Great Loop & Cruising Adventure Blog

Our first anchorage after Palatka was in an oxbow (a u-shaped bend in the course of a river) in Murphy’s Creek, just off of Dunn Creek. Once settled Lisa and I lowered the dinghy to go explore for gators, eagles and turtles three to four miles up Dunn Creek.

It didn’t take long before we started to spot the gators sunning themselves on logs (below-gator is in the left side of the photo on the log and the turtles are hopping off as we scared them when we went by) beside the shore of the creek along with very large turtles, usually sharing the same log. We’ve heard that the gators don’t move around or eat very much this time of the year. All that we saw were as still as if in a picture. After a nice dinner with Louis and Diane we settled in for a quiet night on the hook with just the sounds of the wild life surrounding our boats to entertain us.

Once the winter home of the Mellon banking family and the end of the line for railroads, Palatka was once the largest shipper of cypress wood in the world. This town is also considered the spot where the St. Johns River starts to become wild with natural habitat… gators, manatee, birds, eagles, snakes and more.

Jack Carpenter stopped by our boat tonight to chat about the wonders of the St. Johns River. We learned a lot from him about the area and look forward to bumping into him again when we travel down the ICW after we go home for the holidays.

On the way to Palatka today we got out the Christmas decorations including our small tree. Can’t believe the holidays are almost upon us and 2010 is just around the corner. Last time we had the Christmas Decorations out we were still in the Panhandle of Florida waiting to cross the Gulf of Mexico just last year.

Soon after we tied up we had to stretch our legs a bit so all four of us headed into town to visit the Bronson-Mullholland house, Sunny Point, (below-left) which was built in 1854. We were surprised by some of the furnishing and decorations as we learned today that back in those days people used things taken from nature to decorate their homes thus we saw lots of dried plants and stuffed animals.

Our visit to the town’s free dock was mainly for a mail pickup, to have a dinner on our boat with Louis and Diane and fellow boating friends Roy and Ellen from Our Turn whom we had last seen in Palm Coast, Florida on our way up the ICW last spring. Before we left Palatka Roy and Ellen drove us around town to a great local breakfast spot, the City Cafe, the Post Office and for a fill-up on our dinghy gas can. Thanks guys!

Hi Olivier Mirabel-Chambaud!

After lots of discussion and planning we’re finally heading into the St Johns River to explore Florida’s hidden gems including the wildlife we’ve long heard and read so much about.

First stop was a free dock at Six-mile Creek and a visit to the Outback Crab Shack, the restaurant which provides the free-dock, if you buy a meal at the restaurant. We were also surprised to run into a few slip holders from Ortega Landing Marina in Jacksonville, we just left there this morning.

Jim looks a perturbed as he lost bad on this game of Liverpool.

A few highlights during this first day out were: seeing how dark blue-black the water is back in the creeks, tying up to a quarter-mile face dock (the longest I’ve ever seen) and eating at the Crab Shack which has some interesting family style platters.

We spent a lot of time looking for gators and finally did see one sunning itself on a log hanging over the water on the edge of the trees near the end of the dock. Hard to believe but this was our first gator sighting on this Loop trip so far. Huge turtles also jumped into the water from their perch on dead tree limbs in the water if we got too close. We also were amazed at the size of the beautiful water lilies which lined the swamp.

Jim really enjoyed his half-slab of ribs, all the way up to his elbows and on his pants.

One thing we found most Interesting at this stop was the Church Service held in the bar every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. which included guitar music and video during the service.

We thought that these gentlemen may be some local Florida Crackers.

One theory about the name, Cracker, comes from the sound of whips used to drive cattle and oxen. Florida cattlemen cracked whips to flush their stock out of the palmetto scrub while settlers used whips to spur on oxen that pulled their carts and wagons. Cracker has been used in this sense since the early 1800s. This is the most popular theory today. But it doesn’t explain why people were being called Crackers for centuries before Florida cattlemen began working in the scrub lands.

This our first Florida air boat sighting (above).

We flew back from Ohio today. Larry and Louis met us at the airport and brought us back to the boat and a huge Thanksgiving day meal. They had been working on this meal all day and it truly was a feast. We were of course exhausted from the funeral and the long travel day. Our friends knew this and took good care of us and our tired souls. Thank you Larry & Margie, Wanderin’ L & M  and Louis and Diane, Bella Luna.

We arrived in Jacksonville today after receiving some bad news from home yesterday while we were in St. Marys. Jim’s step-dad had passed away yesterday and now we are in a hurry to get our boat settled in Jacksonville so that we can fly home for the funeral and some family time. Our good friends Louis and Diane will keep an eye on Kismet for us while we are gone and have helped us in every way we could imagine. It’s great to have friends close by during times like these.

Today, on our way to Jacksonville, we passed this pair of eagles (above). An amazing sight to see along with the white pelicans (below) that are also a rare sight even on these waterways.

Not too far from Cumberland Island is St. Marys, Georgia. This harbor has a huge designated anchorage area and there must have been thirty boats anchored, mostly sailboats.

Historic St. Marys, which was first settled in the mid 1500s by the Spanish, sits on the St. Marys River. It is the second oldest continuously inhabited city in the United States after St. Augustine, Florida. The city is the gateway to Cumberland Island National Seashore, the largest of the Georgia Coast’s barrier islands.

We arrived early in the day, anchored, had lunch then went ashore to explore. Dinner later in the evening was on Bella Luna. Tomorrow we will be in Jacksonville for a few nights before we start down the St. John’s River.

As boaters, we felt as though the town offered us a warm greeting along with a big dinghy dock and a beautiful park just at the end of it. If you are a boater you will want to make sure to stop here for a visit.

We arrived at Cumberland Island late in the afternoon but with time to relax and watch a “rookery” full of Great White Egrets and Wood Storks (see the tree, on shore to the right of Jim).

Only one other boat anchored with us tonight. We all enjoyed an amazing sunset and a corned beef and cabbage dinner on Kismet.

First thing in the morning we dropped our dinghy to go explore this part of the island which is just in front of the Plum Orchard Mansion, the mansion was a gift of Lucy Carnegie to one of her children as a wedding gift. Nice gift!!!

Last spring we had anchored in a spot north of here where we walked the trails back to the beach and salt marshes.We found Plum Orchard Mansion to be in extremely good condition for its remote location. We all tried to imagine what it might have been like to live in this impressive, turn of the twentieth century, mansion on this remote island when it was in its prime.

Louis said he saw an alligator by this swampy looking lagoon. I was glad I didn’t know that while I was standing right next to it taking this picture.

When we pulled our dinghies up to the public dock we met with a three-day managed hunt group of about 100 hunters. They were hunting wild boar and deer on the island. All of their gear was waiting on the dock to be picked up, along with the hunters, by the ferry boat. We arrived on the right day because during these hunts they close the island to the public for safety reasons.

One more stop together with Bella Luna, Foreign Exchange and Shore Thing, Two-Way Fish Camp in Brunswick, Georgia. This is a rather rustic marina located up the Medway River, north of Brunswick.

Happy Hour was on Foreign Exchange tonight then we all had dinner in the restaurant on site, Mudcats Grill. This will be the last night we will all be together as Shore Thing and Foreign Exchange are stopping in the Brunswick area for the holidays. We will depart tomorrow morning with Bella Luna to head to Cumberland Island.