After a breezy night in the marina we departed Thursday morning to explore the upstream portion of the St Johns river. My original intention was to get to Sanford, but decided against it because (1) there aren’t any good places to dock there, (2) we would need to go through a railroad drawbridge and (3) one of the marina staff said “Sanford is where George Zimmerman shot Trevon Martin.” Probably not my cup of tea.

So Plan B was to find a place to tie up near Blue Spring State Park and possibly take the jon boat there to look around. So our target was an island just south of the park, at the Snake Creek Cutoff – an intimidating name, but it didn’t deter us.

We left about 20 minutes after the departure of our neighbors, a group of octogenarians who were also first-time houseboaters, led by Roy and Millicent, a lovely couple that stopped by for a chat Thursday morning. We were traveling at 1800 rpms, which I regarded as a slow cruise, but soon caught up to them. As we passed them I was tempted to yell out “You’re blinker is on!” but held my tongue.

They were out of sight by the time we reached a smaller island just north of the park and swung into the inlet there to scope out the docking opportunities (there were none), then had to turn around when the water became too shallow. We re-entered the channel just as Roy, Millicent, et al, were passing. They were amused to see us again.

We followed them south to the second island and this time found a good docking opportunity. Not on the island, which was posted No Trespassing, but on the mainland. It wasn’t as pretty as Lungren, but was easy to tie up to two conveniently-spaced trees, and provided good, dry ground for walking Rusty. After exploring the site a bit we hunkered down (e.g., moved the jon boat to the side, to protect it from wind and passing tour boats) because the weather was deteriorating. Rain began a couple of hours after we arrived, turned heavy and didn’t relent until after midnight. So we had a cozy day on the houseboat, playing cards, reading, watching TV and looking for manatees (didn’t see any).

The tour boats – St Johns River Tours – left from Blue Spring and seemed to be filled with groups that were traveling together. Bus tours of central Florida, probably. In any case, I heard enough of their spiel that I knew there were almost certainly manatees in the area. But well-hidden, apparently. We did see some interesting birds, including what I think was a variety of eagle. No alligators. Which was fine by me.

Every time I took Rusty for a walk I kept an eye out for a lurking alligator. I think Rusty would have looked pretty delectable to a hungry gator.

Before the rain began I took the jon boat out to investigate the island and the inlet. It was a quiet, serene place, except for the occasional tour boat and some distant channel boating noise. I shut off the motor and drifted for a bit just to feel the serenity.

On Friday we headed south for about 2 hours, to marker 101. There was another recommended docking spot there which we checked out (very nice) but didn’t stop. Then back to the marina at a leisurely pace, with the current but against the wind, which again had whipped up. We passed three people in a canoe at the entrance to Lake Beresford who looked like they were struggling to make headway and to avoid getting swamped. It was certainly not a nice day for canoeing.

Jett took the wheel, briefly, on the way back, just to prove to her kids that she had driven a houseboat.

I docked without a problem – I was an expert by then. The staff was surprised to hear that we had not seen any manatees. They said they had seen some swimming by the marina earlier that day. The best news came when they checked out the boat and declared that we had done no harm, so there were no additional charges.

We dined out that night – the last night of our houseboating vacation – at JC’s Lobster Pot, a local recommended fish joint. I had the “Fish Trio” – salmon, mahi mahi and “catch of the day” (some kind of whitefish) which was very good. Jett opted for the prime rib which she judged to be good but not great. But the prices were very reasonable and a nice meal out seemed like a good way to end the vacation.

The trip back was boring. I tried to avoid the Orlando traffic but probably made things worse by avoiding the toll road that runs along the western edge of Disney World. We spent over 40 minutes on local streets, snaking our way to I-4. Then, when we got within 10 miles of home, the rains began. Again. So I had to unload in a steady rain while Jett went to pick up Grace.

Grace seemed healthy and relatively happy to see us. But once Rusty tells her all about the adventures she missed she will likely never forgive us.

I intended to blog every day during our week on the houseboat, but, alas… too much time driving, playing cards and having fun. Plus our wifi connectivity was not stellar. So it is being compressed into 3 posts.

Our plan for Monday was to travel up to the Silver Glen Spring Run recreation area on the west bank of Lake George, the second largest lake in Florida (170 square miles). But the weather forecast for Tuesday (80 degrees and sunny) was better than for Monday (75 degrees and mostly cloudy), so we decided to just hang out for the day at our private little island – Lungren Island, near Astor. Florida. So Day 3 was all about Lungren Island, Day 4 was about our (disappointing) trip to and from Lake George and Day 5 was about our trip back to the marina.

First, Lungren Island. We loved this place! As previously mentioned, it was tiny – just a few hundred feet wide and maybe a hundred feet across. But it was beautifully wooded and really felt like it was our private little enclave. Rusty loved it, too. The photo is of Rusty on the island, investigating smells near the mysterious stump with the shoot on top. Jett called it “Wilson” after Tom Hanks’ soccer ball in Cast Away. The photo also shows the campfire area left by the earlier squatter. The other side of the island had two rope swings (which we didn’t use).

It was a beautiful, serene place, except for the occasional outboard motor noises. I spent some time on the upper deck, grabbing some sun and reading. The photo is from our second docking, on the channel side of the island (more on that in a bit). I also took the jon boat out for a spin early in the morning, then took it out again in the afternoon, with Jett along for the ride. I got some nice photos of the houseboat from the river and saw some interesting birds. I also spotted two white-tailed deer on shore, but wasn’t quick enough with the camera to get their picture.

With Jett along we tried to find the deer again, but failed. We did, however, spot an alligator. Or at least we thought we did. Turned out to be a rock which we immediately dubbed “Alligator Rock.” But we continued on downstream a bit, then crossed to the other side where we did, indeed, see an alligator. Probably about 8 feet long and pretty chubby. Well fed, I guess.

One thing I didn’t mention to Jett: the large (and, fortunately, dead) spider that I found in the jon boat. It was about 3 inches and scary. I don’t want to find any live ones.

We grilled bratwurst and burgers for dinner and enjoyed a second very quiet night at Lungren.

On Tuesday we woke to dense fog which, fortunately, burned off by 10am. We undocked and traveled north to Lake George and then did our best to find the entrance to the Silver Glen lagoon, which was more difficult than I expected. The lake is so large that we could barely see the shore and had only a general heading to find the (small) entrance. I actually used the GPS on my cell phone to assist in the navigation. We did, eventually, find it, but later than expected. We probably would have had only an hour or so to explore.

Which turned out to be a moot point because I was intimidated by the shallow water (less than 3 feet a quarter of mile from shore) and had visions of grounding dancing in my head. It was obvious that the only way we were going to get into the inlet would be to anchor the houseboat and use the jon boat. But as we had no experience with anchoring, we feared that we would return to find the houseboat grounded somewhere.

So we gave up, turned around and headed home – back to Lungren. We had the same navigation problem finding the river entrance and I had to consult my phone again. The issue with heading east on the lake was that missing the channel and going too far east would put us into a naval target bombing area. As much as we disliked getting grounded, we disliked the idea of getting bombed even more.

But we found the river without being bombed and made our way back to Lungren for a third night. This time, for variety, we tied up on the channel side of the island, below the two rope swings (see the upper deck photo above). This docking area was tighter than the other side and, coupled with a brisker wind and a stronger current, presented more of a challenge. I made it, but only after several tries and several bumps into the roots and branches of the downstream tree.

All in all, it was a difficult day of navigation and a disappointing day in that we never got to our intended destination. I treated myself to a couple of beers and watched the sun set in the west. Then Jett, Rusty and I had a quiet third night at Lungren.

Day 5 was mostly cloudy and very windy. We fought our way – against both the wind and the current, back upstream to the marina. We had some thought of staying on the river overnight, at a recommended mooring location just north of the drawbridge, but four attempts to nose into shore to tie up failed miserably as I was unable to stabilize the boat to get a rope around a tree. After banging into a tree pretty hard, I gave up and headed back to the marina.

I felt better after Charlie, our marina dock hand, banged the houseboat pretty hard into a piling as he tried to dock it. The wind and the current were pretty tough for him, too.

The good thing about a night in the marina is that we were tied to shore power and didn’t have to use the generator. That made the evening quieter and allowed us to stay up late playing cards and watching TV. Just like being in a RV, but with more rocking.

We have left our RV for a week to travel the St Johns River in a 54-foot houseboat. We are doing this because (1) we have talked about houseboating for a while and this was an opportunity to try it, (2) we had a timeshare week banked with RCI that was about to expire and we could exchange it for this houseboat week (though at a price), (3) it coincided with my birthday and (4) we are certifiably insane. So I, a lifelong landlubber with almost no boating experience, am now captain of a 54-foot vessel, the “Endevour”, towing a 14-foot “jon boat” with an outboard motor.

I will mention the bad stuff first, then get to the fun part.

1. It is expensive. Even after trading in our vacation week we had to plop down an additional $1100 to rent the houseboat for a week. That is $900 for training and whatnot, $100 for insurance and $100 for dogs. Actually dog, singular, because we could only bring Rusty; we had to board Grace (another $500 for a prime home). The jon boat was an additional $260. After fuel and incidentals this will run us over $2,000. Not cheap, but we had to see what it was like.
2. Leaving Grace behind was difficult. The necessity to do so arose from a weight limit of 35 pounds for dogs on board. I can understand why: getting dogs on and off the boat can be difficult once off the pier. It just isn’t a real family vacation without our “grand old lady”.
3. The nearly 4 hour drive was boring, for the first 3 hours.  Then we hit the Saturday traffic at Disney World in Orlando and it became annoying.
4. I left one bag of groceries in the car on Friday night after Jett when shopping for the trip.  She discovered the bag, fortunately, before we left.  But as it was a bag of meat it was a total loss and the 4 hour trip became much longer because it was filled with Jett’s how-could-you-do-that’s.

Now the good stuff from Saturday, when we got there, had dinner out and slept on the boat, and Sunday, our first day on the river.

1. We had a very nice meal at a local restaurant right on the St Johns River, the Shady Oak. I had fried ponga, whatever that is (some kind of fish) and Jett had fried green tomatoes and fried cod bites.  The tomatoes were mediocre but the rest was very good and the draft Rolling Rock was $1 for a mug.  The local “flavor” was… interesting.  We were surrounded by elderly bikers.
2. The houseboat is quite comfortable.  It has two real bedrooms, a bath, a kitchen and a living room with a futon.  It is much like living in our RV, except for the marine head, which is a bit more complicated than our simple RV toilet.  But it works and has unlimited capacity.  The water and the fuel are limited, of course, but generous enough to not be a concern for a week.
3. It is a rush to be called “Captain”. A half-hour into our cruise we had to call a drawbridge operator to request that the bridge be opened. That was a first for me – to have a drawbridge open at my request – and to be called “Captain” on the radio, for all the world to hear, was pretty cool.
4. I think I am a natural when it comes to boats. My first attempt at docking went smooth as silk. The instructor said it was the best first attempt he had seen in weeks. Maybe I missed my calling in the Navy.
5. The wildlife along the river on Sunday was very interesting. Lots and lots of cranes, egrets, hawks and vultures (who did not look at us like we were their next meal). Turtles and some alligators. I am sure we will see manatees soon.
6. There is something pretty cool about pointing the houseboat straight ahead, checking for traffic (very little), the leaving the captain’s chair to go get a snack. At 5 mph danger doesn’t approach very quickly.
7. We found a great place to put in for the night.  Our own private island.

After my training (which took about an hour) Sunday morning, we were off. Only to return 15 minutes later because we had forgotten to hook up the jon boat. So I got a second chance to dock (also successful, though not quite as smooth). Then the drawbridge, followed soon thereafter by some practice tying up to trees on shore. That was a little awkward, but I accomplished it. We stayed tied to an overhanging branch for about 45 minutes while we had lunch.

We had two little adventures along the way. First, one of our onboard CO detectors went off about an hour into the trip, for no apparent reason. I had to call the marina on the ship-to-shore radio to get advice from the engineer. Rebooting it seems to have solved the problem, after I did it several times and then tightened the internal electrical connection.

Second, I just about ran aground once. I was cruising along on the right side of the channel in typical 12-to-17 foot depths when suddenly the clearance dropped to 5 feet, then 4, then 3. The houseboat requires 3 feet of water, so I had a moment of panic. But before I could do anything (it doesn’t exactly stop on a dime), the depth jumped back up to 8 feet. I was concerned that perhaps the sand bar (or whatever it was) might have caught the propeller ($22 per blade), but later inspection showed no damage.

Docking at the little island near Astor was a bit nerve-wracking. We did it very slowly, checking the depth constantly, but had no problem getting the nose touching the little beach. I swung the stern in, tied the boat bow and stern and hopped off to explore, with Rusty’s eager assistance. It didn’t take long because the island was perhaps 100 feet across and 200 feet wide. But beautiful. I felt like Robinson Crusoe. There was evidence of previous camping on the island – a campfire site and a pole that was clearly used to make a lean-to. This was confirmed when we were visited by the local river police that evening who saw us docked there and just wanted to make sure that a squatter that he had run off recently had not returned.

The generator shut itself down shortly after we arrived. I figured it was due to our starboard-side docking position, where the stern was sitting in weeds, possibly clogging the intake for the generator’s cooling water. I was going to back out and come back in for a bow docking, but Jett convinced me that I could just manually reposition the boat. So I untied it, pushed the stern out, then used the bow rope to pull it over to where we wanted it. It worked! Pushing a 54-foot boat around made me feel like Hercules.

We had a nice meal (cooked inside because it was very chilly), watched TV and played cards. We shut off the generator and retired to bed at midnight. With the generator off our environment became very dark. And very quiet. Eerie.

But we slept well.

More about our private island tomorrow.