Tarpon Springs Yacht Club

It was a nice day for a walk so we took Sophie for a walk and ended up at the local Yacht Club.  We had stayed there on Sanctuary but Blue Moon's keel is almost a feet deeper so we couldn't get there even on high tide.  Still a nice place to visit and cool off with a soda.  If you have seen the movie "A Dolphin's Tail"  the bridge next to the club is in several scenes.  When we watched the movie it was fun to see places we knew from our cruising.

The front of the building.

The marina and movie famous bridge.

Nice courtyard area off the docks leading up to the club.

This was a cool spot to hang out with our drinks.

This outdoor bar is new since our last visit.  An inviting place to watch the river.

The club life saver.

On to Tarpon

From Venice we had a great sail up to Gulfport.  The anchorage was no where near as crowded as on our trip down in January.  The snowbirds were headed north.  From there we motored up the ICW to a spot just off of Dunedin then went on up to Tarpon Springs.  Again it was all timed to come in on high tide.  My niece Jacque and her family live nearby so we were fortunate enough to spend time with them. Since we have been to Tarpon several times we could be tour guides for the waterfront and all it's attractions.  We  kept Sophie overnight and had a great time showing her around town even more on Sunday.

The Anclote River leading to Tarpon Springs

Blowing the conch.

Aunt Pat and Ginny

The motley crew 

Nate's favorite picture

Sophie at the Tarpon Springs YC

Ginny at the wheel

Welcome aboard Blue Moon

One of the old sponge boats now on display.

Three pretty ladies.

Mom and kids

Happy, happy

Matt came home from a business trip and was able to join us!!

It's so hard to wait on girls!!

Nate and the turtle

Hambone if there ever was one!

This guy was amazing.

This former sponge boat now runs tourists down the river and across
to Anclote Key and the lighthouse there.

Sophie in the dingy.

Nate kept asking to get in the "tiny boat" so we indulged.

A shrine to St. Michael the Archangel by a family grateful for a miracle.

Venice Yacht Club

We arrived before dusk and made the most of our short stay.  I was able to catch up on laundry and we had a fabulous meal in the club dining room.  We needed to leave early the next morning to leave on high tide.  If you look at a map of this part of Florida you see a lot of water.  However, most of the water is less than 4 feet deep so we have to plan carefully.  We were also taking another leap forward in testing our cruising limitations.  We planned to travel in the Gulf up past Tampa Bay back to Gulfport.  With the forecast winds we knew we could make it in daylight as long as David tolerated the open water.  We had several inlets where we could opt out if need be so it seemed a good spot to give it a go.

The intracoastal near Venice is a dredged canal meandering along a
creek bed. There are parks and houses along the way to look at so it's a
pleasant trip.

The only negative about the stretch of water is all the draw bridges.
It takes time to call and then wait for an opening.  There were 5 along this stretch.

This is a mural on a school near the downtown area telling the
history of the area.  

This beautiful bird came for a short visit and didn't seem to care that
I was taking his picture.

We were at the end of one of the club's docks. Not many other
sailboats but a few.

The club's main building.

Sunrise through the haze.

On to Venice

We tried not to rush ourselves but we wanted to get as far north as possible in case David's vertigo came back and we had to be rescued so we didn't stay at any place more than a night.  The trip from Pelican Bay to the Venice Yacht Club was our longest trip since the "incident" but all went well. The trip from Gasparilla Island up Lemon Bay is always full of different things to see.

This large truck and backhoe were being ferried across the sound
on a flat barge pushed by this little boat.  That seemed  risky venture
for such expensive machinery.

Somebody had it in for this mark.

There are 2 car ferries crossing the sound on a regular schedule.
A lot more substantial operation.

You can't miss this marina with its bright yellow office.

This bridge is new but instead of a lift bridge it swings.  We had
thought only railroad bridges were swing and new bridges were
draw (bascule)  Learned something new.

They were dismantling this old railroad swing bridge.  Only the
concrete piers were left. 

We saw several osprey nests along this stretch.  there is at least one
chick in the nest.

When you pass close to a nest, one of the parents lets you know to
stay away by calling to you or even swooping down on you.

A picture for all of our paddle boarding friends.  This guy was brave
in my mind as the winds were fairly stiff with rain pending.

One of the many boats anchored in deep pockets of water off the main channel

Pelican staking out his perch.

A perfect reflection in a quite pool of water.

Pelican Bay

Our stop at Cabbage Key was only for lunch.  We pressed on to a glorious little spot called Pelican Bay.  It is just off of Cayo Costa State Park and a small island.  It has a very shallow entrance so we only can get in and out on high tide.  It is so worth the effort.  We have always been able to see manatees here as well as dolphins, fish and tons of birds.  The walk to the gulf beach was a little over a mile but we liked playing in the waves for a bit.  The rains caught us on the way back but since we were salty, it was a welcome fresh water rinse.  We also met some very nice folks on a Cape George sailboat.  This is a rare boat from the Washington State area so even rarer on the East Coast.  A very pleasant stop.

All these swirls are manatees just barely under the surface.  We cut off
the engine and sat quietly hoping to see them surface.

You can see the tail fluke and the outline of the rest of the manatee.
Sadly, none of them felt like surfacing for a proper pose.

We counted at least 10 separate manatees.  This was about as good a group
shot as I could manage. They usually only bring their snouts above water
enough to get a breath of air then submerge again.

We saw all the manatees out in the larger bay area but thought we'd
check on what is called manatee cove.  This is where we saw them last time.
It was an interesting place to row around but we didn't see any more manatees.

This park is only reachable by boat.  There is a ferry that brings
visitors over every day.  There is a tram that takes them to the beach
but it was closed for the day so we made the 3 mile round trip.

One of the docks in the park.

The trail leads from the large dingy dock to the gulf.  The bay side
is lined by trees then thins to prairie grasses then dunes.  It was once
populated with settlers trying to make a living farming and fishing.
There are camp sites and cottages for those interested.  We always wish we
had more time to explore all the ruins.  Maybe next time....

We're not sure how much this boat draws but it sure looked shallow to us.