Opaaa!

Thusrday morning 1/14/10 came early on Tourist. Up at 4. Make coffee. Do boat checks. Fire the engines. Pull the anchor and head out East Pass into the very black Gulf of Mexico. 3 reds and 4 greens later we were in open water. Time to dial in the electronics and enjoy a hot cup of coffee.

Our crossing was a bit lumpy as you can see in the picture but once the sun came up we were still able to run about 20 mph for the 166 mile trip to Tarpon Springs. Occassionaly we would pick up a blip on the radar of another boat but we didn't visually see any until about 40 miles out of Tarpon Springs.

We arrived at the north end of the barrier islands and found the entrance to the Anaclotte River which runs past the sponge docks into Tarpon Springs. Unable to stay at the city marina which is the most convenient to downtown we stayed across the river at Tarpon Landing Marina. Just as well, the exercise will do us good!
Friday 1/15/10 dawned sunny and warm. Finally get to break out the shorts and show off our white legs! Pam and Roger Gehl drove down from Crystal River to have lunch with us and do a little snooping around town. After lunch the girls shopped while Roger & I enjoyed hand rolled cigars at the Sponge Exchange and listened to one of the local musicians. Before we knew it it was time for them to head back and as luck would have it they escaped without getting their pictures taken for the blog! Thanks for coming to visit guys. We had a great time!

Tarpon Springs is noted for its' Greek community which got its' start in the 1880s' when the sponge industry got its' start and sponge divers from Greece arrived to help in the harvest. Needless to say we have needed that walk across the bridge to work off all the Greek food we've been eating. we've tried Costas on Thursday and Hellas (http://www.hellas-restaurant.com/) last night. You can tell from the picture of Pam & me which one ate the most.
To our friends on Broulee we were sorry to hear about your latest adventure. You obviously know no limits in seeking out fun things to do! If we can be of assistance in any way let us know.