Brent Compton
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 9
- Reaction score
- 27
- Points
- 52
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2017
- Boat Model
- AR
- Boat Length
- 21
Growing up in Central FL I have heard stories my whole life about being able to get to the ocean from the Harris Chain of Lakes. When I finally upgraded the old lake boat to my 2017 AR210 I realized I had the boat capable of making such a journey. My brother and I left our boat house on Lake Dora at 7:45am on Friday and set out on our adventure. The goal was a 3 day trip with stops in Jacksonville and ending in Port Orange FL were I had the trailer waiting to pull us out.
Day 1 was suppose to be ~ 100 miles and get us to palatka Fl. We successfully made it through the first lock to navigate lake Griffin then onto the Ocklawaha river. The second lock was a bit of an issue as Moss Bluff lock was closed for repair and had not posted anything on the web about it so we were unaware till we arrived. Just when we though our trip was ruined a fellow boater with a center console bay boat heard our story as he was putting his boat in the water on our side of the lock. He agreed to transplant us with his trailer to the other side and saved our trip. We then thought it wise to call the last lock up river (Rodman lock) to make sure they were open. It was 11:45 am when we learned they close at 2pm. Needless to say we had about 70 miles of water to travel in 2 hours. Fortunately we navigated the narrow waters of the Ocklawaha river successfully and made it through the last stretch of water which was scary as hell due to all the tree stumps just under the waterline in the Rodman Reservoir. Needless to say for never having navigated these waters the lock operator was impressed we made it before closing. We locked through into the saint johns river and headed to fuel up at a marina I had scouted prior to the trip in Palatka. Unfortunately the marina wasn't much of a marine and they didn't have fuel. We decided to push north and hoped we would find fuel on the way to Jax. Finally we found fuel on flemming island just as we were running out. Having made such great time we decided to push onto Jax before nightfall. We arrived in downtown Jacksonville at the "Landing" right as the sun was setting. We tied up and enjoyed some hooters food/beer and the nightlife before putting up the cover and camping on the boat.
Day 2: With 170 miles traveled we awoke at sunrise without headaches (probably because we were still drunk) and pursued mimosas at the local Hyatt breakfast bar. We then walked the landing only to find it was deserted in the mornings. We decided to finish the first part of our trip and head to the ocean. Fortunately the seas were less than 1 foot as we cleared the inlet and traveled about a half mile offshore. We celebrated the accomplishment with some boat made mojitos and spent the rest of the day enjoying Jax waterways and the friendly boaters on St. George Island. That night we docked in the marina across from Jax landing and topped off our fuel tanks before going out on the town.
Day 3: We departed Jax around 8:30pm and proceeded down the intercostal waterway to Daytona/Port Orange. It was a beautiful ride with a stop in St. Augustine during the blessing of the fleet event. Unfortunately due to the event the marina was closed so we couldn't enjoy St. Augustine but we did get our boat blessed so not a total loss. We continued down and made great time to Dunlawton boat ramp in Port Orange were we pulled the boat out of the water.
All said the trip was 3 days, 327 miles of water way, 137 gallons of fuel, 100 beers, couple bottles of liquor and 100 pounds of ice. What a blast!!!
Day 1 was suppose to be ~ 100 miles and get us to palatka Fl. We successfully made it through the first lock to navigate lake Griffin then onto the Ocklawaha river. The second lock was a bit of an issue as Moss Bluff lock was closed for repair and had not posted anything on the web about it so we were unaware till we arrived. Just when we though our trip was ruined a fellow boater with a center console bay boat heard our story as he was putting his boat in the water on our side of the lock. He agreed to transplant us with his trailer to the other side and saved our trip. We then thought it wise to call the last lock up river (Rodman lock) to make sure they were open. It was 11:45 am when we learned they close at 2pm. Needless to say we had about 70 miles of water to travel in 2 hours. Fortunately we navigated the narrow waters of the Ocklawaha river successfully and made it through the last stretch of water which was scary as hell due to all the tree stumps just under the waterline in the Rodman Reservoir. Needless to say for never having navigated these waters the lock operator was impressed we made it before closing. We locked through into the saint johns river and headed to fuel up at a marina I had scouted prior to the trip in Palatka. Unfortunately the marina wasn't much of a marine and they didn't have fuel. We decided to push north and hoped we would find fuel on the way to Jax. Finally we found fuel on flemming island just as we were running out. Having made such great time we decided to push onto Jax before nightfall. We arrived in downtown Jacksonville at the "Landing" right as the sun was setting. We tied up and enjoyed some hooters food/beer and the nightlife before putting up the cover and camping on the boat.
Day 2: With 170 miles traveled we awoke at sunrise without headaches (probably because we were still drunk) and pursued mimosas at the local Hyatt breakfast bar. We then walked the landing only to find it was deserted in the mornings. We decided to finish the first part of our trip and head to the ocean. Fortunately the seas were less than 1 foot as we cleared the inlet and traveled about a half mile offshore. We celebrated the accomplishment with some boat made mojitos and spent the rest of the day enjoying Jax waterways and the friendly boaters on St. George Island. That night we docked in the marina across from Jax landing and topped off our fuel tanks before going out on the town.
Day 3: We departed Jax around 8:30pm and proceeded down the intercostal waterway to Daytona/Port Orange. It was a beautiful ride with a stop in St. Augustine during the blessing of the fleet event. Unfortunately due to the event the marina was closed so we couldn't enjoy St. Augustine but we did get our boat blessed so not a total loss. We continued down and made great time to Dunlawton boat ramp in Port Orange were we pulled the boat out of the water.
All said the trip was 3 days, 327 miles of water way, 137 gallons of fuel, 100 beers, couple bottles of liquor and 100 pounds of ice. What a blast!!!
