Personally, I love jet skiing in areas I’ve never been (and areas I probably shouldn’t be in)! Well, this time around a few friends of mine from the Florida Ski Riders decided to launch from Monroe Harbor Marina in Sanford, FL. We used this ramp because it’s a nice hour ride to the restaurant. Danny, Juan, Diane, Louie, Allison and I met up around 9am that Saturday morning. The weather was in the 70’s and felt amazing! We headed south, down the Saint John’s River towards Lake Harney.
Crossing the lake, we stopped at Jolly Gator’s Fish Camp for a little lunch and pictures. I’ve been to this restaurant quite a few times and their food is always great. The first time I’ve ever tried frog legs was at this place and I must say they were delicious! Once our bellies were full, we ventured down south to the Big Econ River. This river is beautiful, with palm trees hovering over the water. Previous hurricanes caused a lot of the palms to fall into the water, so had to be careful traveling through.
As we explored five miles down the Econ River, we decided to stop and take pictures. We didn’t want to go any farther because we were limited on how much gas we had, so we headed back north up to Deep Creek River. This area is extremely old. With more trees down everywhere, partially blocking the river and low waters due to the dry season, we definitely had to be careful. We came to a stop at a downed tree. That’s when Danny decided that he would be the one to venture past. Once he got past, he noticed that there were more downed trees in the water forming a dam so we couldn’t go any further. So we turned and head back to the St. Johns River.
Along the way, we kept getting stuck in the shallows. I really love this place, but I won’t come back to this area unless the water levels are higher. You always have to make safety a priority, especially if you’re riding with others. As we rode back north on the St. Johns River, we all stopped at the local sandbar, which is a very popular spot. All types of watercraft come here to hangout. Some people BBQ and some come to mingle with others.
We all filled up with gas – except me, because my Yamaha EX doesn’t waste fuel like the bigger jet skis. The EX has a 13.5 gallon tank compared to the 18-gallon tanks on most skis, but I get about 67 miles to the tank. These new TR-1 motors are awesome! I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve pushed it to the limit and I must say I only ran out of fuel one time (and that’s only because I had to give my extra fuel to a bigger ski that was completely out).
Once we fueled up, we headed north back to Monroe Lake. It was about 30-minute ride back with lots of winding S-curves, so it was a lot of fun racing back. We arrived at the ramp around 5pm that evening. I ride with a lot of amazing people from all over the state of Florida. If you would like to ride with us, check out our Florida Ski Riders page on Facebook and you can also can follow us on YouTube. Everyone is welcome to ride! Thank you for your support and I’ll see you on the next ride!
