Thursday, April 2, 2009

Up the St. Johns river to Palatka
















Our search for a marina to not only launch, but dock the Balia and store the trailer somewhere up the St. Johns River from Jacksonville, laborously brought us to historic Palatka and the Boathouse Marina where we instantly encountered the owner of a beautiful Trawler who was traveling the Great Loop from , can you believe it, Traverse City; named John Mater.
We motorsailed one day downriver 29 miles to Cove Springs past the local nuclear power plant to tie up at the Crab Shack restaurant, a local treasure and fine example of true southern hospitality and Po Boys with a quarter mile long dock that I am sure is packed in the summer but which we had pretty much to ourselves for a quiet night aboard. Then a terrific sail back to Palatka to weather out some storms, taking advantage of the weather by going to the PGA Golf Hall of Fame and a lunch rendezvous with Jay's U of Chicago Executive Program buddy Jack Frestel and wife Diane who were driving that same day from their home in Sarasota to Nags Head North Carolina where Jack is opening another Dirty Dicks Crab House restaurant.

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