Welaka, Palatka, and back to Ortega

Another dock BAR-B-Q  was to big, but it was free.


We stopped for the night in a small town along the river, Welaka. It was good to get off the boat. We walked to the dollar general for some supplies. For such a small town, they had several parks with basketball, tennis, pickleball and baseball. The docks were mostly used for locals fishing, with us being the only boat. We had lunch at" Shrimp Are US More" and walked to the small National Fish Hatchery Aquarium.  Later I needed a break so I went to the local bar. 

The place had character and characters. A solo guitar player provided music.

I met the mayor and his wife, a fun couple with new ideas for their town

PALATKA
We got a slip at the Boathouse Marina. Strong storms were predicted for the evening. 


We went to lunch at Angel's Dining Car. This is Florida's oldest diner. It was a trip back in time. 
 

The sky's opened  up and the rain poured down but the wind was not as strong as predicted. The storm didn't stop the bass fishermen from holding their tournament. Hard core. I wouldn't want to be on the water in a thunderstorm on a bass boat.









ORETGA

It was time for some more maintenance. Our parts we waiting for us. I changed the transmission oil and filter and the generator oil and filter and its fuel filter. I contacted divers to change the prop. The tip of each blade had a slight bend. Although this damage caused no vibration while running the boat, I felt better having the spare prop installed. The damaged prop will be fixed at a prop shop. At the docks you can meet all kinds of people with interesting stories. Jeff single-handled a sailboat 110,000 miles, 32 countries over 16 years then just stopped. Makes our looping trip seem like a day trip.

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