Mile 40 on the St. Johns River just north of Green Cove Springs up Black Creek home of the trawler tug "Tugnacious"

30 03.10 N
081 43.119 W

We left the city of JAX Saturday morning when we heard that a group of 40 go fast boats were going to invade the Landings for a poker run. Go fast means

noise and possibly rafting, both of which we find annoying. We went up a few miles to the Ortega River where we anchored close enough to a shopping center

to walk for a full re-supply of our larder and collect a few items from West Marine.

Later Sunday afternoon we met up with "Seahorse" crewed by John & Penny, who toured our boat and helped drink little rum to ease the pain of toting groceries.

Monday we left the Ortega River and headed south, up the river to Black Creek our current anchorage. The St. Johns is deep and wider here, two miles wide and

apparently stays pretty darn wide to Palatka.

Once through the 30' fixed bridge and around the first bend of Black Creek one is time warped from the 21st Century into the forest primeval of ancient Florida.

It is spooky, like transiting through a time window, where suddenly you are slowly passing a six foot gator lazily swimming up stream by turtles sunning on logs and

eagles announcing your presence to the thickly wooded banks composed of live oaks, short palms, medium sized cypress trees held off of the river by a restraining

line of floating broadleaf growth.

This morning I woke to the piercing silence of the creek reflecting the sky and plant life. Last night I hunkered down in the safety of my bed listening to a cacophony

of jungle sounds that I have only heard in sound tracks. I swear to all the gods man holds sacred, If I didn't hear monkeys hooting and screeching last night in the

light of a silvery moon well, I'll be a monkeys uncle. Notice, I didn't leave the safety of my bed to find out. The wonder of it is the St. Johns is not reported to surrender

this type of wilderness beauty for another 30 miles.

We celebrated our first full year of cruising yesterday. We held close, but not too closely for fear of reliving our departure, the memories of that first day away from

our friends and the wonders of Paradise Flatts. Most of the fears of those first few weeks are safely packed away now to be brought out and used for special occasions

when a good dose of fear to bring one back into sync with reality are needed. More often we bring out the toys, the Rubik Cubes of knowledge that we have accumulated during our ventures, marvel at them and attempt to put them into the order of the scheme of life and living.

The water outside is perfectly flat just now. It is like looking into a mirror lying on the ground. I must go study this, maybe sit on the bow and simply stare at it for a few

minutes before a bird flys over and distracts me from my daily commune.

From the bow, look! Reflected in the water! There! It is gentle soothing face of Mother Nature sharing her spoils and bounty with us.

Capt'n Lynnie and Skinwalker