Paddling on the St. Johns River, Downtown Jacksonville. I started from the Arlington Road boat ramp and paddled over to Exchange Island. The island is actually located across from the industrial part of town on one side and residential on the other side of the river. It has a bridge that straddles the river and uses the island for a support. The only access is by water. On the southern portion of the island is a small lagoon. This monument was put here in 1960. It looks as if people have been vandalizing it. My brother and I camped on this island about 15 years ago. I remember seeing this monument but I don't remember the damage to it. I am thinking that is fairly recent. The other thing was all the trash. I am going to try and organize a trash pick up event. (More on that later) I will also dedicate a post to the some pictures of the trash.
On the second part of my trip the wind was cooperating. The island was shaped so I was protected from the current which was just starting to come in and the wind was behind me and pushing me down the shore line. I was enjoying listening to the birds and there were quite a few fish jumping. 
This is my boat peeking through the weeds. I went ashore to walk around I pulled my boat up on the shore inside the small lagoon. 
This is the Matthews Bridge. It connects Arlington with the East side of the river. It is one of the 4 bridges that cross the river in the downtown area.
This is just part of the ship yard. I looked like they were unloading this ship. I thought about paddling over and taking some pictures of my canoe next to the ship but the current was getting stronger.
Todays paddle was different from the places I usually go but it was still a nice to be on the water. I went out early and returned at around 10 am. The power boaters were just starting to show up at the boat ramp. It looked like it would be a busy day.
1 comment:
I was sad to see the damage done to the Marker on the Island. We've sailed by it many times, but could not get to close. The strong currents in our river don't seem to make people relize how dangerous our river can be, unless you have been on it in a boat. It is so pretty to me to see all our downtown with the water running through it.
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