November 16-17, 2015 Palatka, FL

We made a leisurely delayed departure from Mandarin this morning.  Slightly delayed because the anchor chain was caked in mud and it took some extra time to clean it off before letting it chunk its way down to the anchor locker

In my mysterious wisdom I figured we should put out 120 feet of chain because the winds were going to be blowing hard from the northeast.  As for the winds I was right.  As for the chain, well, it took us nearly an hour to clean it off as we hauled it up.

Our wash down pump draws fresh water from our water tanks, but making water here in the river isn't the best idea since its so muddy.  The primary filters clog up rapidly.  So we try and conserve water.

To that end I employed the time honored method of , "the water bucket".   Basically, that  means pouring a bucket of water over every few feet of chain to clean off the mud.   120 feet of chain.   It took a large number of buckets.  The water here, is fresh so is fine for washing the chain off.  And the  mud here isn't as sticky as Chesapeake mud so it came off rather easily.

Once we got the chain cleaned up we headed back to the main channel with the anchor swishing in the water to get all that mud off while leaving a muddy trail behind us.

The St. Johns is a broad river and averaging 15-20 feet deep

The river is very broad here as we made our way up river (south) with the tidal current noticeably lessening the further south we went.  The only complaint on an otherwise relaxing trip, were the crab pots.  These are traps set on the bottom and marked with a float tied to a line which is attached to the trap.

Here, in the St. John's, crab pots are strewn most anywhere with many ending up in the main channel.  The crab pot floats are usually small and consist of almost anything that floats.  Heading into the sun makes it difficult to see them.

The relaxing trip I had in mind where the auto pilot steers evaporated within a few miles of leaving Mandarin.  It was hand steering and eyes straining the 33 miles up river.

It only lasted 30 minutes before I had to take over and weave around crab pots

The river shore is mostly forested with private residences here and there.    We were the only boat traveling south except for a few fisherman.  We did see one of the fuel barges which ply the river between Jacksonville and Sanford which is near the terminus of navigable waters.

It was a nice sunny day.  A good travel day although I did take note of the water temperature, a chilly 72 degrees.

Bad picture of Green Cove Springs and the old Naval Piers

We even passed by our home town, Green Cove Springs.  Its where we have our domicile which is basically a small cubbyhole in large set of other cubbyholes where our mail sits until I request it.

 Unfortunately there isn't much to see from the river except for the huge piers the Navy built during WW II.  There a re a few marinas here and shop extensive ship repair facilities

As we approached Palatka, we noticed the huge Georgia-Pacific plant.  It looks like a nuclear power plant with those huge evaporators.

In the anchorage looking southeast

We pulled into the anchorage, Carman Cove and saw only a small sailboat which left soon after we arrived.  I could only see some of the city, but we'll get a more detailed view tomorrow when we get the dinghy down.  We have to hit the store and there is a Publix about 4 miles away.  But getting the bike down and into the dinghy is a pain so we'll just figure out Palatka's  Public transportation or take a cab.

It was pretty windy Monday morning but we are in a cove which offers some protection from the blustery southeast winds.  We weren't bouncing around too badly so getting the dinghy down and us into went smoothly.  Now days its a fifteen minute operation versus 3 years ago when it took us more than an hour.  

We were finally under way to the city dock around 11AM.

The City docks

The city has two docks, but one is a fixed seawall and meant for bigger boats and is not that well thought-of from what I’ve read.   We went to the two floating docks, aluminum platforms that slide up and down on large poles driven into the river bed.  This eliminates any concern with tides since the docks move with the water level.  And we are tied to the dock.

Securely tied up

We secured the dinghy and found a receptacle for our recycling and lone garbage bag.  Not knowing if there were cabs in the area (goggle wasn’t’ particularly helpful) and having arrived 30 minutes after the last bus left for the area near Publix, we simply went to a bar. 

The hotel and Beef-O-Grady's

The bar, Beef-O-Grady's, was in the Quality Inn right across the street from the dock.  We asked the hostess there and they gave us Rodney’s number.  Rodney provides rides within the city.   Just what we needed.  He's sort of the taxi service for the city.

Mary called and he was tied up for 45 minutes but said he’s meet us at the hotel.  So Mary sat at the bar and had a soda while texting Laura and I went out to explore a little of the town.

I didn’t find much in interest but was only gone about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile Rodney called back and said he was 10 minutes away so I ran back to the hotel, and Mary and I walked out to wait for Rodney who, as promised, appeared a minute later.

Rodney is a great guy, with a new really nice, clean car.    He' has a nice little tai business.  Not to taxing (sorry!)  but stimulating enough to ward off the boredom.  He loves meeting people.    We had  a nice conversation for the 10 minute ride to Publix from the bar. 

 

Mary at Publix

He let us off at Publix even though he did tell us there was a Wal-Mart a few blocks further up the street.  We opted for Publix because, well, we sort of miss going there.  It’s been Winn Dixie for us the past few months.

W loaded up on some essentials (Publix sells wine and although not the best, it was still wine).  It took us maybe 45 minutes.  As I checked out, Mary called Rodney and he showed up a few minutes later.

He took us back to the dock ($15) and after loading up the dingy we went back to the boat and put everything away. 

I wanted to check out Murphy’s Creek which is 6 or so miles up river (south) so we got in the dinghy and cruised up the river,  It was a little rough in sections because of the wind, but nothing the dinghy couldn’t handle.  We made the turn into Dunn Creek and then turned into Murphy Creek which joins Dunn Creek ½ mile up from where Dunn Creek joins the St. Johns River.  Luckily I have a little GPS with charts of the area.

Entrance to Murphy's Creek

Murphy's Creek is a few hundred feet wide, 20 or so feet deep and is a well known anchorage.  It’s also a great place to watch gators, snakes and other wildlife.  Very desolate and eerily jungle-like, it’s reputed to be a nice little place to hole up because of the wind protection and slow currents.

There was a large yacht in the entrance of the creek as we turned in.  Running up to the first bend we saw a barge with Air Stream trailers and a few school buses on its deck in front of a crane.  The anchorage spot, round the bend a 1/2 mile, was about 400 feet wide which is good for us.   It's tidal but the tidal currents are rather weak. 

Barge with buses and a crane

We passed a small fishing boat within the anchorage area and just ran up the creek about a ways to see what we could see.  The only wild life we saw were a few birds.  Must be the cool fall temps here that keep the critters from poking out from the tress lining the shore. 

We could have kept going and gone out the south end because the creek is plenty deep, but opted to turn around start heading back towards Palatka because we had letters to mail and walking to do.

The anchorage area

I’m toying with the idea of taking the boat there tomorrow.  My only concern is the forecast which calls for potential thunderstorms which, having experienced such things before, can bring sudden very intense downdrafts which can toss our boat around.  In a confined anchorage we could be pushed up on the shore, where as here in the relatively wide open space we’d just bounce around a little.  We’ll have to see what the forecast is for tomorrow.

But meanwhile we went back to the dinghy dock and walked about a mile through downtown Palatka to the post office. 

Mural

Mural

Mural

Palatka is making what appears to be a big effort to make the city an appealing place.  There are some vacant buildings etc., typical of a the river tows we’ve seen.  But I noticed improvement efforts.

There was a fort here

For example the wall murals.  many of the buildings, vacant or not, have these large murals covering the whole side of a building.  They are really intriguing.  Some talented artistic folks are here. 

The new river front Hampton Inn

The streets and sidewalks in some areas have this pretty brick border and aren't strewn with litter or debris.  Either are the vacant buildings.   And then there is the new Hampton Inn being constructed on the water front.  Time will tell I guess, but I’m hopefully the city will succeed.  We’d return.

 

A bad picture of the Post Office

After our Post Office stroll we went back to the boat, had a bottle of wine on the sundeck and then brought the dinghy back aboard after I started the generator. 

The batteries are a mystery to me, one bank appearing weak, then suddenly the other.   We were hovering at 12.1 volts when I started the generator at 6 PM.  Guess we need more sun time for the solar panels to do their thing.  And new batteries I fear.

Leonoid meteor showers are supped to be peaking tonight and tomorrow.  Just out luck, its cloudy and showers in the forecast.  Oh well …

The tiny white dot is us anchored in the bay

Tomorrow brings a greater threat of showers and thunderstorms at night into Thursday.  It' always interesting out here.