February 22, 23 Tarpon Springs to St. Petersburg FL
We had planned to leave for St. Petersburg on Thursday, but Dirk was up most of the night Wednesday with a stomach bug so we quietly recovered instead. I walked around the Sponge Docks again, chatted with boat neighbors and we went to bed early.
Yesterday (Friday) we were up and out by 8am, and although it was windy (6-8 knots) on the larger waters in the GIWW (Gulf Intracostal Waterway) the swell was only about a foot so no drama for us. (Yea!)
We enjoyed our final views of Tarpon Springs as we traveled through the Anclote River to the waterway.
Initially we encountered both waterfront homes as well as beaches and southern “woods” along the way, but after Dunedin and our first Florida bascule bridge, both sides of the rivers, bays,etc were just solid with homes, condos and high-rises of all sorts. I guess that is what we will be seeing for a while.
We also needed to slow down for no wake zones and people fishing along the way. This is normal in Florida but it was the first time it had been required quite so often since we were on canals in Canada.
We found the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina on the second try (there are three marinas in the same area) and settled in. It is fairly large and has very nice facilities (clean shower room!) and is 2 blocks from the downtown of the very large city. We immediately saw Jane Johnson, a friend from the Mobile, AL marina, and we joined her and another couple for dinner.
We stopped to listen to a band near the restaurant and then left for the short walk back to the boat. See our boat with the lights of the city beyond? Pretty cool.
Wandering Star 