03/04 - 03/06 - Hontoon Island, Florida 2025

Avidmagnum12":11rwycrh said:
Hontoon is still closed at this time. The Ranger I talked to yesterday said they would be opening any day now and I should call back next week. The gathering will be happening as scheduled.
More information will be provided after my Christmas- New Years cruise.
Merry Christmas
Tom on C-Otter
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Thats Great.
Thanks
 
Hontoon Island is officially open again. Never any doubt in my mind that this would open before our annual C-Brat gathering this March. They are only officially running the ferry on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at this time. The good news is that we will virtually have the park to ourselves for the gathering as we did last year. Power is available at one dock at this time but they expect to have the other one fixed by March. Unless they open the park for camping we may be asked to leave the dock at closing time. Last year they made exception to bad weather. In any case we will work it out. Lots of great anchorages in the area.

Dr. Bob will not be attending this year due to physical limitations. He has been our main speaker for years and will be missed. Fortunately he still is able to give us great advice on this website. Thanks Bob!

Some of us “Old Timers “ will have to rise to the occasion. What I would like to know now is what topics newer C-Dory owners like to discuss. In the past we have discussed all manners of safety, trailering anchoring, looping, boat upgrades and much more. I’ve been C-Dory boating for about 15 years now and still learning each time I splash the C-Otter.

I’ll let this sit about a week and see what feed back amounts too. Schedule will be presented some time in February.

Important….please sign up on the C-Brats if you are planning on attending. If anyone has a specific question PM me.

Thanks ……..Tom
 
Has anyone ever done a presentation on upgrading their house battery to lithium batteries? If we cant stay over night, what marina does everyone stay at?
 
RDiemidio":muf8un63 said:
Has anyone ever done a presentation on upgrading their house battery to lithium batteries? If we cant stay over night, what marina does everyone stay at?
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There has been a lot of talk about the lithium batteries in recent past. And much to do about them here on C-Brats. I have no interest, but I'm sure many do. As for marinas, there are two right across the river. Look up Holly Bluff and Hontoon Landing. But most of us just anchor out. There are quite a few nice places to set the hook, some just around the corner on the Dead Hontoon River, which is just the loop around the back side of the Island. You can also find several branches off the main channel between Ed Stone park where many of us launch, and Hontoon.
 
Even if you are a neophyte in anchoring, the Dead River is a great place to work on anchoring. Right depth, and good holding ground, well protected.

Tom, thanks for the kind words; I will be there in Spirit.

We have done some discussion about the LiFePO4 batteries. I have been using them for over 10 years now. I have a mobile setup, which we take in the SUV for long drives, so we have frozen entrees, in my diet anywhere we go. I have finished assembling a "Home" system which will run a freezer. Refrigerator Freezer and house minimal LED lights with solar panels and 500 amp hour of LiFePO4 batteries. This is so I can avoid running a generator at night--and it will carry the essential loads if we have loss of electricity and natural gas--in other words, have to go off the grid. The inverters are 3000 watts, plus surge to 6000 pure sine wave, and then a circuit for changing AA AAA Batteries, and cell phones, flashlights etc.

If anyone has questions about Li batteries, please PM me. IF the question deserves main stream discussion we will take it there, if not, and a unique situation, I will try and answer with PM or emails. There are some new battery technologies which are probably better than the LifePO4 which are now coming to retail market. My feeling is that the LiFe are the still the best for our small boats.
 
Hey Group
Just signed up for Hontoon Island gathering! Really looking forward to seeing everyone again. Hope the docks are available for overnight but plenty of good anchorages anyway. Just finished having a new aluminum fuel tank installed with all the attendant mess to clean up! Had to cut out the floor of the cockpit to remove the old leaking tank and install the new one. Have not been on the water since July!
Tom, have you and Joyce made your trip down the ICW yet? Please feel free to contact us if you would like a hot meal and/or cleanup services or overnight docking on your way thru up or down the river.
T&T
 
Hi Tad and Toby.
Glad you’re going to join us at Hontoon Island. You’ll have to fill us in on the new tank. Our plans changed about the ICW and we joined James and Betty on the Molly Brown on the suwanee River for about a week. Great time as they were just finished the last 400 miles of their Great Loop Trip. Trust we can take a rain check for getting together with you.

See you at Hontoon …..Tom and Joyce
 
Hi Mark
Looking forward to getting together again. According to the park Ranger I talked to last week the water was working on both docks.

It’s sad that they have not been able to get the park back to full service in over three years now. It sounds like the new manager is working diligently to get everything up and running.

The restrooms and showers are in working order.

Tom
 
Looking forward to this!

i assume most are getting a boat camp spot?
is there any reservation I need to make? i cant stay for the whole thing, but hte first two days for sure. I have a van event I have to get to sadly that weekend.

Id be more than happy to do a talk on lithium conversions as well.
Ill be coming down from Jacksonville in our Ranger Tug r23
 
Grant
Looking forward to seeing you at Hontoon. I’ll send you a PM with my phone number so we can discuss a time for you to discuss lithium conversion. Most everyone will boat camp a few will seek a nearby marina.
Tom
 
Avidmagnum12":x33je3xz said:
Grant
Looking forward to seeing you at Hontoon. I’ll send you a PM with my phone number so we can discuss a time for you to discuss lithium conversion. Most everyone will boat camp a few will seek a nearby marina.
Tom
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Sounds great!
 
It would be great if someone could video tape Grant's talk. It is important since he has the ABYC technical certification--which I consider very important especially in electrical field--and with the potential issues that the LiFe PO4 battery can bring, if not properly installed, with appropriate fusing, shut off switches and adequate size wire, DC to DC "batery charger", etc. I wish I could be there to hear the talk!
 
Thank you for doing a presentation. I will have a few questions about location and wire size. Also heat dispersion from the dc to dc charger. I live in St Augustine. You being in Jacksonville is very helpful.
 
RDiemidio":3koicf0o said:
Thank you for doing a presentation. I will have a few questions about location and wire size. Also heat dispersion from the dc to dc charger. I live in St Augustine. You being in Jacksonville is very helpful.
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Lets meet out on the water this weekend and chat!
 
Stoped over at Hontoon Island State Park this morning and talked with Adam the park specialist. At this time the ferry is only running on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 4 pm. By March they plan on running the ferry 7 days a week.

All looks good for the gathering as far as daytime activities. At this time it looks like we will have to be off the dock by about 5pm or so. I stopped in at St. John’s river marina and they said they mite have some slips available. They need registration and insurance to rent a slip plus $75.00 a night. A little rich for my blood. I’ll be anchored out!

In the past we have had evening group meals however with the ferry schedule I’m considering lunch time instead. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

More Later…….Tom
 
Tom asked me to upload some photos for him. This first one is a picture of the boat launch ramp at Ed Stone Park. This is where most of us launch and retrieve our boats, and is 4 miles from Hontoon Island. Except for a short section along the River, most is at no wake speed to protect the Manatees. Please respect that limit. I've found in the past, the ramp tends to be busy on weekends during normal launch and retrieval times. And in between, parking also fills up.

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As a courtesy, since we are there for several days, (and some of us have left our rigs parked for several weeks, without issue), we try to park along the highway, farthest away from the launch ramp. The ground slopes downhill towards the highway, and most back in with their trailers on the slope.

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There is a lot of brush around this sign in the photo, but most the area is clear with just prairie grass. There are a couple of small trees that may overhang your trailer, but shouldn't present a problem. There is a restroom at the launch, and several picnic tables. There is also a small dock between the channel entrance to the launch, and the ramps. Hontoon is upstream, or to the south (turn left) of the launch. It's no wake from the channel entrance to just beyond the bridge. Then you have maybe a couple of miles you can open it up (below 25mph I believe) until the no wake zone again. However, be advised that Manatees do frequent the shore shallows even in these zones without wake restrictions.

If you are looking for anchorage before coming to Hontoon State Park, there are several chutes just north of the launch that make for a nice anchorage, and also along the way to Hontoon. And once you get near Hontoon, veer off to the right to go into the Dead River, and you will find more nice places to anchor. Go just past Hontoon, and you enter Lake Beresford, which can also offer areas to anchor.
 
Thanks Colby for posting those photos for me of Ed Stone Park.

I’ve just been talking to Grant Wilson and he has agreed to inform us about his lithium battery conversion and what he has for solar. Exciting stuff.
His presentation will be on Tuesday afternoon March 4th so he sure to get to Hontoon early.

Looking forward to the best gathering ever…Tom
 
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