Florida bound

Not yet Byrdman, but we are in Ocala for Dee's Doc appointment. Then, pick up the boat in Crystall River, back to Astro, wash the boat, put it in the water, put on ships stores, put it on Autopilot, wake me up in Sanford.

No Internet from Astro, just barely cell phone. But we are still checking out the grounds. Maybe somewhere.

captd
 
captd,
Sounds as though you are on an adventure. My wife Toby and I are going exploring on the St. John's for 6 days in late Dec. We are going to launch the Comfy Dory on Wed. the 26th or Thursday the 27th west of Mims on Lake Harney and return on Tues. the 1st. The plan is to travel north exploring the lakes, coves and creeks, circumnavigate Lake George and check out the springs and maybe go up to Palatka before we turn around. We have made many runs on the River between Lake Poinsett west of Cocoa up to Lake George in our Lowe 14' aluminum boat. This will be the first time that we have had the Dory on the St. John's. The river and marshes are the most beautiful at this time of the year as the reeds have dried out and the marsh is wide open. The variety of birds is amazing also as this area is at the south end of the Atlantic Flyway. Many white pelicans, cranes, herons, hawks, eagles, ducks and of course, song birds.

Where is Astro, FL? I have heard of Astor, FL just south of Lake George, but not Astro. Is that where you will be launching the boat? What is your projected launch date? Maybe we will be on the River at the same time only going in opposite directions. Keep an eye out!

Tad
 
Tad,
Astor , is correct., just south of Lake George. Why I have been having trouble with the name, I just don't know . Age I guess. I have even told some friends the name was Aster.

We are in Crystal River right now as I type. JP has finished with the screens and mattress. and we will pull out this morning back to Asturd. The boat goes in the water tomorrow.
!st hop will be to head your way to Sanford. I think that is about as far as we can go with the Ranger. I guess, from what I have been told, the water is high and a 2 ft. draft could go all the way to the Cabbage Patch. The chart shows it a little If' y. We should meet some where along the way, I am sure. Plan on the springs also. In fact friends will be here thursday when we put in and we might go to the springs that day. Looks like it is only about 12 miles from here. We plan on spending a month and a half on the river. How much time will you be on St. Johns?

The Name of the Marina where we keep the camper and a boat slip is called "Astor Marina and Landing " It is on the West side a couple miles before you get to Astor. By road it is about 4 miles out of town.

Hope to see you and tie up for evening sodas.
captd (Darrel )
 
CPTD: Looks like the metropolis of Astor will have some nice clear weather on Thursday. ...at least on Thursday. Month and a half.... Hummmm?

Back in country on 7Jan, Nashville Boat show 8-14th....??
I think I have another friend with his boat in the area...??

C-Brat Hawthorne Suit Gathering in Auburn, WA area 23-26Jan....

Hummm... what to do from the 14th to the 23rd of Jan...? Jeff..any ideas?

Byrdman
 
Darrel,

Wow! I sure wish we had a month and a half to travel on the St. John's. There are plenty of places to explore that would take that long to see them. As we are still tethered to jobs, we won't have that amount of time for a few more years. This trip will be for 6 days. We will launch the boat on Thursday the 27th at Lake Harney and return to Lake Harney on Wednesday, New Year's day. Lake Harney is about 45 minutes from our home on Merritt Is.
We will probably spend the first night @ Hontoon Is. as they have a nice little transient dock for overnight and there are some good walking trails on the island. From there, we will head north with no real plan for where to overnight. There are some beautiful, peaceful coves along the way that may catch our fancy for overnights. Our preference is to "drop a hook" for our overnights rather than stay at a marina.
I am not sure where we might cross wakes, but if we have not seen your boat after a couple of days, you might call us on my cell phone. The number is: 321-432-5071 and I will have it on while we are on the Comfy Dory. I will make sure to check at the Astor Marina when we go through and see if you are there at that time.
Evening "sodas" with new friends are always welcome.

Tad
 
Tad & Toby,
Glad to hear the date you will put in. We will meet on the water at some point if we keep in touch. We launched Mis Dee on Thusday. Spent yesterday fixing some problems and putting up canvas.

With cold front coming in , we will probably depart Astor Landing about Wednsday. Our cell is : 406-283 -1051.

Dee took pictures of vultures and others. I'll see if I can post them.

Darrel & Dee Lawson
 
Tad & Toby,
I have written three messages and none made it . I will try again. cell is 406-283-1051. Keep in touch we will meet you guys somewhere.

Darrel & Dee
 
Amazing, Now there is two and this will be three, maybe
Cell service is very sketchy right here. Captd
 
Hang In There Darrell!

Just think...once you are both in the water in that flat area, VHF should be in your favor too!! Ya'll hook up for sure. C-Brats seem to.

Enjoying following your post.

Byrdman
 
Darrel and Dee,

I received your posted reply dated Sat. @ 6:11 as well as the other (2) replies that you posted. We lost power for a short while yesterday morning during the height of the wind and when I tried to respond to your post yesterday, the system would not let me post a reply. It must have something to do with having AOL as our service provider as I have had problems before.
Glad you got your boat back in the water. I hope you have a good slip at the marina in Astor with some protection from the wind. Who says there is no winter in Florida? Fortunately, the weather should moderate by this weekend.
Toby and I went to Lake Harney on Saturday and secured a parking spot for our truck and trailer at the Jolly Gator Restaurant, while we are cruising on the river. Bonnie the owner is a nice lady and the food is good and the beer is cold
We have finalized our plans and will launch early on Wed. morning the 27th. We are going to backtrack about a mile south of Lake Harney and go up the Econlockhatchee River for a ways. It has always been one of our favorite rivers to explore and this will be the first time we have had the Comfy Dory on the St. John's. We will give a shout out sometime in the morning and see if we can locate you all.

Take care and stay warm...Tad

P.S. Byrdman...It looks like you all are really getting the winter now in Tenn.! You should hook up the trailer and come on down to Florida and cruise with us until that nasty white stuff passes.
 
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