St.
John’s River – Anchorage
“Limitless and immortal, the waters are the beginning
and end of all things on earth.”
—Heinrich Zimmer
One
of the things I have been looking forward to on this cruise is getting to
explore some of the beautiful clear springs along the St. John’s River. Today
we had the chance to visit our first one. We cruised up river to a beautiful
anchorage just past the entrance to the Blue Spring park. It’s in an oxbow in
the river and ranks as one of the top five anchorages we’ve stayed in since we
started cruising…it’s amazingly pretty and remote. No river traffic, no lights,
no sounds except the sounds of nature, surrounded by beautiful trees draped in
Spanish moss.
After
enjoying a nice lunch on the flybridge we took the dinghy to Blue Spring State Park. The spring is a designated Manatee
Refuge and is the winter home of the West Indian Manatees that live in the St.
John’s River. A park ranger told us that they counted over 400 manatees in the
spring this past winter. The springs are closed to water activities from
November to March to keep the manatees safe, but visitors can view them from
the boardwalks and overlooks along the spring run. During warmer months the
springs crystal clear, 73 degree water offers swimming, snorkeling, scuba
diving, tubing and kayaking. There's also a limited underwater cave system
that can be explored by divers. We were lucky today to see one manatee in the
spring run…it was fun seeing him in the clear water. I can only imagine how it
would be to see the river full of them in the winter. What a sight!
I brought my snorkeling gear
with me, because I knew I couldn’t pass up swimming in this crystal clear
water. After walking the length of the spring run and doing a little exploring
I had the chance to swim into the spring pool and then down part of the spring
run. After I had gotten out of the water we spotted a small alligator…poor
thing was probably scared to death when the tubers saw it and started
screaming…kind of glad I was sitting on the overlook by then.
This evening we took the
dinghy into the Snake Creek…a small, very small, tributary to the St. John’s
River. Like it’s name, it snaked its way around part of Hontoon Island. We had
a chance to see a lot of birds, turtles and a few alligators. It was a
wonderful day…blue skies, great temperature and amazing scenery.
Blue Spring State Park
The manatee we sawPart of the boardwalk along the spring run
Getting ready to take the dive into the cool water. My new rash guide kept me very warm
The Blue Spring pool
Tubers on the spring run...the little spot in the center of the picture is the alligator.
Exploring the swamp on the Snake Creek
WOW...what a great day! So glad you guys are enjoying yourself. GREAT PICTURES!
ReplyDeleteBarbara & David