The St. Johns River

Only about 45 years ago in the wee hours of the morning of February 12, 1970, I and many other "recruits" were on our hands and knees in an old WWII barracks building at the "Reception Center" at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri having just arrived for our first day of U.S. Army service--Basic training. They didn't have anything for us to do so they told us to reach into our dopp kits and pull out our tooth brushes and commence scrubbing the wood floor. We did that until 2 or 3 in the morning then, finally, were sent to another barracks building where we were "put to bed". Somewhere in this process I met a guy named Bernie Boryc Like me, and others, he had just graduated from college, and had signed up for Officer's Candidate School with the Combat Engineers. Although serving in different training companies throughout Basic, we ended up as Squad Leaders in the same company for our AIT training (Advanced Individual Training) and, together, learned how to build bridges and blow them up. After completing our training we were sent, along with 20 others, to Ft. Hood, Texas where we served the balance of our Army stint, first with the 1st Armored Division and then with the 1st Cavalry Division. Although I was married and living off base with Diane and Bernie was still single and living in the barracks on base we continued our friendship. Eventually, Bernie went home and married Jane--his college sweetheart--and brought her back to Ft Hood for the remainder of his (our) term. Diane and I and Bernie and Jane became fast friends and remain so to this day. Although we drifted apart during those years that we were pursuing our careers (me in the law business and he as a rising management star with Sears) and raising our families, we continued to stay in contact--usually through Christmas letters and an occasional phone call. Then, around the summer of 2008, as B and J were passing through Colorado on vacation, they came to visit us at our townhome in Vail. Since then we have tried to get together on almost a yearly basis--not an easy thing to do as they live in Madison, Wisconsin. But we've managed to have some amazing times together--sailing in the Abaco's, hanging out on our boat in Punta Gorda, and most recently a 2 week Alaska Cruise. So it was only fitting that I asked Bernie if he would like to join me on Opus V for a guy trip to explore the St. Johns River.( Diane was to be in Chicago for a couple weeks tending to her sister after major knee surgery)Much to my surprise and delight Bernie took me up on my invitation (and Jane encouraged it).
We arrived within minutes of one another in Orlando and traveled over to Palm Coast in a rental car. We spent the next few days getting the boat ready, provisioning and readying and christening our new dinghy (the old one had finally given up the ghost).
On Saturday, October 24th, we took off and headed up the ICW to St. Augustine where we picked up a mooring ball in the city owned mooring field for the day and night. The trip was only around 25 miles so we arrived with plenty of time to dinghy ashore and spend the afternoon seeing the sites, having a beer and a cigar at "Stogies" and an early dinner at "Catch 27"---delightful restaurant. Then back to the boat for "sundowners" and early to bed.
The next morning, early, we detached from the ball and headed north again to tie up at a dock on the eastern outskirts of Jacksonville. Finally, we were on the St. Johns River.
The SJR flows north out of Lake George in almost central Florida--just north and east of Orlando--ie. it runs almost a third of the length of the Florida peninsula. At the north end it is quite wide--as much as a couple miles--but then narrows to average river width farther south. It is one of the few rivers in north America that flows south to north. I've been reading about cruising these waters for some time and was anxious and curious to do so.
The next day we wound down river to, and eventually through, Jacksonville and out into the river proper. After spending one night on the hook in a nice cove and dinner at the world famous "Outback Crab Shack" we moved on to Palatka. This old river town, famous for its timber industry but currently struggling to survive, is located at the south end of the wide part of the river where it begins to narrow and winds its way south to Lake George. We spent 2 days in Palatka because of some rainy weather and, thus, didn't get to explore the southern end of the river---maybe next time.
We then headed back north and spent the night on the hook in Doctor's Lake just south of Jacksonville proper. The next day we motored through J'ville and all the way back to St. Augustine--and the next day back to home port in Palm Coast.
The river lived up to its reputation as a very nice cruising ground with lots of tributaries, inlets and coves to tuck into and small towns along the way. We were disappointed that we didn't get the chance to explore further south where it gets even more interesting--but all in all the trip was great, fun and very interesting--for the most part the weather cooperated and the boat performed beautifully. Naturally, Bernie and I had plenty of time to regale each other with many stories about our lives before and after the Army and really came to recognize and appreciate this friendship that has lasted over these many years. Bernie proved to be quite a helpful and skillful "First Mate". I hope that he is willing and able to convince Jane that she ought to join us for another trip sometime in the near future.
Plans:   We're planning on spending the spring of 2016 in the Florida Keys. We'd like to move the boat back to Ft. Myers to the Legacy Harbor Marina some time in late Jan. or early Feb. to wait out the weather and then head south in the Gulf of Mexico to the Keys and Key west in March-April. There's lots to be discovered by us in the Keys although we have spent considerable time previously in  Marathon. Hopefully we can have some family/friends join us occasionally for a bit of fun on and in the water. 'Till then---Life is Good.