St. Johns

Well, here I go again with another blog. We have been on the St John’s River (one of the few rivers in the US to flow south to north) in central Florida for about a week now and have seen some lovely sights.
I also had a very nice trip into Fernandina Beach with Nancy Altman. The highlight of the trip was seeing two turtles in a tank in the high street and seeing the underside of the carapace. It was so pretty I just had to take a photo of it. As you can see, he was asleep when I took the photo.

The St John’s is a working river and gets large container ships going into the port at Jacksonville (named after Andrew Jackson). We passed one being loaded and it was interesting to see the configuration of the containers on board the ship.

It must be a real skill loading the ship and knowing where to place the containers so that the ship is balanced.
We passed a house with an area underneath to “park” their boat. Maybe we should do this with our home!!!

We once again visited Blue Spring to see the manatees. This time we went by dinghy as it was too windy for us to get the boat in close to the parking area for boats. We had a lovely, bright sunny day and whoa!!! not a manatee in sight. Last year when we visited there was over 100 of them. Today, not one. Still the spring was pretty so we took a walk along the boardwalk. We did see an alligator basking in the sunshine on a fallen tree. This was a first for us (seeing the alligator at Blue Spring ) so a photo was a must.

We also saw another alligator in a different area of the St John’s. He was hanging over a fallen tree stump and looked quite relaxed and comfortable.

Blue Spring never fails to amaze me in its beauty. I have enclosed a couple of photos for you to see.

There is an old house on the grounds of Blue Spring, Thursby House which we had not visited before so we decided to pay it a visit. When we returned to the Spring lo and behold there were a few manatees for us to see and photograph.

So, if we hadn’t gone into the house before returning to the dinghy, we would not have seen the manatees.
The Spring usually has many fish feeding in the waters but today there were only a few. We think the reason why there were so few fish and manatees is due to the very warm winter Florida has had. The fish I took a photo of is approx 3 feet long and pencil thin and is called the Florida Gar. To me, it looks like an English Pike but much longer.

We passed several cattle feeding on the water lilies. They were standing in the water up to their bellies and did not seem to mind getting wet. As you can see from the bare stalks, the cattle really fed well on the water lilies.

We also passed a jet boat meant for going into very shallow water. These boats make so much noise they must scare away the wild life. As a passenger you have to wear ear muffs to shut out the noise.

We went as far south as we could at the St John’s and ended up at Sanford. We spent two very pleasant nights there. Across from our slip was an old paddle wheeler with two paddles which must make it easier for steering.

Well, for those of you who know me, no blog is complete without either birds, reflections or sunset pictures. Well, today is your lucky day for seeing some of my bird photos starting with the lovely raptor, the Osprey.
The first photo shows a nest high atop of an electric pylon. Have you ever wondered how the bird managed to get the first few sticks to stay up there? And how do they balance the sticks as some of them are quite large?

The next photo shows a pair of Ospreys eating a fish they had just caught.

I thought the next photo was interesting. It is of a Bald Eagle chasing an Osprey who must have got too close to its nest.

We saw another Bald Eagle from a distance the following day.

We also saw an Osprey chasing a Cormorant away from its nest which was wedged in between two signs on the waterway.

Now, for some more bird photos.

The above photo is of an American Swallow-tailed Kite. I initially thought it was the Magnificent Frigate bird but the white breast did not match the Frigate Bird.
How's this for having birds on your lawn. Instead of starlings or blackbirds these are large black vultures. They can usually be found where some form of carrion is.

Well, that is enough of birds as I wanted to show you a slide that someone had erected at the edge of the river. It must give you quite a thrill and a lift when you get to the end.

The next photo is of a palm tree growing out of a wall. The owners of the house must have built the wall around the palm tree.

I want to finish the blog with a fisherman’s story. We were anchored in a creek and two fishermen drew up close to our boat in their boat to fish along side us. One of them caught a very large cat fish and allowed me to take his photo holding his catch.

The other person in the boat then proceeded to tell us how they both had caught similar fish some days ago and had a bet as to whose fish was the heaviest. The man telling the story said his fish was the heavier even though it was smaller. As the other man turned to pull out a scale, the man with the smaller fish popped several lead weights into the gullet of his smaller fish resulting in his fish weighing more than his friends. The friend did not believe that his fish did not win the bet so took his friend’s fish and shook it. Well, the fish made a strange noise so he tipped it upside down and out of the fish’s mouth same the weights. Needless, to say he lost his bet. I just loved this “fish story”.

Jacksonville

Well, what has happened since I last wrote? We are now in Jacksonville, Florida with the boat on dry land after having the boat pulled from the water for repairs. We are at the St Johns Boat Company and the manager and employees have been very kind to us. They have hooked us up with electric so that we can have lights and use my coffee maker (a must). They have also given us a key to use the employee bathrooms after they have all gone home (also a must). Tommy Jones is the manager and he has been most accommodating.
Coming into Jacksonville, we spent the night at a free dock where 4 years ago we met Brown and Nancy Altman who helped us dock the boat. Well, lo and behold when we pulled into the free dock who should be there helping boats dock was Nancy. Four years later they are still helping boaters dock and give advice on the area. Brown, her husband had knee surgery some months ago and it did not turn out well and required the new knee to be removed and a new knee inserted. He still has problems. He is unable to walk far so uses a bike as his means of ambulation, resting the impaired leg and walking with the good leg. This couple are absolute treasures as once again they have offered us a ride if we need to get anywhere whilst we are in dry dock. Today, we may take them up on that offer as we are going to rent a car for a week to go and see our friends in Georgia. I would also like to go back to Jekyll Island in Georgia and have a better look around.
A lot has happened since I last wrote. We got stuck on a sandbank and had to wait about 90 mins for the tide to turn and lift us off. It could have been worse if the tide was still going out. We also had problems with the head. It became blocked again and it took Gary having to take it to pieces before we could use it. He cleared the head but unfortunately the bolts holding the head came loose and the toilet began to tilt when you sat on it (not a good thing) so once again Gary had to go in and do some repairs. The fourth thing to go wrong was we lost our anchor and 100 foot of chain. We were unable to retrieve them from 10 feet of murky water. Luckily, we have a spare anchor but without the chain it is of no use.
Getting to Jacksonville we had to pass through Georgia and this time of the year there was not much to see. The weather has been with us all the way, the days bright and sunny and the water for the most part, calm. The water was so calm I got some nice reflection photos of the boats docked at the Isle of Hope Marina and a pier somewhere in Georgia, I do not remember where.

The tides in Georgia were as much as 9 feet so at low tide we had to be very careful at not getting stuck on sandbars. At low tide the shores birds came out in their dozens to feed in the wet sand.

                            If you look closely you can see their beaks probing into the sand.
As the boat crossed a large area of open water we were followed by a group of gulls behind the boat hoping to catch the fish we churned up in our wake.

I did see them catch some fish but was not quick enough to catch them in a photo as the fish were gobbled down very quickly.
Travelling along the intracoastal waterway we passed a long pier with a wonderful assortment of birds on it.

There is a grey heron, egrets, cormorants and gulls, This must be the community meeting place for the feathered population!
I took some interesting photos of pelicans. I hope you like them.

                 The above pelican is a juvenile as he does not have the yellow head of the adult.

The above photo shows how close to the water the pelican's wings are when gliding.
We have seen quite a few dolphins on our journey but they are so difficult to photograph because as soon as you see them they are on their way down back into the depths.

We passed a bridge with lots of birds on the bumpers. There were cormorants at one end and pelicans at the other end. It was a case of us versus them!

Now, I think the most interesting thing that happened to us was in the area of the degausser where we were told by the coast guard to stop and hold our position because they were escorting in a vessel.

                                                                  Degausser
We put the boat into neutral and sat back to see what was coming up the river. Well, it turned out to be a submarine. The submarine was escorted by two tugs into a huge shed.

 The Coast Guard kept a very close eye on us and it was a little scary to see the large gun on the front of the boat.

What would a blog of mine be without a sunset/sunrise photo. As I have been too lazy to get up at sunrise here is my first sunset photo.

Myrtle Beach to Beaufort, South Carolina

Before I start my blog I would like to say a big thank-you to everyone who offered sympathy, condolences or sent cards on the deaths of our fathers just before Christmas. To lose one parent was terrible but both was overwhelming and has taken its toll on both of us. We are on the mend but have these two beloved parents in our thoughts everyday.
I would also like to say a big thank-you to my dear neighbors, Doris and Michele for watching over the house for us, watering my plants and collecting the mail. You are the best neighbors anyone could wish for. I would also like to thank my dearest friend, Linda for taking care of Molly for me. We do not now have to worry about her falling overboard and that is a great worry off my mind.
OK, so on with the blog. We are now in Beaufort, South Carolina after leaving the boat for 6 weeks at Myrtle Beach whilst we went home to Pasadena, California and England. The boat started without a problem and off we went. After a beautiful day motoring we moored at a marina in Georgetown, South Carolina. The evening was warm and bright so we decided to take a look at this historic old town. There were several old buildings dating back to the early 1800s one of which was the court house. The court house was built in 1823-24 by Robert Mills, the same man who designed the Washington Monument in Washington, DC.

 There were several streets with lovely old homes on them. What was surprising was the deciduous magnolia and daffodils were in bloom on the 2nd of February. In Maryland, these would not be flowering until April.

 Whilst on our walk we passed a mural painted on the side of the wall. It was of a row of shops and very well done as you can see by the photo.

I thought the next photo was interesting with the sunlight shining through the fountain's droplets of water.

The next day was lovely. the temperature was in the 70s and very little wind making for a great day
on the water. We passed four piers that had gulls on them. There must have been a 1,000 gulls on them.

 Later, I got really excited. I spotted something in the water I had not seen before. Out of the cabin I ran with my camera and waited until we got closer to the bird, dolphin, alligator or whatever and lo and behold it was a stupid crab trap. Anyway, I took its photo just because it made me laugh at myself for getting excited over nothing.

Last night we anchored in a creek off the main intracoastal waterway. We edged our way in slowly keeping an eye on the depth finder and anchored in 10 feet of water. The next morning the tide and wind had blown us closer to the bank. No problem we thought. The problem was the engines would not start so we had to clear the space above the engines for Gary to do some electrical work to get the engines turning over. Lucky for us, whatever Gary did worked as the engines turned over and started, thank goodness. Had they not started we would have to have called a company called Boat US for a jump start or even worse a tow. We were miles from anywhere so it would have taken them quite a while to get to us.
Today was sunny but very cold. It was in the 40s outside and 50s inside. Our generator still is not working so last night we snuggled under a blanket, bedspread and fleece sheets to keep warm. We were quite warm and slept fine. When we finally got going we passed a sand bar close to where we entered the creek last night. It we had hit that we would have been stuck for quite a while.

We passed a tug today with lots of birds following it. It must have been churning up the water and fish for the birds to catch.

Well, I think this is enough for one day or should I say night.