2 + 2 + 2 = 70. Two days plus two gallons of gas plus a 2 HP motor equal 70 miles of the St Johns River. Wow! What a day. We motored and sailed from 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM today with one short rain delay. I would have never thought it was possible but I am sitting on north end of Lake Harney writing this post. But back to the beginning......
Our night at Lone Cabbage tide to the dock was uneventful. I slept in my Hennessey Hammock tent tied between the two masts. A couple boats passed by, you could hear the traffic from 520, it rained a little but overall it was a good night and I was able to rest up. We took our time getting ready in the morning. I had a headache which I attribute to dehydration. Today I planned on drinking a lot more water (and less beer).
I measure the river from bridge to bridge. The first leg of the day was from 520 to 528. This was the first stretch that we saw plenty of cows. Johnathan's motor was acting up. It sound like a dirty carb to me. He can't idle but he can run around 1/2 throttle with the choke open. If he slows down the motor will die on him. It hasn't slowed us down though. If anything we are running a little faster than expected. Making it to the 528 bridge was all motoring and uneventful. I was starting to feel a little better too.
Next leg was 528 to 50. I knew there were some shallow areas just after the bridge. We found them but they were not that bad. We were able to get through with minimal bumping of the bottom so long as you followed the main channel. It had to rain sometime today and the down pour hit just south of the power lines. Johnathan elected to pull over and go below. Since I don't have a cabin I threw on my rain jacket and motored to Catfish cabin. Its an airboat shelter on the river just north of the power lines. There were two other fisherman there who were friendly. Interesting they were fishing for softshell. Don't worry if you don't know what softshell is. I didn't figure it out either. It's softshell turtle. Pretty interesting.
We were surprised and stoked that we made it to 50 by 1:30 PM. It was another 23 miles to 46. The distance was not a problem but we had to navigate Puzzle Lake. Johnathan's motor started acting up again. I joked that if it died now we were at the 50 boat ramp. A couple off pulls and it fired right back up and we continued on. I was starting to worry about getting too much sun. I applied sunscreen at least 5 or 6 times today but as the day went on I got hotter. Hopefully I will not be burned too badly in the morning. The section of the river from 50 to just south of Puzzle is probably my favorite stretch of the upper St Johns. It is so fishy. Unfortunately we were on a mission and I did not break out a rod. It will have to wait until the next trip. I would love to tell you a story of how we got lost in Puzzle Lake near Hatbill but it didn't happen. It could have been luck or the water level was just right to be able to follow the main channel. Either way we made quick work of this section too. As we came out of Puzzle Lake and approached the Econ the winds started to come from a favorable SE direction and increase in speed. We motored under 46 around 6:00 PM ready to start sailing.
After we passed the Jolly Gator we set sail and cut the motors. We made it up the small section of river below 46 and out on to Lake Harney. Winds were gusty. We sailed over to the NE corner of the lake relaxed and looking forward to a quiet night.
Unfortunately as the sun set the sky erupted with bugs. I think its another midge hatch or the same one from last week still happening. It was all I could do to get my mosquito net up. No tent tonight. I am sleeping below deck to stay out of the bugs. Being below deck I did find that I could set up my rowing seat and new hatch cover like a desk and write away on my laptop. Thats probably why this post is so damn long. Anyways, enjoy. I will try to post again tomorrow but we may be a little more remote so Internet access could be hit or miss.
Hey Tom... Great job today!
ReplyDeleteDJ and I had been following your progress this morning and decided to meet you at the Route 50 bridge and bring you guys some ice water and cold beer. It looked like you wouldn't be there until about 2pm, so we arranged to be there by 1:45. Unfortunately you beat us by about 10 minutes and had disappeared into the marshlands. And we NEVER thought you would make it to Route 46 today! Our plan for tomorrow morning was to bring you some hot coffee and egg McMuffins at the Route 46 bridge!
You sure have anchored in bugland tonight! I hear that smearing motor oil on you will keep them away...urine might also work...or is that for bears? Anyway, if you see some headlights about 0630 and someone calling "AHOY SEA PEARLS!" you will know who it will be.
I'm off to South Carolina tomorrow morning, so I won't be able to great you at Lake Monroe. You guys are awesome...great job!