03/03 - 03/05 - Hontoon Island CBGT Deland, Florida

Once again the Hontoon Island Gathering was a rousing success thanks to the enormous effort put forth by Tom and Joyce Schulke. Their organizational skills allowed the "gatherers" to participate in a wide variety of planned and unplanned activities.

My special thanks go to the "Auction Team Crew". Somehow they were able to organize nearly 200 items for the event as well as keeping the "bidders" under control. Thank you Jan, Peg, Tena, Toby, Roseanne, Christy, Becky and Joyce for a job well done. The aid given by Dr. Bob cannot go unrecognized. as he was able to identify many for the electronic gadgets included in the large array of boating equipment. It was with the greatest of pleasure to hand off the auction duties to Eileen Highsmith for the 2021 gathering. One suggestion would be to include more handcrafts made by our members as they have proven to be best sellers over the years.

Have a great C-Dory year everyone.

Cheers,
Pat Clow
Meri Aura
 
Once again the Hontoon Island Gathering was a rousing success thanks to the enormous effort put forth by Tom and Joyce Schulke. Their organizational skills allowed the "gatherers" to participate in a wide variety of planned and unplanned activities.

My special thanks go to the "Auction Team Crew". Somehow they were able to organize nearly 200 items for the event as well as keeping the "bidders" under control. Thank you Jan, Peg, Tena, Toby, Roseanne, Christy, Becky and Joyce for a job well done. The aid given by Dr. Bob cannot go unrecognized. as he was able to identify many for the electronic gadgets included in the large array of boating equipment. It was with the greatest of pleasure to hand off the auction duties to Eileen Highsmith for the 2021 gathering. One suggestion would be to include more handcrafts made by our members as they have proven to be best sellers over the years.

Have a great C-Dory year everyone.

Cheers,
Pat Clow
Meri Aura
 
Thanks to Pat Clow for her work on the Auction and raising $2000 for the State Park! Tom and Joyce--as always way beyond what seems possible. Fantastic gathering. The post (and pre) gatherings are also loads of fun. We are having our last night together at "Volusa Bar" "Marina". There are 4 boats left. We and Midnight Flyer are sticking around for a few more days after--then back to reality late next week.

Thanks to all who made it one of our all time favorites!!!
 
Can't say enough how much I enjoy this gathering. While Tom & Joyce do a great job organizing it and keeping things on track, it's being able to visit with everyone, old friends and new alike. It really is one big family! The gathering itself is only half the fun for me. It's the before and after cruises that make it so worth it for me to make the 1350 (just one way) mile trip. The St. John's River is great for cruising with all it's tributary's and back channels. And then too the people (non c-brats) we meet along the way along the docks and in the restaurants and marinas. With all the other crap going on right now with the Corona Virus, this is definitely allowed one to stay relaxed and distant from the mess. Colby
 
Great gathering this year! Thanks to everyone that helped make it a success!

Had an interesting end to the outing... Thursday morning I was dragging and felt worse as the day went on. I was supposed to head to the Gulf for a trip to the Everglades. I decided to pull the boat and head back to the hotel. During the night I developed a very high fever and had a bad case of the chills. I decided to drive home to north Georgia early Friday morning.

By Friday evening, I was in the hospital with sepsis from a blocked kidney due to a kidney stone. Three days later I’m finally back home, still on Cipro. Kidney surgery is scheduled in two weeks.

So no C-Dory adventures for me for the next couple of months. Sure glad I didn’t head to the gulf. I would have needed a ride on one of the Coast Guard choppers for sure!
 
Patrick, Sure glad you are home and not having to figure out how to get together with your boat in a month or something. Hey, the CG chopper ride can be fun, but you really don't want to do it that way. Stay safe and healthy and enjoy.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Hontoon Island CBGT roundup.....
Thank you for the kind remarks about our “Hontoon Hoot”. With a diverse group such as ours it’s remarkable how well everyone gets along famously! Never is there a shortage of volunteers ready to help with tasks at hand. It doesn’t mater if it’s grilling, docking, setup, cleanup or the many other tasks, they are always done with a smile. 😁

We all certainly learned some lessons from Dr. Bob about anchoring and Colby did not loose anyone on the guided tours. The Clow auction raised hundreds of dollars for the park. Thanks for the donations and the bidders. In total, we have $2000 in donations (a new record) for a new shelter building in the parking lot for guests waiting for the ferry. Many of the attendees used the volunteers laundry that we helped fund last year. Yes ...it’s reserved for volunteers and C-BRATS.

The park is open and operating with reduced hours at this time. We would have had to cancel the event if it was scheduled for this week. All group activity at Florida state parks are suspended for the time being. Yet...last Saturday was one of the biggest attendance days ever. Go figure.

The after gathering trip was very relaxing. Started out with about 10 boats and had 4 left this morning. Colby and Dr. Bob are still on the St. John’s so it’s not over yet. We made it to the springs, the Ocklawaha, Welaka, Crescent Lake, Velousia Bar Marina. Nobody ran out of toilet paper.

So....it’s time to clean up the C-Otter and put the left over supplies away till next year. The memories of the gathering fill my mind and heart. New friends and old friends.....That’s what this gathering is about!

Till next time ...Tom

PS... Patrick...glad you were not out on the gulf. Makes me think about my trips to Lake Superior where help is not nearby. We are all in God’s hands.
 
Back at Hontoon, getting the boat ready to pull out in a few hours. The last three weeks have been great. Wondering what we're getting into as we become land dwellers again. The end (of the St. John's C-Brat gathering 2020). :D
 
We are Back at Hontoon, just bided "see you soon" to Colby and Roxanne! We will stay on the water another day or two at Shell Creek.

We enjoyed the evening and day with Midnight Flyer at Deep Creek yesterday. Always a nice run. We saw first flamingo's here (Have seen them further South in the past), I made the mistake of not photographing them when we first saw them--could not find the flamingo's today.

The park will not allow overnighting of boats or campers after Wednesday night--I believe this is until April 15--and may be extended. Open during the normal daylight hours currently...For some reason they had to use the "new" dual 50 hp Yamaha powered pontoon boat to ferry some folks today??

Now if we can just get 75 gallons of diesel to fill up the truck's tank and get home...never know what will close down next!
 
Well sort of a negative to our last day on the cruise. We had gone all of the way to the head of "Shell Creek" to find an anchorage for the night--but no place to take the dog ashore. The trip was beautiful, and we saw, and photographed a lot of birds.

Came back to Hontoon, where we were told that Thursday was the last night boats could say over night by a ranger yesterday. I went to check in, and the assistant ranger said they were closed. I asked if I could make a donation to the park. The assistant ranger (who said he was the only one there) had to consult Renee. Well, Renee magically appeared, and said that all boats had to be off the dock tonight. No overnight stays. He was making a great concession by allowing us to stay until 6 PM! Then I find out that people who had made reservations were allowed to stay until Friday! So "Tallahassee" trumps the
"head ranger's" decisions. I understand now why volunteers are leaving after many years of service to this park.

I will be writing this up to go to the superintendent of the Park Department.

We will stay as long as possible, then anchor on Dead River, and come back to walk Angel in the AM.

Still a beautiful place.
 
WeekiTiki":1e3elhgk said:
thataway":1e3elhgk said:
We will stay as long as possible, then anchor on Dead River, and come back to walk Angel in the AM.

Still a beautiful place.
Click to expand...

Is there not a trail accessible from the Dead River?
Click to expand...

There are several landing spots, but we had deflated the dinghy in preparation for haul out the next AM. I don't go bow to the beach, in the dark, and expect Marie to jump off the foredeck with the dog in hand, onto unknown surfaces. We do carry an extending ladder, but not planing on using bow to the beach, it was left in the truck.
 
Colby,
Some nice photos: Thanks!

I'll take credit for the bird photos on pages 4 and 5...plus a few other photos :)

I also have a lot of photos which I didn't upload, but if anyone wants one of mine that they want to enlarge or print, my files are fairly large and I can send an SD card or Thumb Drive...
 
Some great shots Bob with that telephoto lens you had! Already looking forward to next year's gathering! The gathering time also seems to go by too fast! Especially this year with all the virus stuff going on now.
 
Really good photo collection. Thanks for sharing those, and now I have an idea what I missed. Hope to see you all next time around.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Just want to thank everyone again for their generous donations to Hontoon Island state park to get the shelter project started. I'm not sure when they will get it started at this time but I'll keep everyone informed. What I am certain about is that C-Brat's are the greatest! Stay safe and Lord willing we can meet up again next year on the St. Johns River in Florida.

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We have cleaned and waxed the C-Otter in preparation to go north in June to Wisconsin and Michigan's Isle Royal National Park. Not sure this will happen as the situation is ever changing. Our other option is to take the boat out on the St. John's and "distance" ourselves out there with the birds, alligators and frogs. Most of the boat ramps are still open here and I do not have to make contact with anyone on the water. Distancing is key.

Till next time ....Tom
 
Well we missed it again. Right in our back yard too. Believe it or not I'm still working all the bugs out of the 23 Venture we bought. Ain't boating fun! Next year....
 
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