DAYS 247- 248: St Augustine to Jim King Park

St Augustine to King Jim Park: 7.6 mph; 38.4 miles; 5:04 hours


IMPORTANT: I have to say this again: Have a provisioned boat before you get here because there is absolutely NOTHING here. The little cafe? Lie. The ice depot? Lie. You are in an Uberless area - so be prepared ahead of time.



Traveling to Jim King Park leaves all of the Florida we have come to love behind and opens to a new world of salt marshes. You can smell the oil-mud here and it reminds me of growing up in Tidewater VA. 


Jim King Park:

When you hit the bend, and the park comes into view, you'll see two new floating docks on your port-side. One dock before and one dock after the bridge but neither one is the dock you are looking for. On your starboard is a military facility and the gentlemen there will make certain you are not close to their vessels. Go a bit further north and you’ll see a long floating dock in a protected waterway off the ICW on the port-side. This is a FREE 72 hour dock without electric or water - just a FREE dock. There is nothing else here. Wifi wasn't terrible - wasn't great - wasn't terrible.

The White Shell Bait and Tackle convenience store, 1.3 miles, has a ton of frozen and fresh bait, sell ice in bulk, and there is a little food truck in the parking lot that sells sandwiches, soda, and ice cream.

UPDATE: Upon further investigation, I found that the ice machine hasn’t worked in forever and the current staff member, Doc, can’t remember a time there was a food truck. So go with the idea that there is nothing here - at all - zero - zilch. 


We took the dinghy through he salt marshes - so much of fun - just out exploring nature. There is a strange bird here and it looks like a vulture-crane-stork.


The park is actually called the Jim King Park and Boat Ramp at Sisters Creek. It's part of the Jacksonville Parks System and the headquarters for The Greater Jacksonville KingFish Tournament. The tournament is a big deal - a real big deal. It will be July 18-23, 2022 and this dock will be packed. It has a festival feel with boatique vendors, food, exhibits, and a Liar’s Tent (live music and a place to swap fish tales). Somehow, the park makes space for camping during the tourney - then again, what do I know? Most Loopers are well North of here in July.

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