St. John's River in Florida

[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.

Would love to take our GB for our trip up and down the river but not sure about getting there except from Jacksonville.

Thanks!

 

[Larry M]

Sorry, no can do.

 

[menzies]

I have never heard of such access - only Mayport/Jacksonville/ICW at the upper end.

 

[caltexflanc]

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.

 

[rwidman]

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.

 

[caltexflanc]

The canal such as it is on the west coast of Florida.

 

[diver dave]

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.

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.

 

[Donsan]

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.

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.

 

[Shrew]

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.

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.

 

[diver dave]

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.

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.

 

[rwidman]

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.

 

[Donsan]

I think one big concern was the probability of mixing salt water into the St. Johns fresh water.

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.