Tarpon Springs to Venice, FL

December 10-14, 2009

Tarpon Springs to Venice, FL

WOW! We are warm and in the sunshine! Florida weather has been 10 degrees above normal so it has been in the 80’s with lots of sun and humidity. It’s going to take some getting used to, but this is what we were looking for.

On December 10^th, Tom and Lyn came to crew and visit for this leg of the trip. They will stay with us until we get to Ft. Myers Beach. Friends, Sherm and Donna delivered Tom & Lyn to us at Tarpon Springs Landing Marina. We had a small lunch onboard and then they were on their way. After getting situated, we had dinner at Capt. Jack’s. It is a dog-friendly tiki bar and Port was able to get off the boat for a little while.

We were off the next morning to John’s Pass at Treasure Island. When looking for a marina, we try to find one with plenty of depth so we don’t have to worry about tides, and one that is close to the Intracoastal Waterway ICW. John’s Pass Marina fit the bill and would have been perfect except for the 15-20 knot east wind. It was tricky to get into the slip and then we were bounced around by waves built up by the wind across Boca Ciega Bay for most of the night.

The ICW on the west coast of Florida is often narrow and interrupted with bascule bridges (see picture). However, we then were treated to beautiful homes that lined the ICW. There is always something to see. Bigger boats sometimes take advantage of their size and in one case were pushed out of the channel. The bascule bridges are very responsive and mostly open on request – we did run into a few that only opened every 20 or 30 minutes. Timing was important.

Saturday, December 12^th, we decided to take a shortcut across the mouth of Tampa Bay rather than stay on the ICW. Even with the wind, we would have limited exposure to the big water. We went out into the Gulf at John’s Pass and then made a straight shot between shoals and islands to connect up with the ICW at Anna Maria Island. We were nervous about crab pots so Tom & Lyn went out front to be our early warning system. They also got to enjoy the dolphins. (I keep trying to catch the perfect dolphin picture especially for you, Bette.) Once across the Bay and back into the ICW we made reservations at Marina Jack’s Marina in Sarasota, and were told we got the last slip. Little did we know we hit the jackpot at this marina!! We had floating docks, pampered service, a park surrounding the marina, and finally, that night we were treated to The Holiday Boat Parade. Lyn & I watched from the flybridge and tried to take pictures, but as you see….. A link to more pictures is www.heraldtribune.com/gallery. The boats were really decked out – too incredible to explain. One huge boat had a tribute to Elvis with an impersonator singing Christmas songs on the top of the boat. (That’s for you, Randy and Mattie.) We asked what it would cost to stay for a month at this marina – we can’t afford it, but it was sure great while it lasted.

Sunday we were up and took our time to start out because we only had 20 miles to Venice, our next stop. Mark fixed a fabulous breakfast. Before we left we fueled up and pumped out. Now we are ready for anything!!

The day was sunny and warm and we were landed at Venice by 3:00. We will stay for two days to explore this winter haven. Tom & Lyn have spent several winters here and love it.