We pulled the anchor at 6:45am and headed to the pass leading out to the gulf. As soon as we rounded the point of Dog Island we could feel the swells rolling in as Tourist glided up and over them. Once we cleared the channel I set the auto helm for Tarpon Springs. The waves were manageable at between 2' to 3' on the nose, not bad but a little jerky when the occasional 4 footer came along. All went well until about 8:30am when the 4 footers became the norm with more than an occasional 5 footer thrown in. We throttled back to minimize the pounding and made a course change to take the waves more on the starboard bow. Better but we were still pounding and taking sheets of spray over the flybridge. All of this made it extremely challenging to make your way to the head let alone take care of business. After travelling like this for an hour or so I decided to head more directly towards shore still taking the waves on the starboard bow but now the impact was much softer. Eventually we got back into 2' to 3' waves and were able to turn more to the south. As we continued we were finally able to set a direct course for Tarpon Springs and pick up some speed. Now all we have to worry about are the crab pots!
We hit the north end of Anclote Key around 3:30pm and headed towards the Anclote River and Tarpon Springs.
By 4pm we had covered 171 miles and were in our slip at Tarpon Landing Marina ready for a cocktail!
Once we decompressed and cleaned up the smell of Greek food was too great not to be seduced by it. Off to find it's source we went. Tarpon Springs is noted for it's large Greek community who settled here to dive for sponges many years ago. Now not so many sponges but they have figured out how to use their history to attract tourists. We wandered across the bridge and found Mama's Restaurant. On almost every menu in town are Fried Smelt and Mama's was no exception. That's where we ( I ) started.
We each had more food than we needed and left with doggie bags of our unfinished meals. Don't be mistaken. The taste was as good as the aroma promised! Fortunately we had a nice walk back to Tourist to work off some of the meal.
11/15/11 Tuesday The Tourist crew decided to take a down day today. That meant that I scrubbed Tourist from top to bottom on the outside and Pam did the same on the inside. Later we strolled through town checking out the shops and stopping at a Greek bakery for some baklava before returning to the boat.
11/16/11 Wednesday Today the first order of business after departing Tarpon Landing was to travel about a quarter mile downstream to F & Y Inc. and take on fuel. Nothing more than a commercial fuel dock but they have the best prices in the area. And believe me we needed the savings after our gulf crossing. Tourist was thirsty! Ouch!!!
Our next mission was to find a pump out station. The unit at Tarpon Landing wasn't working and we were getting full. Fortunately as we neared Clearwater I overheard two boats talking about a free pump out station right along the ICW. Not long after we came upon it and pulled in. A nice new facility that is easy to get into and not complicated to use. Mission 2 accomplished. The cruising life sure is exciting isn't it?
All along our route today we had dolphins playing in our wake. Pam shot a short video of a couple of them.
They followed us for about 15 minutes before breaking off to entertain someone else.
Our travels took us along the Sunshine Skyway and across Tampa Bay to the Manatee River and our anchorage that we've used before, Desoto Point.
We got the anchor set and relaxed a bit before cleaning up for dinner. Tomorrow...On to Venice!
I had something once that smelt like that!
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