Swuanee and Santa Fe, FL

M

Molly Brown

Member
Got a solid two weeks for exploring over Christmas and New Year's. With the new trailer, we are traveling to farther cruising destinations, and have settled on the Swuanee River for this cruise. Roughly 75 miles of navigable river, plus the Sante Fe river, should give us plenty of interesting cruising ground. It's fun finding out about new places and was surprised at some of the info we've read. The intent of this post is get whatever local knowledge this site might have as to the rivers and surrounding areas. We've boated all of Florida but none of the panhandle or the rivers south of Crystal River so we are looking forward to this trip and would appreciate anyones comments. Thank you.
 
I would be interested ,too. I thought the Swanee was more than 75 miles navigable. Where is the Santa Fe river?
 
First off let me correct my spelling, it's the Suwannee River. My limited research shows 75 miles of navigable river up to Troy Springs north of Branford. After that you have to deal with shallow water with rock. I can deal with submerged trees but rock is very unforgiving. The Santa Fe river heads east, south of Branford and I expect about 20 miles of that is doable. Two issues with this plan is that I have zero local knowledge, and second, a lot will depend on the water levels. There's a whole host of info in the net but some of it is quite old. Real time water level can be had at http://www.srwmd.state.fl.us/realtimeri ... evels.aspx but I have nothing to compare it against. Part of the experience is finding out for ourselves which then becomes "experience". Having 2 weeks in which to explore will allow us to go slow which I've come to enjoy immensely and has the added benefit of giving one time to enjoy the area. We are boaters that are always looking for land as I have a couple of dogs and a wife who is a runner, and it's why I really enjoy river cruises. I have a friend who works with some FWC officers and will be making inquiries with them as to the status of the river prior to launch.
 
Molly Brown
I spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Cape Coral and though I did not bring the C-Dory this time we did take a water taxi from Cape Coral to Fort Myers Beach. Next trip we'll bring the C-Dory. There are lots of places there to explore and what appears to be some great fishing. Enjoy your trip.
 
In the winter the water levels of any of our rivers in the Pan Handle, gulf coast of FL vary both with rain, and may also be influenced by the Northers, as water is blown out of the gulf.
 
Stan....Cape Coral is in my back yard. You could spend months in the three county area and lots of water to explore.

Dr.Bob...We have the same phenomenon is our area as well. The lows are lower in the winter and the high are higher in the summer. Either season, hard north/north east winds have been known to blow most of the water out of the Peace river and the harbor itself, which is huge. Amazing power.

Simplicity....that's quite the blog your have and extensive cruising it appears. Fanning Springs is about mile 35. We hope to get to mile 65 at the least, which is the cutoff for the Santa Fe. For boat of our size, regardless of the water level, all indicators point to Branford at mile 75 being the most "doable" part of the river. The whole run measures at roughly 250 miles so we obviously will be missing a good portion of the river. From Branford north it is mostly a canoe river and very beautiful. We have both been on portions of the river canoeing over the years and have fond memories of those times. Most any Florida river is very cool where not developed.

3 weeks of work to launch. Always interested in anyones advice, opinion, experience or general rant :-)
 
We have greatly enjoyed the Suwannee and Sante Fe rivers for the past 2 years and will probably return the winter. We encountered very different conditions each time. Two yrs. ago water levels were very low. Seawall foundations were high and dry and we had to "feel" our way through some shallow areas. We didn't get past the Sante Fe on the Suwannee. Last year was high flood stage and it was getting uncomfortable by the time we pulled out. I'm sure you will encounter something in between.
The Suwannee is a beautiful and undeveloped river, and there are very limited facilities. There are marinas at Suwannee, near the gulf and not much else. Gas, ice and limited supplies are a short walk at Fanning Springs and at Branford. We have spent nights at Manatee Park and Fanning Springs docks. I don't think it officially allowed although Rangers present have never questioned us. There are many other springs you can explore.

The Sante Fe is crystal clear and very pleasant. You can get some supplies at Ellie Rays on the river. They were talking about selling gas last year, but weren't at that time (Feb). They have a campground, ice, and sometimes a bar is open. We were able to dump our port-pot there. Nice folks.
There are shallow rapids just past the Ichetucknee River that limited us the first year, last year it was 5 feet deep there. We were even able to get up the Ichetucknee a mile or more. Crystal clear, you get a good look at the manatees.

We have pictures in our album: Carpy.

You have a treat in store, enjoy!

Bruce & Joyce
Carpy
 
Bruce and Joyce....
Thanks so much for your post. Excellent info and enjoyed your pics. I really like the one where your boat seems to be hovering in mid air. Not used to crystal clear water and what looks 2' deep is always surprising when you find out it's 6' or more. We've decided not to worry too much about water levels; we'll make do with whatever the conditions are. If they are too low we can always spend more time out on the coast. Not being retired yet means we don't have the luxury of choosing "our" time but plan to make the most of the time we do have. Thanks again.
 
For what it is worth. Skipper App (I pad/phone) has excellent stitching of Topo maps of various sorts, as well as satellite views. I believe all of these can be down loaded so it works off internet. The navigation program seems to work very well. I am having issues with getting Active Captain (ie for Lake Powell) on Topo Their tech support is working with me--and it may be that OS 7 can be an issue with Active Captain and Skipper. Susposedly a patch has been sent to Apple. --even though I have put some one) loading onto the maps. But for navigation on rivers, it gives good maps, and location ref towns etc.

What are there in the way of fuel stops?--I assume that it will be jerry jugging fuel.

Take the warm clothes. We had 25 degrees a couple of nights last week in Pensacola. Hopefully it will be like today--in the mid to upper 70's.
 
I did further investigation with the IT people at Skipper. The marine product only apparently allows NOAA charts to be downloaded for off internet use. For Topo maps they have two other products. One is primarily for hikers: "Gaia". This has navigation portion of the App and allows offline storage of topographical maps.. There is another App, which is Offline Topo maps, without the navigation program.
 
You need Capt Rick Rhodes' 'Cruising Guide to Florida's Big Bend...Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint and Suwannee Rivers'. Dated (2003) for current navigation, but timeless overall, and 355 pages that no one else has researched so well, at least in my humble opinion. He had a seminar at a Miami International Boat Show we went to; it was a hoot. (We went to 10 Miami Shows trying to find The Perfect Boat For Us before we found our Tom Cat 255). He has a custom shallow draft Honda overnighter and describes the boulders that have taken out tourist outdrives who don't have 'local knowledge'. Check Amazon and Ebay, 'cause I won't sell my copy.

Consider hiking Horn Island ...30 miles perimeter, takes 3 days (elite runners 2.5 days) and planning due to lagoon tidal outfalls and ankle-deep soft sand at high tides, totally primitive, no water, only 2 crossovers (both require Local Knowledge). See April Newlin's Horn of Plenty, Seasons in an Island Wilderness.
Cheers!
John and Eileen
 
The only fuel source we can count on is at Miller's Marina at the mouth of the river. I will have empty jugs to haul fuel in an emergency. Don't anticipate needing any fuel. The one variable is how much running around the coast we might do but needed fuel would be available there. The river portion will be "slow go" which dramatically improves our mileage.

Weather wise there's not much to do about that but adapt. Record highs 85, low's to 27.

Well aware of the lower unit dangers in that area. One of my neighbor's was a marine mechanic up in Crystal River and told that 80% of their business was lower unit repair. I managed to nip off the end of my skeg on a rock out in the middle of nowhere while returning from a scallop trip off of the Chassahowitzka River 5 years ago.

I'll look into that cruising guide. This trip came up kind of sudden when ours schedules opened up and meshed at the same time so there is precious little time for planning. If you know Florida, this is our busy time of the year and with the holiday season at the same time it's a rare thing to get time off.
 
I also have Rick Rhode's book. There are about 16 pages--minus photos on the Suwannee, and a little over a page on the Santa Fe River. I can loan you what you might need. PM me. Some other rivers get more detail.

Bob
 
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