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10-11-2017, 05:15 PM
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#1
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Veteran Member
City: Clearwater, FL
Vessel Name: Living Waters
Vessel Model: 36' Grand Banks Classic
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 93
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St. John's River in Florida
Can the St. John's River in Florida be accessed from somewhere other than Jacksonville?
I looked on a map and looks like its possible down by Sebastian Inlet through some canals, but not sure if its deep enough for a vessel needing at least 4'-5' of depth.
Would love to take our GB for our trip up and down the river but not sure about getting there except from Jacksonville.
Thanks!
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10-11-2017, 05:23 PM
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#2
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TF Site Team
City: Jacksonville
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 11,682
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Sorry, no can do.
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10-11-2017, 05:24 PM
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#3
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Guru
City: Jacksonville
Vessel Name: SONAS
Vessel Model: Grand Alaskan 53
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,235
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I have never heard of such access - only Mayport/Jacksonville/ICW at the upper end.
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10-11-2017, 05:38 PM
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#4
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Guru
City: North Carolina for now
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 6,348
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There is no connector from the area around Sebastian Inlet. Not even by dinghy. Those canals you see all have gates, they are drainage and flood control.
__________________
George
"There's the Right Way, the Wrong Way, and what some guy says he's gotten away with"
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10-11-2017, 06:37 PM
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#5
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Guru
City: North Charleston, SC
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 4,870
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The short answer is "No."
Many years ago, there was a plan for a "cross Florida" canal. Land was purchased and part of it was built. Then the environmentalists got ahold of it and that was the end of the plan. Part of the canal is useable and the rest of the land was turned into a park.
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10-11-2017, 06:48 PM
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#6
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Guru
City: North Carolina for now
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 6,348
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The canal such as it is on the west coast of Florida.
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George
"There's the Right Way, the Wrong Way, and what some guy says he's gotten away with"
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10-11-2017, 06:59 PM
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#7
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Guru
City: Palm Coast, FL
Vessel Name: Coquina
Vessel Model: Lagoon 380
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 2,570
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WesK
The short answer is "No."
Many years ago, there was a plan for a "cross Florida" canal. Land was purchased and part of it was built. Then the environmentalists got ahold of it and that was the end of the plan. Part of the canal is useable and the rest of the land was turned into a park.
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That would have been another disaster to further trash FL. I was part of a campain to stop it in the early '70's, and glad I did (Boy Scout troop). For an entire century before this "barge canal" nonsense, there was ongoing work to drain the entire everglades.
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10-11-2017, 07:12 PM
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#8
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Guru
City: Satsuma FL
Vessel Name: No Mo Trawla
Vessel Model: Hurricane SS188
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,300
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishing Fool
Can the St. John's River in Florida be accessed from somewhere other than Jacksonville?
I looked on a map and looks like its possible down by Sebastian Inlet through some canals, but not sure if its deep enough for a vessel needing at least 4'-5' of depth.
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There are other rivers that run into the St Johns but none of them from salt water.
Nowadays, the St Johns is only navigable down to Lake Monroe and Sanford. When I was a kid, you could travel from Sanford down to west Melbourne in an outboard cabin cruiser under 23 feet long. You can probably still do that today in a flats boat but the channel is not marked or not marked well and there are no high or opening bridges. The channels are irregularly shaped and also extremely narrow in places.
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Buffalo Bluff Light 28
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10-12-2017, 11:24 AM
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#9
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TF Site Team
City: Westerly, RI
Vessel Name: N/A
Vessel Model: 1999 Mainship 350 Trawler
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 4,162
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Quote:
Originally Posted by diver dave
That would have been another disaster to further trash FL. I was part of a campain to stop it in the early '70's, and glad I did (Boy Scout troop). For an entire century before this "barge canal" nonsense, there was ongoing work to drain the entire everglades.
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Curious about how that would have 'trashed' Florida.
Also curious how the possible draining of the everglades is related to the cross Florida barge canal. The canal was fairly far north of the Everglades.
I'm not disputing or criticizing. Just generally curious.
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10-12-2017, 11:40 AM
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#10
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Guru
City: Palm Coast, FL
Vessel Name: Coquina
Vessel Model: Lagoon 380
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 2,570
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shrew
Curious about how that would have 'trashed' Florida.
Also curious how the possible draining of the everglades is related to the cross Florida barge canal. The canal was fairly far north of the Everglades.
I'm not disputing or criticizing. Just generally curious.
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As I understood the issue, the Ocklawaha River would have been significantly altered, perhaps even stopped the natural flow.
There have been other unintended impacts in FL due to river "rework". A notable example is the Kissimmee River, that feeds the big O. Since fixed at a huge cost to the taxpayer. That river is on the far side of the big lake from the Everglades, yet had a major effect on its water quality.
A good read about how FL got to where it is now is The Swamp.
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10-12-2017, 05:07 PM
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#11
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Guru
City: North Charleston, SC
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 4,870
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I think one big concern was the probability of mixing salt water into the St. Johns fresh water.
This project was killed about the time people first realized that they could stop any project by tying it up in the courts until people gave up on it. If it had been started thirty years earlier it would have been completed.
If this interests you, it's all over the Internet. You can learn all about it from both sides.
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10-12-2017, 07:13 PM
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#12
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Guru
City: Satsuma FL
Vessel Name: No Mo Trawla
Vessel Model: Hurricane SS188
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,300
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WesK
I think one big concern was the probability of mixing salt water into the St. Johns fresh water.
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There is already salt in the St Johns all the way down to the south end of Lake George. Not a lot but enough that the river is full of blue crabs, shrimp and mullet. The salt comes from the springs like Salt Spring. I was kind of surprised by it when we first moved up to Satsuma.
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