Land Cruising and Home Anchorage 5/31-6/19/13

05/28:  Away from Hontoon Island State Park at 0810 on yet another perfect day; hot but not too hot, fresh breeze, very light traffic on River.  Had a great “push” from the current (9 mph at a mere 1800 rpm, great mpg).  Again enjoyed mile after mile of awesome scenery, wildlife out the wazoo and almost no people.  Stopped in Welaka (tidy little old Florida town) for ice & dog walk, and then went on, back to Murphy Creek for the night.  Arrived and on the hook in same anchorage area as on 05/25 after 7:50 hours and 63 miles.  Bonnie:

05/29:  About the 5^th or 6^th perfect day in a row.  Off to an early start (0645 off the anchor and on the way).  First went wrong direction for 2.5 miles to take advantage of a free state park dock to walk the dogs…no luck, dock full so we retraced our steps and began the real voyage at 0725.  At 0805 we pulled into a free dock in the Palatka area, gave the dogs their chance.  Back on the water at 0825 and ran north for some 36 miles to 6 Mile Creek where we detoured up the creek 2 miles to The Crab Shack for lunch.  Place is regionally famous and a favorite water hole for Loopers.  Had a great lunch  (shrimp & crab) and got underway for NAS Jacksonville Marina and the end of this phase of the voyage.  Will pick up our truck tomorrow, clean the boat, load the truck and depart on the asphalt river for Indy early AM on Friday.  Were in slip (after hairy docking due to strong and unfavorable winds and no dockside help) at 1600.  FOR THE RECORD: NOT PRUDENT TO USE AN OTHERWISE FINE FACILITY IF WINDS ARE FROM NE THRU SSW.  Actually had small white caps in marina and are now rocking and rollin worse than on a mooring ball since wave action in Marina is confused and frequent with east wind at 15+.  Bonnie:

06/9/13: You will note that it has been quite a while since our last post.  You will also note that Bonnie’s portion of the last two days under way are omitted.  That is because:

We spent the day on 05/30 cleaning up the boat and collecting our truck from St. Augustine.  Loaded the truck that evening and departed for Indy @ 0430 on the 31^st.  Eleven hours and 900 miles later we arrived home.  Found a yard & gardens gone wild, mail backlogs, and both Bob (Bonnie’s 103 Y.O. Uncle) and her Mom in need of  expected TLC.  She has been running at full speed ahead since our arrival, hence my lame attempt to summarize our events to date.  We plan to return to Jacksonville on the 19^th and head north to the Chesapeake Bay & Elizabeth’s (daughter) home across the street from Old Point Comfort Marina at the mouth of the Bay.  Bonnie plans to add her usual high quality commentary to the log of 05/28 & 05/29 when the pace slows down a bit.