city of Astor. We were having a hard time finding a good marina, but Nagui made contact with a “friend” in Astor who offered the use of a free wall near his house. It was so nice to be off the river in a safe location. Denise & Lauri were amazing hosts. They made sure we were all set for the evening and then put on a spread for dinner. Such good conversation over burgers and the fixings.
Sunday we headed to Hontoon. I kind of had a meltdown as finding a marina for our boat was proving to be difficult if not impossible. About half way to Hontoon, Hontoon Marina & Resort responded finally stating that they could accommodate all three boats. That really changed my outlook on the day—YEAH!!! We finally arrived at the Marina which proved to be right across from Hontoon State Park (only accessible by water). That day was Lisa’s birthday (on Boomerange). So we ordered Ubers for our group of 5 and enjoyed dinner at a steakhouse to celebrate Lisa’s birthday.
The next morning was freezing so we waiting until the afternoon to take a dingy ride around the State Park. Our short dingy ride was actually 10 miles long due to the short cut being unnavigable. But we saw so many birds, alligators, nature along the way. We even stopped at a spring that is dedicated to manatees and only accessible by land (a walkway) so as to protect the manatee habitat. There were so many manatee in the springs. But we still needed to get back to the boat which was still about 3-4 miles by dingy. We were very tired of sitting on the dingy and sunburned by the time we arrived back at our boats. What a welcome site. One of the dingys was running on a trolling motor and had to be towed back to the boat by Boomerang. (that’s what friends are for, right).
Tuesday we had planned to motor back to Astor. But that morning we hiked 2.5 miles on the State Park across from the marina. It was a very interesting hike and only saw one baby rattle snake. But we did see a mound from when the indigenous people lived in the area. The two boats traveling with us are Rosboroughs (25′) and 5 more of that kind of boat came to meet them for lunch near our marina. Now there are 7 Rosboroughs and a Nordic Tug traveling together or as they call us: Snow White and the 7 dwarves. (Our host couple are hosting a Rosborough Rendezvous at their house (Astor) with an outing planned for tomorrow). In spite of our differences (boat model), they are kind enough to let us tag along. Looks like we are having a bonfire tonight with the gang at the Astor host house.
Tim & Martha's trip around the Great Loop 