December 8, Day 178 – Somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico to Tarpon Springs

(Editor's note: Day 177 and Day 178 go together .... so if you have not read Day 177 scroll down and read Day 177 first; it will make more sense then. Well, only to the degree that going for over 24 hours on a boat without stopping makes any sense whatsoever.)



After midnight, Linda tried to nap a bit, but without much success. Gerry tried a little later, with marginal success. We spent a good part of the time watching for crab pots and just admiring the sky. It was full of millions of stars. The temperatures were quite warm … in the 60’s but it was very, very humid. We had water dripping everywhere.

We arrived at the entrance to the Tarpon Springs channel at around 4:45a.m., but could not enter the channel until daylight (remember, at the beginning of Day 176 I mentioned we had left too early). We motored over to an area by Anclote Key and dropped the anchor and were settled in by 5:30 a.m. Then it was off to bed for a nap. We woke up around 9:30, had a quick breakfast, pulled up the anchor and were on our way again by 10:30. By noon we were all tied up and settled in our slip at the Tarpon Springs Municipal Marina.

We showered, had lunch and then napped for a bit. After that we explored the town. Tarpon Springs has a definite Greek flavor to it and they are known for their sponges, as a matter of fact they call themselves the “Sponge Capital of the World”. The Greek part of town is full of sponge shops and Greek restaurants. We visited some of each. However, we found we were very tired so we called it an early night, headed back to the boat and then off to bed. Hopefully, our heads will be a little clearer tomorrow.

Gerry at midnight. Are we noticing a decline in his chipperness. He is drinking coke .... the full caffine sugar kind. Something he never does.

Linda appears to be a bit blurry-eyed. Maybe she'll try napping.

Gerry at 4:00 a.m. Is he dozing at the wheel. Sure hope Martha (the auto-pilot) does her job.

Linda at 4:00 a.m. On the lookout for crabpots. Fortunately, there were not too many this year. Between lack of hurricanes ... to push the crabs closer to shore .... and the economy, there are fewer pots out this year.

Here we are in daylight .... heading up Anclote River. I believe these are mangrove trees.

We passed a cute little red tug

Canal systems full of homes and boats

.... and some very nice homes. Welcome to Florida!!

Here's Monk's Vineyard tied up at the Tarpon Springs Municipal Marina. That's Dahlin to our starboard.

The marina seems to have a "pet" white egret. It was very tame.

A shot of a sponge boat .... and some town Christmas decorations

More Christmas decorations

These pelicans had great balance. Here they are on one of the boat docklines.

... and one of the ubiquitous sponge shops