By Peter Clayton

On Wednesday, eight of us paddled Goodby – a truly urban adventure. Located in SW Jacksonville, Goodby Creek flows into the St. Johns near the intersection of San Jose Blvd. and Baymeadows Rd. about two miles from its source near Tomahawk Park in the LaVista neighborhood. The area became developed in the mid-late 1900’s, and in 2002, a nature preserve was created to protect the remaining land. The creek is tidal with a 6″-8″ fluctuation. 

Our launch was from a large concrete ramp just off San Jose where we congregated at 9:00 – at this point the creek is wide with large apartment buildings on the opposite shore but quickly narrows and becomes dominated by old growth trees and pleasant homes with some townhouses. The nature preserve is on the south side and doesn’t appear to have been improved for public use.

We had embarked at low tide and as we wound our way to Tomahawk Park the deadfalls and shallow spots were more frequent but our pace was slow and the conditions were delightful. At the park we pulled out around 10:15 to stretch our legs, have a brew and meet some locals who were walking their dogs. We were back in the water at 10:30, planning to pull up to the beach at Wicked Barley Brewing Company for lunch but the low water and mud scrapped that plan so we pulled out at the launch and drove there to enjoy a wonderful lunch outside.

Thanks to all participants – photos to follow.