Time to pick back up the travelogue, this time the second part of our St. Johns River cruise heading into Sanford.
If you missed the first part, click on back to get an overview of this little side voyage.
First, the video version of this segment with lots of awesome drone & time lapse footage:
Stop 6: Murphy’s Island Creek
We left our overnight anchorage at Deep Creek and continued south.
We first thought we’d anchor off the city docks at Palatka to take in a lunch stop onshore – but it was just a touch too windy for comfort.
So we continued on.
Had we not had a conference call scheduled with our website design team, we might have stopped at Corky Bells – which has a nice dock to tie up to, free with meal purchase.
But we decided to head on to our intended overnight stop somewhere along Murphy’s Creek just a bit further south.
We’ll catch Palatka on our way back down north. That’s the cool thing about this journey, we’ll have a second shot at catching things we’re sure to miss.
The twisty little creek was super fun to navigate, and we passed a floating RV park encampment on an old barge tied up to the side. Pretty cool.
We got safety anchored, attended to our work call and then enjoyed a dinghy exploration trip. A pleasant evening, with a leisurely departure in the morning.
Stop 7: Turkey Island – Welaka
Murphy’s Creek is a nice side tributary that connects back to the main river – so we just continued the fun twisty journey in the morning.
Our next stop was an anchorage just north of Welaka just off Turkey Island.
With a bit of potential unsettled weather developing, we appreciated its protected reviews.
After a short cruise, we easily got anchored – and then dropped the dinghy towards the free city docks to go ashore.
At this point we’d been two nights at anchor without shore access, and were craving some walking.
There was also a single restaraunt in town not too far from the docks – Shrimps R Us & More – reviewed as a local favorite. I happen to love shrimp, and Chris is all about the ‘and more’.
Our lunch was simply amazing – probably some of the best shrimp and fish we’ve had in a while. This will be a must-stop on the return trip.
We also took off for a walk around town, and found the aquarium of the Welaka National Fish Hatchery, and enjoyed learning more about the critters that swim under our boat. Unfortunately, it looked like the actual hatchery was not operational.
A nice little stop for the evening, and great to get some shore time.
Stop 8: Black Point Anchorage
We were tempted to stay a second night in our nicely protected anchorage – but the unsettled weather reports were dissipating. We opted to continue on, as we’ve heard the scenery south of Lake George gets even better.
With only 2 weeks to do this cruise, we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time for the adventures ahead of us.
So we motored on to get closer to Lake George, which is best to cross in calm weather. It’s the second largest lake in Florida, and in windy or storm conditions can get quite choppy.
It was a tad windy still, so we found anchorage along a protected shore line to duck out of the gusts, and enjoyed a tranquil night on the hook at Black Point so we could cross in the morning.
With calm conditions in the morning, we started our Lake George crossing.
The tales from our final miles into Sanford will be in the next chapter.
Current Update:
Yup, we’re still in Sanford.
Those with more experience than us tell us that March is an ideal cruising month for experiencing spring time for the cruise back north. So we currently have a departure set for the first week, weather dependent.
By that time, we will have been in Sanford for four months. One of our longest stays ever in our 13 years of nomadic life. Sanford just kinda gets you that way.
Our time here has been anything but idle. We’ve tackled a plethora of boat projects and been catching up on overdue doctors visits. There’s been lots of visitors, and quality time with friends and family. Oh, and of course van shopping.
We also just this past week launched a brand new updated web design for our work site – MobileInternetInfo.com. This has been a HUGE work in progress for the past five months and it feels great to finally have it live to the world.
Go take a look, we’re pretty darn happy with the results!
Mobile. Connected. T-Shirt – Limited Edition
To celebrate the launch of the updated site, we’re offering a limited edition Mobile. Connected. T-shirt (a tradition we started with each launch of our book – The Mobile Internet Handbook – back in 2013).
The shirt is intended for anyone who utilizes technology to maintain a mobile lifestyle by RV and/or boat.
It’s available for pre-order though the end of this month.
Have been reading and watching for quite a while – it’s about time to thank You for all of your great content. As a full time RV travel wannabe, it is wonderful to read about your adventures, My wife and I are good at finding off the beaten path places, but will be adding another seafood joint to our “want to do” list.
Looks like you were having a great time!
Wow! You had me at Shrimp! (oh my!) Enjoy your stay in Sanford – happily awaiting updates.
Gorgeous video. I felt like I was sailing along with you.
Great video – thank you!
Corky Bells?!? We drive by there on US 17/SR 100 on our trips to St. Aug/Crescent Beach (of late, the trips are dictated more by the kid’s athletic competitions than a desire to be beachy), but in all these years never walked in to the place. It didn’t strike us from the road as terribly much to write home about, but appearances can be deceiving. If you do get there, please share your opinions!
We actually stopped in when we went back to Jax to get our car… it’s pretty amazing. Definitely stop in, huge back patio on the water and great food.
Cherie, Chris & Kiki
I have watched your most recent post three times. I love sailing virtually with you.
Kiki is so adorable cruising on her purple pillow. Love seeing her in the posts. I wonder if she saw any alligators…grin. Kiki is such a blessed kitty. She may be getting to travel where no cat has gone before…grin..
I did not realize there were such large rivers in Florida. Enjoyed the history of the river. What a wonderful way to explore new areas.
I also love shrimp and good fish. Looks like you both had a very delicious meal. Very interesting looking restaurant. Also, love the reference to movie ”Water World” regarding the floating RV compound. An interesting idea.
Be well and take care,
Sherry
Thanks for the beautiful views of the river. Just curious, what your main source is for anchorage and docking info…Waterway Guide?
We use both Waterway Guide and Active Captain… love that they are integrated into our chart plotting systems. We also source blog posts of other cruisers before us.
We were in Debary, Fl. in March, 2016 and then again in June, 2017 in our motorhome. Your post and photos brought back some wonderful memories. We so enjoyed our time there and plan to go back. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Enjoy your adventure.
You motored past my dock & ketch ‘Clear Sailing’ in East Palatka. I’m looking forward to taking the trip south when I have time. Any obstacles to a 45′ mast? – Mark
As long as all of the bridges are operational, you should be fine. It’s the Shands bridge north of you that is usually right at 45′.
Love your travelogs! Thanks!
That last picture of you two is terrific — lookin’ good, and very nicely relaxed. That RV park barge sure sounds intriguing!
Thanks.. it was a very relaxing cruise.
Thanks for the temporary escape from winter up north. I’ve been enjoying the look at a more relaxed, calmer and laid back part of Florida.
Glad we could provide a little warmth to your day.
Loving the videos! Especially the time-laps.
— jcw3rd
The time lapse is so fun to integrate in! We have footage from the whole cruise – we’ll probably release it once we wrap up the next travelogue.
Our restaurant here doesn’t serve shrimp but they have wonderful scallops. I miss shrimp, though.
Shrimp! Now I’m hungry.
By traveling in the interior of Florida and telling us about spots also applies to those who are on land. I added Shrimp R US and More to my list of roadfood stops.
Comment! 🙂
Not much to say, but it looks beautiful.