Rain

Events of 17 Sept 2009

       Today it rained, and rained, and rained.
       We slept anchored in Branford till 2 PM and then sailed back to the Santa Fe River as the sky continued to drizzle.
       We returned to the Santa Fe to kayak the Ichetucknee River. We ran by the mouth of this spring-fed stream when we were on the Santa Fe earlier but did not have the time then to investigate it. This river is renowned for its crystal clear beauty and we wanted to explore it further.
       If the weather clears in the morning we will ferry our yellow two place kayak to the mouth of the river and then paddle upstream to the head-springs 6 miles upriver. That is, if our arms hold out.
       Last time we were on the Santa Fe we left the Mothership where it and Suwannee met. We ran the actual Santa Fe in our dinghy. We had explored the river enough to know it was deep, over 15 foot much of the time, more than enough for our houseboat. My intention was to anchor our houseboat at the mouth of the Ichetucknee River in order to simplify getting our kayak to our start point in the morning.

       The trip up the Santa Fe was a bit scary. It was probably not a good idea to move the big boat up this small river. It was pretty exciting though. The river was dark, rainy, and seemed a very tight fit for our boat compared to the Suwannee. A few people out in the rain stared at us passing as this was probably the biggest boat they've seen up this river in a while. The thick trunked cypress pressed in on both sides. I promptly began to second guess whether this was such a good idea, and decided it was not. We gave up on the idea of reaching the Ichetucknee River and decided to either turn around when there was room to do so or anchor should we find a good spot.

       We came upon a wide spot in the river abeam Colleen's landing. I thought that it was better to stop here and anchor than to turn around in the rain and wind. Once our 33 pound claw anchor was set the wind overcame the current and put the back of the boat pretty close to some branchy trees. I reset the anchor toward the center of the river and then dropped our 44 pound Delta anchor in a Bahamian moor to minimize swinging. I did not want to wake up in a heavy wind with a tree branch poking through the window.
       There is no sign of life at Colleen's restaurant so we cooked aboard and watched movies. Rain continues, already the river has risen by almost a foot.
Captain's Note 18 Sept 2009/0530

       I just checked the river level. It seems to be up about two feet. We became concerned with getting stuck upriver from the railroad bridge down near Old Town, Florida. Plan is to weigh anchor at first light and run down to Fanning Springs. More rain is on the way and no use in getting stuck here indefinitely. The sky is currently clear and full of stars.