Feb. 23, 2023 7 Sisters Anchorage to Welaka

Thurs. Feb. 23, 2023 Seven Sisters Anchorage to Welaka - 7 miles

Just a few miles down (or is it up?) river today. The St. Johns River is one of only a handful of rivers in the world that flows from South to North. Hence it always seems like our terminology is wrong. We hoisted the dingy, fired up the engines, hauled up anchor and headed out by 10. Uneventful trip with nothing of note. Dropped anchor behind Turkey Island by 11:15 just short of Welaka proper in a nice spot with 10' of water.

Gonna be a busy day. We unloaded the dingy and checked out the Welaka Spring to see its crystal-clear water. Apparently not the nicest, biggest, fanciest spring but the first of several we'll visit during our trip. During the winter it's supposedly a good manatee viewing area but none here today.

Turtle Island is aptly named

Welaka Spring. The gushing water was clear and warm.
Unfortunately, it soon disappears after mixing with the dark brown waters of the St. Johns

Then we headed to Welaka's free dingy dock at Bryant's Landing, tied up and headed into "town". Grabbed a late lunch at Shrimp-R-Us, a local restaurant known for it's good seafood. It was pretty awesome. A plateful of 17 huge butterflied fried shrimp, baked potato and fried okra for just $13.95 Back to the dingy and a ride of a mile or so south to the western shore to explore the natural surroundings of Oklawaha River and its abundance of wildlife.