ANCLOTE TO ST. PETE

We had a restful evening and night.  The anchorage we chose off Dutchman Key was way more peaceful than the anchorage we saw further down by the dock off Anclote Key State Park.

Sunrise over Dutchman Key

We took advantage of this nice anchorage and beautiful weather the following day.  I washed down the teak on deck with fresh water, while Ed went down under and scraped the bottom.  We went swimming and just relaxed the rest of the day.

Anclote Key Lighthouse

Friday morning we communicated with our friends Marc and Robin (whom we haven't seen in over 10 years!) and made plans to be picked up by Marc in his boat. We moved over to the other anchorage which was situated just outside the channel Marc would be taking to find us.  We had a few hours to go explore, so we hopped in Li'l Bit and dinghied over towards Anclote Key State Park. The access for boats must be on the beach side, but we pulled the dinghy up on shore and tromped through grass, weeds and knee high sand spurs, but its an adventure, right? We jumped over the railing and walked into the state park via the "back door".
We decided not to splash through the flooded out path that leads to the beach side of the park, lots of mosquitoes and who knows what other kind of reptiles would be awaiting us!

Looks like Alligator land to me!

After a short swim in the beautiful clear water off the island, we dinghied back slowly to our boat. We explored an overturned (many years ago) sailboat, so sad.

Marc showed up in his beautiful 46 foot Ocean Cruiser to pick us up and bring us to their home in Tarpon Springs, on Tarpon Lake.  It was so good to see him.  Marc and Ed worked together for several years back in 2000-2005.  

Captain Marc!

We spent the rest of the weekend with the Brown's.  We enjoyed meeting a lot of their friends, getting to know their children Caleb and Shelby and just catching up on life.

The Brown's boat at their marina

Since we were going to spend the night Saturday at their place, we grabbed a slip at the Tarpon Springs City Marina at the beginning of the Sponge Docks.  The guys there, Mick and Mike were were nice, very accomadating.  The Browns didn't live too far from there so it was easy enough for them to come pick us up and drop us off.

Slip # 1 at the Tarpon Springs City Marina

We recognized the boat in the above picture...S/V  Devine Miss Em left St. Andrews Marina last April, they are awaiting repairs here.

Caleb and Georgia, fishing off the dock in Lake Tarpon

A wonderful, fun filled weekend ended Sunday evening.  We are so fortunate to be living this life, travelling about and catching up with dear friends.  Thanks for everything, Marc and Robin!  We will be back next spring.

CHEERS!

We weighed anchor around 10:00 am and went out the pass between Anclote Key and Three Rooker Bar.  We raised the sails but as we did, the breeze died and just never came back!  Was forecast out of the West at 10 kts.  We saw flukey winds, mostly out of the North with a little East to it, and maybe gusts to 6 kts.  So we motor sailed on the main down the coast, past Clearwater and down to Johns Pass Marina on Treasure Island to visit our friend Cathy.  We had a nice visit, had dinner at Gator's by the bridge, and experienced probably one of the worse service for a meal we have ever had.  Its too bad, the restaurant is right across the parking lot from the marina and would be so convenient.  But we won't be back after that experience.  But the company was perfect.  We got a good night's sleep at the marina and took off for points South.

We decided to go down the ICW and enjoy the sights. The homes along the waterway are so enormous and beautiful.  And there was no wind to speak of.  We did go through a little squall on Tampa Bay, but Manatee and Capt Ed did great.  We arrived at our chosen anchorage, just a few hundred feet off the ICW just south of Sarasota.  A really nice spot with lots of birds fishing around us. Drinks, dinner and good night to all!