Caladesi to Tarpon Springs - March 2-4, 2016

March 2, 2016. 

Our third day at Caladesi and we could stay longer.  It has the convenience of a dock, water, electricity, but otherwise it is like being anchored away from civilization.  After a slow start to the morning, Nancy took a turn on the beach and I varnished a portion of the port cap rail.  As I have said, cruising is about slowing down and we have managed to do that well.  However, I get uncomfortable if I don’t accomplish something occasionally, which is why I brought a can of varnish.  Somehow, Nancy hurt her knee yesterday so other than one trip to the beach, she is lying low.  I took a long walk on the beach to the north end where there was no one but lots of birds. 

I was talking to our boat neighbor and he asked me about the birds that I saw on my walk, kind, so and so, etc.  I love nature but I have never been particularly fond of birds and have never taken the time to learn their names.  The most effort I have taken to identify birds is when I am duck hunting.  My favorite bird is the brown Pelican.  I would love to be able to fly, and dive into the water like the pelican.  We watched one of our thrift store movies, “Million Dollar Baby” with Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and Hilary Swank (she won the Best Actress Academy Award).  Not my typical kind of movie but very good.

March 3, 2016.

We departed about 7:00 so we could take advantage of the high tide when leaving Caladesi.  To get to, and out of the harbor, you have to cross about a mile of flats that is very shallow.  Most of the time we had only 2 to 3 feet of water under Dubhe.  It was a nice ride of about 16 miles to Tarpon Springs.  There are no suitable anchorages close enough to the downtown area, so we took a slip at Turtle Cove Marina. 

We spent the afternoon walking around town sponge shopping.  Took in a short movie on the sponge fishing industry, had drinks at a bar on the water, and dinner at the Mykonos Restaurant.  The food was excellent, but as usual we ate way too much.  The downtown area is full of Greek Restaurants but I guess we chose this one because we have been to the Island of Mykonos in Greece…one of our best trips from long ago.

March 4, 2016.

Work day; (at least in the morning) laundry, pumpout, and fill water tanks.  More sponge shopping, so if you are close to us, you may get a sponge as a gift.  Sightseeing, and of course more Greek food.  Tarpon Springs, is our turn around point for this 2016 cruise. Dubhe has traveled 833 miles since leaving Beaufort on January 13.  We had lunch in the tourist district (sponge docks), after which I walked about 2 miles to Winn Dixie.  Along the way, I got to see more of the real Tarpon Springs which is a very nice place; not so much the typical larger Florida town.  I walked by Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and could not resist going in, first just to see, but the place was so awesome that I had to sit down for a few minutes and pray...I have so much to be thankful for.  Tomorrow we begin retracing our path, but not necessarily staying in the same places.  There are areas around Captiva and Sanibel islands and Fort Myers Beach that we skipped and plan to catch on the way back.