Last Thursday, a photographer came to take some pictures for a story
that you will see later.
Renee Bodine is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and WWALS swamper Shirley Kokidko
met her at Fargo Ramp.
A mile up the Suwannee River on the Suwannee Riverkeeper vessel,
Renee took pictures of a twisty tree and some blooming tupelo trees.
The Suwannee River was at 11.9 feet (102.9 NAVD88) on the Fargo Gauge.
High enough for the ramp to be underwater, and the parking lot in a foot of water next to it.
The ramp to the defunct Visitors Center was also underwater.
I thanked Lowndes County for their cooperation in the
WWALS Chairman and Mayor’s Paddle, especially Public Works for grading the entrance road to Langdale Park on the Withlacoochee River.
Earlier when I was talking to the Chairman he indicated the early takeout at Sugar Creek was a bit difficult due to a deadfall.
So I mentioned that once the water gets low enough, we’ll work on that and other deadfalls,
but meanwhile our chainsaws don’t work well underwater.
I requested suggestions for when in March 2025 to hold the next one.
I said WWALS has recently acquired a jon boat and outboard, and we’d be
happy to take people out on the river, including Commissioners. Continue reading →
Shawn O’Connor and I tried out the 25hp Mercury outboard motor,
paid for by a generous grant by Wild Green Future (WGF).
Works great! Electric start: push the button and it starts.
Doesn’t even have a manual choke.
Electric trim, i.e., tilt.
Very useful for adjusting trim for going fast,
as well as raising up in low water.
We also chainsawed some limbs that were obstructing passage downstream
on the Withlacoochee River and upstream on the Little River.
Shawn used my EGO 16″ electric chainsaw, but in case of larger limbs
we had with us the 24″ Husqvarna chainsaw paid for by WGF.
Also just in case, the 86lb thrust trolling motor and lithium batteries paid for by WGF.
Thanks, WGF!
Fast: Shawn’s GPS speedometer clocked it at 23 mph going upriver,
against a 3-5 mph current.
Not clear when we need to go that fast, but we can if we have to. Continue reading →
Bobby McKenzie was right to be worried about the Crowe Deadfall,
a big oak seen for years across the Withlacoochee River between I-75 and GA 133.
Yesterday evening we cleared that and two other deadfalls.
By cleared, I mean at the Crowe Deadfall stay way left:
there’s a narrow passage for the
Fifth Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle.
See you at Langdale Park Boat Ramp this morning.
Thanks to Georgia Power for the grant that makes tickets to this paddle free.
Thanks to Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers for the jon boat.
Thanks to Wild Green Future (WGF) for the grant that bought the 9.9hp outboard,
the 86lb-thrust trolling motor, the batteries, and some other gear.
It’s a good thing we sent to see:
yesterday we found a huge new deadfall completely across the Withlacoochee River,
on the route of the
Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle,
coming up Saturday, March 2, 2024.
Successful boat trials at Action Stage on the Little River!
Videos by John S. Quarterman and Russell Allen McBride for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS).
Thanks to Laura D’Alisera for transfering the new WWALS 9.9hp Mercury fourstroke 20-inch shaft electric start outboard motor ten miles from West Marine in Jacksonville Beach to a shipping location, where Phil Hubbard received it Saturday.
Thanks to Wild Green Future (WGF) for the generous grant that bought it.
Sunday evening, Russell Allen McBride, Shawn O’Connor, Bobby McKenzie, and I
unboxed it, connected it to its fuel supply, and tried it out.
Thanks to Flint Riverkeeper for the jon boat.
With that outboard, the jon boat will indeed go upriver easily under these conditions.
It took only ten minutes to haul Russell in his kayak up the third of a mile from the Little River Confluence to Troupville Boat Ramp.
Also due to WGF, we received an 85lb-thrust Goplus 8 Speed, 36 inch shaft, trolling motor, two
Power Queen LiFePO4 12.8V 100Ah, lithium-iron-phosphate batteries,
and a Power Queen 14.6V 10A LiFePO4 Battery Charger.
Those we put on the WWALS bass fisher chainsawing boat,
plus the old WWALS 40lb-thrust mounted on the front.
Shawn and I demonstrated that the new motor alone will push that boat upstream
in these conditions, and both motors will troll it upstream at a walking pace.
Which is all we need to get back to the ramp from the Confluence during chainsaw cleanups.
We are awaiting a couple more items via the WGF grant. Stay tuned.
This is more preparation for the
Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Saturday, March 2, 2024,
starting at Langdale Park.
One hopes that the water level will be well below Sunday’s 148′ NAVD 1988 level, or we may have to reschedule for later.
And also preparation for more chainsaw cleanups on other stretches of this and other rivers.
Next: 9AM Sunday, February 25, 2024, we will take the jon boat from Troupville Boat Ramp
down around the Confluence and up the Withlacoochee River to Langdale Park,
chainsawing any remaining paddle obstacles along the way.
That one will be a bit hard to participate in by paddling.
![[FWS Photographer, Fargo Ramp 2024-04-25, Suwannee Riverkeeper jon boat, and outboard, Suwannee River]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-04-25--fargo-ramp/fbmany.jpg)
![[Suwannee Riverkeeper at Lowndes County Commission 2024-04-09, Chairman and Mayor's Paddle, Sugar Creek and Chainsaw Cleanups]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-04-09--suwannee-riverkeeper-lowndes-county-commission/fbmany.jpg)
![[Trying 25hp outboard, Troupville Boat Ramp, Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, Chainsaw Outing 2024-04-07]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-04-07--troupville-boat-ramp-jon-boat-25hp-outboard/fbmany.jpg)
![[Three deadfalls cleared between Troupville and I-75 2024-03-01]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-03-01--crowe-deadfall-chainsaw-cleanup/igmany.jpg)
![[Big new deadfall, chainsaw, trolling motor, outboard 2024-02-25]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-25--pictures-chainsaw-cleanup-troupville-up-to-sugar-creek-and-back/igmany.jpg)
![[9.9hp outboard and 86lb thrust trolling motor (thanks, Wild Green Future) and jon boat (thanks, Flint Riverkeeper) and Bass Fisher (WWALS)]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-18--boat-motor-tryouts/igmany.jpg)