April 19, Day 298 – Jacksonville to Doctors Lake

We woke this morning to cloudy skies, a bit of a breeze and cooler temperatures. We had decided last night that since we were only going a short distance, we’d leave between 11:00 and 12:00.

After a quick breakfast we walked to the shopping center. Linda went for a haircut while Gerry took her grocery list and went to Publix. He did okay, only getting a few items that weren’t on the list.

Back at the boat we did a few last minute chores, then slipped the lines and headed out the Ortega River at 11:15. Our destination was Doctors Lake, only 12 miles away. In addition to going to a “Cruising the St. Johns” seminar at both the AGLCA Rendezvous and the MTOA Rendezvous, we also purchased a cruising guide specific to the St. Johns River. A couple of our other cruising guides also have lengthy sections on the St. Johns. We are going to take our time and do a lot of exploring and relaxing (and the guys will also be fishing). We checked our cruising guides and found that you could anchor most anywhere in Doctors Lake, but that there were 3 prime areas. The best, as far as wind protection, sounded like Swimming Pen Creek (don’t you just love these names). It was at the far southwest end of the lake. We cruised there first, but decided it really didn’t have much to offer. It was quite shallow, the creek was narrow, there was a bridge nearby and the shoreline was quite developed. Not really our idea of a good anchorage.

Next stop was Mill Cove on Doctors Lake. This anchorage appeared to be much better. While there were some houses, they were unobtrusive for the most part and the cove was quite large, but still offered protection from the wind. We dropped anchor and settled in around 2:15.

Linda spent the afternoon reading and napping. Gerry worked on routes for our trip from Georgia to Maryland. Wow, seems unbelievable that we’re on the last leg of the Loop. For dinner Linda fixed brisket with horseradish sauce in the pressure cooker. Gerry gave it a big thumbs up. We spent the rest of the evening doing a few chores, watched a little TV and then off to bed.

A shot of Monk's Vineyard and Second Star before departure this morning

Walking to the shopping center this morning, we passed a couple of interesting trees. This one also had nice flowers at its base.

This was quite the gnarly old tree

Second Star approaching the Ortega River Bridge

.... and here's our anchorage for the night