Emerson Point Preserve

 Our time at the yacht club was up so we left the dock and went a few miles down the Manatee River and achored off of Emerson Point Preserve.  This is always one of our favorite places to visit on our cruises south since there is always something new and amazing to see.  It is mostly left natural and while we saw signs of damage from the hurricanes, it is still full of wildlife and beauty.  The observation tower gives a spectacular 360 degree view of Tampa Bay, the ICW, the Manatee River and Snead Island.  We walked as many of the trails as time permitted and covered over 3 miles so we got on steps in today!

This little tiki hut was on the beach where we landed

the dinghy.  Someone's afternoon of creative fun.

Many trees were downed by the storms.  This

one was a particularly pretty example of

pine heartwood.

An educational and practical display of bee 

habitats we can make.

One of the many raised pathways through the

mangrove and ponds.

There are so many waterways within the preserve

that you can launch your kayak or canoe and 

spend hours exploring.

Beautiful birds amon the ruins of downed trees.

Emerson Pt. Welcome center.

A flock of ibis.

They had a group of agave plants that had been

fenced off.  Not sure if it was for our protection or 

the plants.

Mangrove roots at low tide.

A map of the park area.

The observation tower with the commanding views.

Tampa Bay.  If you zoom in, you can see the

 Sunshine Skyway Bridge in the background.

Old Shipwrecks uncovered by hurricanes

 I can't believe I forgot some of the best parts of Dog Island.  There are several uncovered old wrecks of sailing vessels revealed in the recent spate of hurricanes in the Big Bend area of Florida.  It has been estimated that they are at least 100 years old some possibly from the exploration age.  Ships headed for the western part of the gulf were often blown off course in storms.  This part of the gulf is notorious for shallow bars going out 20-30 miles.

You can see the partially revealed hull.

You can see where the screws held the planks down.

A better view of the boat's outline.

This was an ocean going boat for sure.  Thick timbers

on either side of thick structural members.

This boat was over 100 feet long.

Wildlife of Snead Island

 We rode our bikes around the island and part way into Emerson Point Sanctury and saw a lot along the way.  We hope to actually walk the paths tomorrow but here is some of what we saw.

Baby gator checking us out

.

You can see how thick the duck weed is in the
ditches along the road. We saw about 8 baby gators

but this one stuck around to be photographed.

Daddy gator waiting for his next meal.  It might have been

the mama but we're were not getting in the water to check.

We also saw a large number of turtles of all sizes
all covered in duck weed.

At first, we thought this massive shape was just trash

but then legs and head popped out.  The turtle next

to it was large in its own right but nothing like his

friend.  A gentleman walking by said it was a leatherback.

We've seen ocean going leatherback seaturtles but never one

on land.

Down a finger canal we saw a pod of manatees.

You can see the nose sticking out of the water and 

another one beside it.

This was a fluke just after it was out of the 

water, really it is!

Manatees are massive and slow movers but

rarely surface.  Another friendly neighbor explained

that this canal has an artisian outflow that draws the

manatees in to the fresh water.  Yesterday all 6 in the pod 

were on the surface sunning but our phone battery had died.

Bradenton YC Second and Third Day

 We had a great first night on the seawall and woke up ready to.....do chores.  Oh well, if you want clean clothes, clean boat and food you have to stop living the dream and live the reality.  We had 10 days worth of laundry and neither of us felt like hauling that 2 miles to the laundromat so Uber took us and brought us back.  After that chore, made longer by bad dryers, we put that task away and rode our bikes back into town to grocery shop.  I'm sure we look a sight with bags on our backs and on our bikes but we get the job done.  Blue Moon got a good scrub-up from salt water and bird poop.  Tanks were all refilled and life was back to living the dream.

One thing we alway enjoy is walking the docks and seeing

other boats.  This is a waterside view of the club.  We had

a wonderful dinner there and the views are spectacular.

If you zoom in you can see the mama osprey feeding

her babies.  Every time we ride by them, she make a lot of

noise letting us know not to mess with her brood!

The yacht club's sailing center.

This club has the owner's names at each slip which is 

somewhat unique in our experience.  The docks did fairly 

well in the last summer hurricanes but 5 of the slips did 

need to be rebuilt.

Reality of waiting for a ride to do laundry.

Bradenton YC

 This is another favorite spot for us.  We left Clearwater YC and motored along the ICW to the western side of Boca Ciega Bay, just before entering Tampa Bay.  We ususally stop at Gulfport, a quirky little town, but they were hard hit by the hurricanes.  They had no dock available for us to reach shore.  Hopefully things will be more normal for them on our trip back home.  From our anchorage we then motored on to Bradenton YC.  They also were hard hit but on well on the road to recovery.  The fact that they have fuel is a real bonus for us especially since we've had to do so much motoring.  We plan to be here a few days to catch up on tasks and laundry.

Bradenton YC.

Skyline along the ICW

This looks like a lot of water but most of it is only 2-4 feet deep.

Sunshine Skyway bridge links the two sides of Tampa Bay.

Blue Moon on the club dock facing the Manatee River.

Across the Gulf and Clearwater

 We left Dog Island knowing it would be a motorboat ride.  Nothing against motorboats but we really prefer to sail. It is quieter, less polluting and much cheaper since we're not burning fuel.  Oh well, we've had some fabulous days sailing, just not this trip so far.  We did our trip planning for the lowest seas and arriving at or near high tide to get through the tricky route to the Clearwater YC, our destination.

It was the strangest crossing, this was our 19th, ever.  It was completely calm, flat seas and we never came across another boat.  It was eerie to be so alone but sleeping, eating and meal prep has never been so easy.  We made it in to Clearwater and anchored off the club.  This is easier for us since less manuevering is required, especially when you're tired.  We went to shore and found that the area had sustained much more damage than we had realized.  The club itself had over 5 feet of water inside with the hurricanes of last summer.  They have done a remarkable job of recovering but we did find out that no fuel was to be had along the waterway until much farther south.  Once we took a walk around we could see many closed andn damaged stores and condos.  Very sad indeed and we wish them all well.

Not to make the stop a bust, we went to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.  This was made famous in the movies A Dolphin's Tale and it's sequel.  We had visited the aquarium several years ago but it was much smaller then.  A generous donation funded the new, huge aquatic center for rehabilitation and rescue animals.  It is a non-profit with the primary mission of rescuing and rehabilitating injured or sick animals.  If the animal is not able to be returned to the wild, they make a home for it.  We visited the hospital and watched a procedure on a sea turtle.  We also watched a dolphin demonstration and so much more.  This is a great place for kids of all ages.

The new dolphin center.

The amount of beautiful artwork was amazinng. It was all

over the entire complex.  I am sharing only a small part.

Arriving at the Clearwater Pass after about a 24 hour crossing.

So long Dog Island until the next time.

We were able to fly our light air sail for about an hour 

before the wind once again died off.

These were blown glass globes floating in the tank.

Can't resist a unique photo opportunity like this one.

The lionfish display was also educational about how 

invasive and ruinious the critter is to the gulf ecosystem.

Click to zoom in on more art on the side of the building.

Clearwater provides a free dinghy dock for visiting

boaters. We always appreciate the curtousy.

Dog Island

 We left Apalachicola once the tide and fog would allow.  This will always be a memorable part of the trip for us since we had to navigate around a dredging operation.  For almost and hour we eked by the miles long hose and the vessels at each end.  They were dredging the ICW channel and it could only be done with them in the channel.  That didn't leave much room for us and our keel.  We are grateful they are keeping the waterways navigable but our white knuckles joined our white hair!  We eventually passed and moved on to our anchorage at Dog Island to wait on good weather/sea conditions to cross the gulf.  This is an unusual place.  It is populated with a lot of vacation homes, some permanent residents and protected species of birds and mice.  The only way over is by a ferry or personal boat.  If you're curious, check it out on the internet.

I'm sure this was a shorebird print but we've never seen one

so perfectly shaped like an asterisk.

Blue Moon just offshore. You can see how close

we were able to get to the shallow by the color of the water.

The owners of this house had gone to the expense of pouring

a concrete drive from their boathouse to the water's edge.

The road from the ferry dock is only a sand path.

David keeping the dingy secured to the land so it won't float
 off with the tide and leave us stranded.

The houses on the far, western end of the  island.  This

is where we anchored for ease departure through the pass.

The island is a mix of beaches, scrub and marsh.

We walked about a mile on each side of the island and never

saw another person.  The poles bring electricity from

one end of the island to the other.  The eastern end is seven miles

from where we anchored and has most of the town including

a volunteer fire department.

One house had it's own water tower.  We're not sure

what the source of water for it comes from.