Tarpon Springs - June 21

We seem to have slowed down quite dramatically.  We were making good progress but we have been in the Tampa area for much longer than we anticipated or planned.  A couple of people have emailed me asking "what happened to the blog" - well quite simply, since the emphasis has been on sailing and travel, I have not  updated it is a little while as we have not made a lot of progress.

Our progress was slowed in part by some personal/family commitments and work-related items.  We had Hannah's graduation, and a couple of work trips.  Congratulations Hannah!

And in the time intervals between, the weather just did not look ideal for our next leg.  We are at a point in Florida where our next leg will take us across Big Bend.  The area north of us has few marinas and the depths are very shallow, meaning we have to make a run for Carrabelle or Port St. Joe.  Both are beyond the range of a day sail at 160 miles + so we will have to sail overnight.  Hence, we want the best conditions possible.

But Tarpon Springs is definitely worth a mention and worth a visit for anyone in the area.  I was surprised to see what is essentially a "Greek Settlement" in the middle of Florida!  I had never been here before, so it was a great surprise - but a pleasant one as I love Greek food.

 Sponge Docks - Tarpon Springs

The local industries here are: sponges; fishing and of course tourism.  The snowbirds have gone and their summer season is starting.

The town is about 3 miles inland up the Anclote River.  When we came in, it was about mid tide and we didn't have any trouble - but it was getting very shallow and narrow as we approached the Marina.  We found a very nice, brand new marina that is very sheltered.  I don't think we can move at low tide....in fact on a very low tide, the floating finger pier seemed to be held up by the boat........not a good sign!  However, that was on a very low tide and we seem to stay completely afloat on normal tides.

It has been very hot in the day - thank goodness we are at a marina with power hook-up so we can run air conditioning.  The warmer waters are having an affect on things through.  I need to clean the A/C water strainer every few days as there's a lot or silt and barnacles building up inside the strainer.  The first time i did it i had to remove barnacles with a screwdriver.

Salty found a dog park and had a blast with other dogs......but you see the black sand.....and that was an almost white lab?....Hmmmmm not the place to go after a rain storm!

Marina pool area

Thankfully the marina has a nice pool and clubhouse.....also a Tiki bar.  Come to think about it, what more could you want?  Maybe I have just given myself another explanation as to why we seem to have "stalled" in this area.

Actually, we do have one regret - we wished we had stayed in the Bahamas a little longer.  We were concerned about returning before the start of Hurricane season, but we now wish we had stayed a couple more weeks.  Still - its been a wonderful trip so far.