Recommendations

[MudDucker]

Okay, I am taking the little Scout troop on our annual scalloping trip in the morning. We are doing a day trip out of Valdosta. I have a choice between Keaton and St. Marks. Leaning toward St. Marks, because I have a key to a cabin in the marina where I could shower at the end of the day, but this is about the kids, so I am open to suggestion. Is the ramp at Keaton still backed up 2 hours?

[ddb]

Well, I've never seen the scalloping better than it has been this year at Keaton. But I've never seen more boats either. I think the number of boats is down a bit from it's peak, but at peak times I'd still expect delays at the landing. If you get in early and get out at a non-peak time I think you can avoid it. We took out at noon last weekend and didn't have to wait at all. But if you wait until late afternoon to take out you will likely have delays. As an option, you may want to use the Marina, the backup there appears to be less.

[mblambert]

I faced the same dilemma last weekend. After much consideration, my sister, soon-to-be brother in-law, wife, three year old, and I hit St. Marks for a few hours last Saturday. Most of the time, there were 3 scalloping and 1 just playing in the water with the kiddo. We scalloped for about 4 hours and picked up about 4 gallons. Made a few moves. Did our best in about 6', with almost all of the scallops on the sea bed. We found it easiest to dive down and rummage through the grass rather than trying to spot them from the top. I chose St. Marks due to proximity to the house, lack of crowd, and water clarity. Turned out to be a good choice. A limit would have been nice, although I was thinking differently as I was cleaning the ones we got...

[Rainman]

I went to St. Marks last weekend, three of us each day Sat. and Sun. We moved around quite a bit between Black and Grey Mare and managed some scallops but no limits. Maybe our limit if you count both days... They are there, you just have to spend the time to look and move around. The waits at the ramp have not be an issue at all for me. At least the water is really clear at St. Marks right now.

[MudDucker]

Since I am usually the man who has to do the bulk of the cleaning, I'm not interested in necessarily getting a limit. I have a place to wash the salt off at St. Marks after the day is done, so that is my lean right now.

Thanks guys!

[silverking]

St. Marks is never a bad choice.

Have fun and good luck with your chaperone/cleaning duties.

[MudDucker]

St. Marks is never a bad choice.

Have fun and good luck with your chaperone/cleaning duties.

Thanks, the guys usually have a blast and I love introducing them to something most would not otherwise see.

[MudDucker]

Well, we ended up at St. Marks. Topped off the boat at the general store. Not as crowded as Keaton, but the parking lot for the public ramp was slammed. Launched, sprayed the boys with suntan spray and started out the river. The Ol' Pro was running great and then started loosing power. Checked and the bulb was slack after I had pumped it tight at the ramp. Pumped it up and off we went again, running great until we close to rock garden and as i got ready to idle down, it started starving again. This after I spent 4 grand last year to remove the corroded aluminum tank and put in all new fuel lines. I suspect the filter is clogging up and I thought I had a spare on board, but could not find it. Good thing was no issues after the 2nd stop.

Maneuvered in the boys started saying they were seeing scallops. I was skeptical, but wasn't going to bust their bubble. We stopped and picked up less than 10 scallops in an 50 yrd range around the boat in 7 foot of water. Moved in closer to 5' of water and did better. I think in all we got about 3 gallons, but the boys were having a good time snorkeling and exploring. Rain started building to the east and along the coast so about 2 pm we headed in. A couple of the boys wanted to take turns driving the boat. As my old daddy said when I was learning, the wake we left would have broken a snake's back if he tried to follow it. I turned to check on something on the stern and my dang hat blew off, so we had to circle and get it. Of course, this was right in front of a boat fishing. Hated to disturb them. Stopped at the sandbar at the mouth of the river for a few minutes, but my mate couldn't get the anchor to set right. Got the boat out and went to a friends apartment in the old part of the marina so everyone could get a shower. It was steaming, but they had seen the Riverside Cafe, so we sent the scoutmaster to find out if they had A/C. They told him that there was one room A/C. I tried to tell them that the A/C in that room was a joke, but they were hungry. Had to park the boat 2 blocks away. Meal and service was great as usual, but as usual, the A/C in the little room was a joke. I don't think we got back to 98 before the boys were asleep. Stopped in Monticello and washed and flushed the motor (first time I've seen this in a car wash). Had them back at the Church by 7:45. No injuries and plenty of smiles.

[FUTCHCAIRO]

HEY MUDUCKER, THAT IS A GREAT THING YOU ARE DOING, I HAD 58 BOYS IN MY TROOP WHEN I WAS S.M. IN JAX. SOME OF THOSE BOYS STILL CALL THE OLD MAN AND THANK ME FOR THE TIME THEY WERE IN THE BOY SCOUTS. MOST OF THEM HAVE FOLLOWED WHAT THEY LEARNED IN THE SCOUTS AND MOST OF THEM ARE VERY SUCCESSFUL. I AM GLAD I SPENT THE TIME AND MONEY TRYING TO TAKE THOSE BOYS DOWN THE RIGHT ROAD OF LIFE. CONGRATULATIONS.
PA
SEMPER FI

[MudDucker]

HEY MUDUCKER, THAT IS A GREAT THING YOU ARE DOING, I HAD 58 BOYS IN MY TROOP WHEN I WAS S.M. IN JAX. SOME OF THOSE BOYS STILL CALL THE OLD MAN AND THANK ME FOR THE TIME THEY WERE IN THE BOY SCOUTS. MOST OF THEM HAVE FOLLOWED WHAT THEY LEARNED IN THE SCOUTS AND MOST OF THEM ARE VERY SUCCESSFUL. I AM GLAD I SPENT THE TIME AND MONEY TRYING TO TAKE THOSE BOYS DOWN THE RIGHT ROAD OF LIFE. CONGRATULATIONS.
PA
SEMPER FI

Thanks Pa. I've been working with this troop for about 18 years and I've seen a lot of my guys go on to be successful and many refer to the lessons they learned while in Boy Scouts.