An Ocklawaha River Odyssey: Paddling Through Natural History

by Elizabeth Randall, Bob Randall (Photographer), Bob H Lee (Foreword by)

Overview

Photojournalists Bob and Liz Randall spent two years exploring Florida's ancient and enchanting Ocklawaha River. Their journey provides an inside look at the rich recreational resources of the river, its wildlife and the people, past and present, who contributed to its history and welfare. Along the way, they met artists, environmentalists, captains, law enforcement officials, conservationists, filmmakers, historians and local descendants whose lives are inextricably intertwined with the prehistoric river. From its subterranean and aquatic past to the Seminole Indian Wars, the steamboat era and political struggles, many voices are integral to the river's survival and to one of the longest environmental conflicts in Florida history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781540240088
Publisher:	History Press Library Editions
Publication date:	08/12/2019
Series:	No Series Linked
Pages:	210
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Bob and Elizabeth Randall are a husband-and-wife photojournalist team who have been creating books about local Florida history for almost a decade. Bob is a small business owner and website master for car stereo repair. He is also a professional photographer whose pictures have been published nationally and displayed prominently in local art festivals. Elizabeth is a high school English teacher and a widely published freelance writer. To get her stories, she has interviewed prisoners on Death Row, traipsed through haunted houses and camped in humid tents. She has also guest lectured at book conferences and won first- and second-place writing awards from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association and the Royal Palm Literary Society. Bob and Elizabeth live in Lake Mary, Florida.

Table of Contents

Foreword Bob H. Lee 9

Prelude: Ocklawaha River Odyssey 13

Acknowledgements 15

Introduction 17

Part I Day Trips

1 Silver River 43

2 The First Five Miles of the Ocklawaha River 53

3 Gores Landing to Eureka 59

4 Rodman Dam Loop 66

5 A Cruising Down the River 78

6 Lost Springs 93

7 Rodman Dam to the Mouth of the St. Johns River 97

Part II Camping and a Research Foray

8 Paddle Florida 117

9 Silver Springs State Park 121

10 Silver Springs State Park to Gores Landing 130

11 Gores Landing to Ocklawaha Outpost 142

12 Ocklawaha Outpost to Orange Springs Boat Ramp 152

13 Orange Springs Boat Ramp to Rodman Dam 159

14 Electrofishing with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 164

Epilogue: 2018 175

Bibliography 183

About the Author and Photographer 189